One-Off Honda CB400F Cafe Racer Is Drop-Dead Gorgeous and Home to Countless Upgrades

This article’s photo gallery showcases his most recent project – an elegant 1975 Honda CB400F cafe racer with looks to die for. The build was commissioned by Roger, a guy from Baltimore who’d fallen in love with Sir Skinner’s work some time ago. Roger had been holding on to the mid-sized UJM ever since the early eighties, so this wasn’t a case of simply picking up some random donor and making it look prettier.

Oh no; the bike and its proud long-term owner went way back, and Sean knew he would therefore have to create something truly special. As a nice little bonus, the CB400F came equipped with a 466cc big-bore kit, ported cylinder heads, and a race-spec camshaft. These mods have all been performed around 40 years ago, right after the classic Honda was purchased by Roger.

Following a lengthy discussion between Sean and his client, the motorcycle made its way to the MotoRelic HQ and was promptly taken apart. Then, our protagonist got in touch with Cognito Moto to order a fresh pair of 18-inch Excel wheels, but he also hunted down a Suzuki GSX-R's front-end running gear and a CB550 swingarm. Prior to installation, the latter was modified to accommodate a disc brake and a monoshock suspension setup.

As for the shock absorber itself, it is an adjustable Ikon module sporting a dual-rate spring. The Gixxer’s upside-down forks are held in place by way of custom triple clamps, and its Tokico brake calipers are mated to premium aftermarket rotors. Sean wrapped the new Excel rims in grippy Battlax BT-020 rubber from Bridgestone, subsequently turning his attention to the CB400’s rear framework.

He shortened the subframe to keep proportions nice and tight at the back, while also encasing its underside in metal plates to act as a rear fender of sorts. The cafe-style tail unit you’ll see up top was cleverly shaped using the rear section of a Honda NS50’s fuel tank. Behind it is a compact license plate holder sporting multi-functional LEDs, which do double duty as both taillights and turn signals.

Peek center-stage, and you will now see the repurposed fuel tank of a Suzuki GS450, perfectly matching the lines and proportions of the tail. In between these two components, there is a stunning solo seat upholstered in black leather by Counter Balance Cycles. The gas tank, seat, and tail section are all rather superb, but the coolest thing about this CB400F’s attire is located at the front.

We are, of course, referring to the sporty half-fairing sourced from Airtech Streamlining. It was originally destined for the Triumph Thruxton, so the project’s author needed to get creative in order to make it fit on the Honda. He took precise measurements and proceeded to build some bespoke mounting hardware from scratch, which turned out even better than expected.

To complement the aftermarