should I buy an old CB400?

DanceLikeAMon... · World Chat Champion Joined: 24 Sep 2004 Karma :

Questions in the title really. I need to buy a "new" bike, and I love the look of the old Superdream 400's.

What's the catch with buying one of these bikes provided it looks like it's in good nick? There's quite a few on eBay and they all seem to go for sub £800. I don't mind a bit of tinkering and it'll be a lot easier on one of these bikes than my faired GS500 (which was always having problems of some sort - especially with the electrics) But I don't want to be spending every waking moment working on it.

Do they have any known problems or faults? Anyone got one and would like to share their experiences?

Cheers Thumbs Up

Blau Zedong · Banned Joined: 26 Jun 2006 Karma :

Engine parts are getting rare these days. Some CDI faults and balancer / cam chains were always the achilles heel of these engines. If you are lucky enough to find one in good nick they are not a bad bike.
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craigs23 · Mr Muscle Joined: 08 Jun 2005 Karma :

Go a couple of years further back and find yourself a 400/4 - a nice appreciating classic now. David Silvers stock and supply a large enough variety of parts to keep them running.

Zen Dog · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Aug 2004 Karma :

DanceLikeAMon... · World Chat Champion Joined: 24 Sep 2004 Karma :

Cheers for that.

So if I were to get something newer than the CB400, is there anything else at the poor man's end of the market that has the same sort of styling that anyone knows of?

Itchy · Super Spammer Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Karma :

there is an NC24 for sale nearby its £500 T+T 32K on the clocks ,

remove the fairing stick on a normal head lamp , and it looks pretty neat which is what many people do when they crash the poor things.
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Kal · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Jan 2007 Karma :

Davisd Silver and Wemoto both stock Superdream parts (250 & 400) - almost everyone seems to have one in the garage or at the bottom of the garden.

They are a fairly simple bike - aircooled for a start - and remarkably things are pretty easy to get to when you need to do stuff to them. Like the CX500 they were popular with Couriers in the '80's as they are pretty much bulletproof.

The most expensive CB400 I've seen recently was a grand, but it was a low mileage example that had been loved all of its life and looked like it had just rolled out of the showroom.

If you've got 800 notes in your hand right now then I'd suggest a an 8 to 10 year old CB500. That kind of money should secure you one with good mechanicals however it may not be too pretty.
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Kal...
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1984 GB250 Clubman,1983 CB250N Superdream, 1999 GPZ500S