Honda CL 400 - retro classic motorcycle

Bike features

Here are the main features of the Honda SL 400:

small size, which is why the bike is not suitable for everyone;
huge resource;
Quite weak brakes, especially for traveling with a passenger.

The motorcycle is best suited for leisurely riding on narrow city streets. This is not a model in which you can comfortably and safely drive along country roads, since the car will sway in strong gusts of wind, and even its good handling may not help here.

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Classics, as they say, are immortal. And even though retro motorcycles are not as popular as sportbikes or cruisers, fans of this style have always been, are and will be. The clearest example of this is the Yamaha SR 400, which has been produced for three decades without any significant changes. But Honda also decided not to leave the battlefield without resistance, releasing the CL 400 model in the late 90s of the last century, which is similar to the aforementioned Yamaha in almost everything.

The Japanese for the most part are short people, so small-capacity Japanese-made motorcycles are compact in size. The Honda CL 400 is no exception - it is a truly small and nimble bike. You won’t find any technical innovations in its design, but it doesn’t need them - this motorcycle is already good. A simple duplex frame, a decades-tested appearance and a single-cylinder air-cooled engine borrowed from the enduro Honda XR 400 - that’s the whole secret of success.

Of course, you shouldn’t expect impressive performance from a budget retro motorcycle, but the CL 400 fully justifies its price. This bike was produced only until 2001, after which it was slightly modified and renamed - Honda CB 400 SS, but currently you can find this model on the secondary market for about $2,500. But the owners in their reviews note the phenomenal reliability of the motorcycle. Of course, Honda has always been famous for quality, but the fact that in the simplest design of this motorcycle there is simply nothing to break probably also played a role here. With proper maintenance, your Honda CL 400 will last for many, many years. The 5-speed gearbox works traditionally for Honda, softly and clearly, so much so that even the moment of switching cannot always be felt. 29 hp Of course, it’s not enough for good dynamics, but good torque (34 nM) allows you to feel confident in the city. In addition, it is lightweight (the dry weight of the CL 400 is only 140 kg) and narrow, allowing it to easily pass through any traffic jams. But outside the city, of course, the lack of dynamics is felt, and besides, the motorcycle is mercilessly thrown from side to side by gusts of wind.

Handling can be attributed to the advantages of this model - the Honda CL 400 can turn around on a tiny patch of asphalt, and thanks to the low center of mass, the weight of the motorcycle is practically not felt. True, you still have to pump your leg - this model does not have an electric starter, and it starts the old fashioned way, with a kickstarter. The brakes - well, they just are. The rear drum brake is, frankly, of little use, but the front disc brake stops the bike quite well. With one caveat - if you seat a passenger, the lengthening of the braking distance will be very impressive.

The CL 400’s gas tank holds 12 liters of fuel, which is enough for the motorcycle to travel three hundred kilometers, if, of course, you drive steadily and do not twist the throttle all the way. The unpretentious motor, whose roots go back to the 80s of the last century, readily digests everything that burns. True, after a long stay, you have to drain a little of the stagnant and exhausted gasoline from the carburetor - gasoline flows into it by gravity, since the Honda CL 400 also does not have a fuel pump. However, this procedure only takes half a minute.

What else can you say about this bike? He's really good. Lightweight, maneuverable and inexpensive, it will be an excellent choice both for a beginner motorcyclist and for a lover of retro equipment who does not have the budget to buy a Kawasaki W800 or Triumph Bonneville. Long trips on the CL 400 are unlikely to bring much joy to the owner, but the motorcycle is excellently suited for the city. Just before buying, you should try it on - if you are 180 cm or taller, it may be tight.

Engine

The Honda CL 400 engine has only one cylinder. This four-stroke unit has a volume of 397 cm³. The maximum torque of 34 Nm, as well as the maximum power of 29 hp, is unlikely to impress anyone, but the motorcycle does not position itself as a powerful monster. One way or another, the maximum speed of 162 km/h is a pretty good indicator.

Review of the Honda CL 400 motorcycle

Yes, he only has a kick. Some versions of the CB400SS (with the E prefix) also have an electric starter, they are more expensive. The CL400 does not have an electric starter. At first, as someone who previously used only an electric starter, it takes a long time to get used to the kick, it takes a long time to kick. After several days of training, everything falls into place, and you start up with one or two kicks. In cold weather (+1+7), you need to kick it a little longer and warm it up thoroughly. Also, when parking, you now need to remember to close the fuel tap on the left under the tank, otherwise it will take a long time to start.

My copy had such a necessary device as a standard rear trunk. It wasn’t particularly useful to me, and with it the motorcycle looks a little like a pensioner, but on the forum many owners were looking for these racks and spat on the non-standard ones sold at Chinese auctions, because... their installation requires modification.

Unlike the CB400SS, there is no tachometer on the dashboard, only a speedometer. Engine on the CL400 from the enduro Honda XR 400, strangled, 4 valve, 4 stroke, 29 hp.

The question that worried me before the purchase was “how long will it take” - compared to the Monster 400, it certainly drives less vigorously (29 hp versus 43 hp), and the Monster drove less vigorously than the CB400SF (43 hp versus 53 hp). The traction comes from the bottom, but it fails at the top. Having quickly started and overtaken everyone at the traffic light, after accelerating to 100 kilometers they calmly catch up with you.

Tank 12 liters, gasoline AI92, enough for about 240-250 km. There is a switch to reserve on the fuel tap, a fairly standard story, meaning that in the normal position the fuel flows through a tube raised about 6 cm from the bottom of the tank. And when switching to reserve, fuel begins to climb from the very bottom. So if you can't start and stall, or start stalling on the highway, there's no time to be sad, just turn the cock to reserve.

The gearbox is five-speed, in fifth gear the speed is from 80 to 120 and a little further. Up to 120 the handle must be unscrewed until it stops. Probably it can be accelerated to more than 120, some owners said that they accelerated to 140, but on a long straight line, and at high speed the rear wheel begins to yaw slightly. It seems that these are the disadvantages of the low weight that I was chasing. Along with weak brakes (I only use front disc brakes, that’s how I’m trained) and deterioration in maneuverability at high speed, I don’t want to accelerate beyond 120.

Another important new quality for me is that the motorcycle is simple and inexpensive, you don’t worry about it if you left it somewhere, but perceive it more as a workhorse.

The appearance is conducive to customization, I want to put my hand to it. Ducati was absolutely self-sufficient in terms of design and other things, this is both a plus and a minus, because you don’t understand that in general you can apply your own imagination to a motorcycle, and not worry about maintaining the “stock” quality.

At first, I had a problem from trip to trip - the motorcycle would stall when shifting from higher gears to lower ones. This most often happened when you got into a traffic jam, switched from 3rd gear to first, and while holding the clutch you rolled a little between the rows, then you wanted to accelerate, but the motorcycle was already dead. You have to stand in the aisle, take out a kick and kick it. The owners interviewed about the problem addressed the uneven fuel supply (clean the fuel valve), the old battery (and replaced it), but this did not completely solve the problem. I myself am inclined to believe that this is due to my habit of working with the clutch and gas in this way. Apparently on this motorcycle my operating pattern causes the engine to stall.

The fork is soft, as far as I understand, and compared to real enduros, its travel is not so great. When you accelerate and brake, you sway on it, it’s comfortable to drive through potholes.

Very quiet stock exhaust. When driving in residential areas, you don’t wake anyone up at night, children don’t cry, and pregnant women don’t lose their water, as with some direct-flow tricks. But in the aisles they often don’t hear you, this is worth taking into account.

The exhaust pipes, although they have protective covers, also have a lot of places, especially in the front, where they are hot enough to melt the cover, or hanging straps from bags/covers that hang down and lean against them.

A common problem with the CL400 is the right plastic cover, under which there is an air filter. It often cracks due to an accidental kick when kickstarting, and many owners have it cracked-repaired-replaced.

Pros:

- Versatility. Are you driving along the highway, have you pulled off onto a dirt road, grass, or potholes? It's OK.

- Light weight. In the parking lot, I lift his butt and move it to the right place.

- Cheap. If anything, I don’t feel sorry for him.

— Ease of maintenance. ABS? tricky electronics? Checking clearances in desmodrome? Replacing timing belts? No, have not heard.

Minuses:

— Low power, standard for a road vehicle of this class. Because of this, maneuverability is limited in the city and on the highway. After riding more powerful models, you unscrew the handle, but it reacts more slowly.

- Discreet appearance. It looks like a classic road car from the end of the last century, and if it weren’t for the scrambler exhaust, it’s pretty boring.

PS: Based on fresh impressions, I would like to add something else about speed limits. The traction from the bottom is certainly very pleasant and this is what you can enjoy on this motorcycle, especially when you start from traffic lights. On some forums in reviews I came across a speed of 120 as “cruising”; for the CL400 this is not the case, considering that “cruising” is the speed with the lowest consumption. For the CL400, I think it’s 100 km/h from the feel of the engine. At 120 it roars noticeably.

The motorcycle is as simple as a rake, reliable as a crowbar, there is no plastic and, accordingly, there are no problems with replacing it and repairing it after falls. There is always the opportunity to buy cheap petrol tires - not the worst tires. Perhaps in the spring, in order to increase power and efficiency, I will remove the cylinder head, a 0.5 mm milling cutter, or if the gasket is 1 mm thick. I'll install a half-millimeter one. I will install protective bars, a windshield and a trunk. Now the price for it has been raised. In Moscow, I negotiated with a guy for 95 thousand rubles, and now with high mileage they sell it for almost 150 on Auto.ru. It’s better to buy through knowledgeable, trusted people directly from Japan - it will be cheaper. The only drawback is that there is no email. starter, but this is a matter of habit.

Dimensions and weight

Light weight is a distinctive feature of the CL 400. The motorcycle has a dry weight of 140 kg, and with fuel it is only 155 kg. The gas tank capacity of 12 liters is enough for three hundred kilometers. The height of the motorcycle is only 1135 mm, and its seat height is 795 mm. The model is 2175 mm long, 825 mm wide, and its wheelbase is 1410 mm.

Honda CL400

Brief review of Honda CL 400

The retro-styled Honda CL 400 motorcycle was produced only for the Japanese domestic market, like most 400 cc models, and is often found at Japanese motorcycle auctions. It was not produced for very long, quickly giving way to the next model - the Honda CB400SS, from which the CL 400, however, differs only in a few details. In general, these two motorcycles are very similar both externally and from a design point of view.

Technically, the Honda CL 400 is a retro motorcycle in every sense of the word - it not only looks like a motorcycle from the 70s, it is also built using technologies from around those years, being a prominent representative of very simple, but at the same time reliable motorcycle technology . There is nothing superfluous in this motorcycle, and the engine borrowed from the enduro Honda XR 400 (with modified settings) is famous for its enormous resource.

Lightweight and maneuverable, this motorcycle is great for riding around the city, and as a training model it is very good due to its light weight and docile nature. The Honda CL 400 engine works best at medium speeds, so the motorcycle is quite dynamic, at least in urban mode it has enough power reserve.

Similar motorcycles:

Honda CB400SS
Yamaha SR400
Kawasaki W400

Technical characteristics of Honda CL 400

Years of production: 1998-2001
Class: road retro motorcycle
Frame: duplex steel
Engine: 4-stroke, 1-cylinder
Engine capacity, cubic meters see: 397
Cooling: air
Valves per cylinder: 4
Fuel supply: carburetor
Power: 29 hp (at 7000 rpm)
Torque: 34 Nm (at 5500 rpm)
Maximum speed, km/h: 130
Acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h: ~7 seconds
Transmission: 5-speed
Wheel drive: chain
Front tire: 90/100-19
Rear tire: 110/90-18
Front brakes: 1 disc
Rear brakes: drum
Front suspension: telescopic fork
Rear suspension: double shock absorbers
Gas tank volume, liters: 12
Fuel consumption at 110 km/h, liters: ~3.5
Dry weight, kg: ~140

Pros and advantages of Honda CL 400

High resource
Easy Maintenance
Reliable design
Good torque
Stylish retro look
Low fuel consumption

Pros and cons of the Honda CL 400

Low engine power
The need to actively work the gearbox to maintain dynamics
Weak brakes
No tachometer
No electric starter

Chassis and brakes

The frame of the bike is semi-duplex. It is made of steel. The appearance of the motorcycle fully corresponds to its class: retro classicism is manifested in the characteristic frame, and in the spoked rims, and in the round mirrors high above the handlebars. Every detail in the motorcycle indicates that this motorcycle is a tribute to the traditions of a previous era.

At the rear, a pendulum version with a monoshock absorber is used as a suspension, while at the front there is a telescopic fork. The CL 400 brakes at the rear using a drum brake, which is not particularly good, however, the front disc along with a two-piston caliper should be enough. Due to weak brakes, this bike is not suitable for riding with a passenger.

When I was choosing it myself, I was faced with a lack of information on this model. I hope the information about use can be useful to someone.

Prerequisites for selection

Before that I had a Ducati Monster 400, an entry-level “itch”, slightly weaker than the Honda CB400SF, and much more beautiful.
After the Monster, I wanted something lighter, and with an enduro bias, so that it would behave normally on a bad road. But the enduros themselves, models like Djebel, despite their excellent characteristics, were not at all suitable in appearance. Added to this was the desire to buy a cheaper model, so that you wouldn’t feel sorry for it if it hits the road; you didn’t want to spend more than 120 thousand. Price became one of the determining factors. Through various wanderings across classes and models, I first saw the Suzuki Grasstracker Bigboy. It looked good, but I really didn’t like the 250cc size and the lack of even minimal crankcase protection. Then I looked at the Yamaha Bronco - it’s good for everyone, but it doesn’t go over 100. There was also a step towards the Yamaha Renaissa, it is such a beautiful cafe, you don’t even need to redo anything, but only 250 cubic meters, and not universal, only for the highway. In discussions about Bronco I saw a reference to the CL400.

Grasstracker, Bronco, Renaissa Having started to learn more about the CL400, I was somewhat surprised to learn that this is the brother of the CB400SS, but living in the village, so to speak. With a different, high, “scrambler” exhaust and a slightly different fork and other little things, more intended for off-road use.

Experience of use

Unlike the CB400SS, there is no tachometer on the dashboard, only a speedometer. Engine on the CL400 from the enduro Honda XR 400, strangled, 4 valve, 4 stroke, 29 hp.

Another important new quality for me is that the motorcycle is simple and inexpensive, you don’t worry about it if you left it somewhere, but perceive it more as a workhorse.

Scrambler based on Honda CL400 from The Baza Moscow

At the summer custom convention I met Maxim, one of the participants in The Baza project. It was quite strange to see a lone scrambler surrounded by cafes and bobbers, but at this stage this is a rarity even for Moscow.

The shooting didn’t work out for so long that we ended up waiting for the best Moscow weather, just before the moment when the shit turns into frozen mud. Maxim also relieved me of the burden of responsibility and wrote the text about the creation of the motorcycle himself and even sent pictures of the process, not to mention a sketch. So, I quote:

It all started almost a year and a half ago, in a small but proud workshop, which decided that it no longer wanted to be just a motorcycle service. We needed a motorcycle on which it would be relatively painless, for him and for us, to try our hand at and realize the ideas that have long excited our minds.

We somehow decided without saying that it would be a scrambler, and, in fact, the donor we found had completely official scrambler roots. It turned out to be a Honda CL400. Externally, almost indistinguishable from the classic CB400 SS, but with a 1cm higher ground clearance and a “scrambler” exhaust position above the wheel axles. It all started with this picture:

At the time we started work, we did not have any tools for working with metal, except for metal scissors and a grinder. We just had to master working with aluminum, an English wheel and taste all the delights of welding with argon. The first thing we did was, of course, saw off the back of the frame and made our own, raised 9cm relative to the original. This immediately gave the motorcycle a new, more badass look. For the new height, I had to look for new shock absorbers, which took a decent amount of time. I found a wonderful pair of trial shock absorbers from Hagon, 420mm long, which fit perfectly into the laconic rear end.

I wanted the scrambler to be a utilitarian motorcycle that would not lose its consumer qualities after the restructuring. The only thing we decided to definitely remove was the ability to carry a passenger - on such a small motorcycle this is sheer torture. We cut off the fastenings for the passenger footrests and shortened the original seat. The beautifully protruding zero, which is usually installed to remove the airbox and visually unload the motorcycle, also had to be abandoned, otherwise the scrambler could only be used on asphalt and in good weather. A new aluminum airbox was made, with a partition inside that separated the zero from the compartment with the battery and all the relays, so everything fit, although it was quite tight. But now you could drive in the rain without fear of getting the filter wet.

Next comes the most interesting thing - naturally, in our megalomaniac plan for rebuilding the motorcycle there was no place for the original headlight, tidy and other turn signals - all of this was safely removed and replaced with cleaner and more minimalistic analogues. To secure all these beauties to the motorcycle, it was necessary to build the same minimalistic spider. We made this part from scratch, trying laser cutting for the first time. Interestingly, with its triangular lightenings it set a new tone for the motorcycle - it was decided to make the fender mounts and the footrest in the same style. After we finished all these auxiliary parts, we realized that it was not in vain that we pulled out all the fasteners - the motorcycle was finally starting to look solid.

Buck is the name of a tragic comedy in three acts. At the very beginning, a model was sculpted from foam plastic and plasticine, then the first timid attempts began to give aluminum sheets similar shapes. All our customization then took place without the generally accepted English wheel, sandbag and other important tools. The sheets were bent around pipes of different diameters and brought together using mandrels from pipes with a smaller diameter. The first version of the tank was brought to the point where all that remained was to weld the top part with the bottom, but at the grinding stage it turned out that we used too thin metal. 1.5 mm AMG5 aluminum simply could not be sanded - here and there gaps appeared at the welds, which were no longer possible to weld. Then it was decided to do everything from scratch, using 3mm aluminum. At that time, we already had an English wheel, a straightening tool and some experience in molding, and this time we took the metal itself AMG3. The thickness was now sufficient for both molding and grinding. It took a long time to choose the fittings for the tank; we wanted it to look as minimalistic as possible. The tank was the last of all the aluminum body kits on the motorcycle to be completed, so when it, already polished, with a welded neck and installed faucet, was put in place, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The exhaust, as you can see, has also undergone changes compared to the original - we brought both pipes to the left side, building a “lobster”, since it was not possible to bend thin-walled stainless steel pipes to such a small radius without the help of a pipe bender (yes, a subframe we bent it the old-fashioned way - filling the pipes with sand and heating them with a torch).

We presented what we finally got to the public at the Custom Convention 2021 exhibition and performed there with a single scrambler, naturally, without taking any places. But we didn't really grieve. We presented what we finally got to the public at the Custom Convention 2021 exhibition and performed there with a single scrambler, naturally, without taking any places. The motorcycle turned out to be very peppy, light like a bicycle, and riding it on the track turned out to be a lot of fun, even with not very off-road tires.

Special thanks to Sergei Leonidovich Baikov for his help in organizing filming at the motocross track in Borodino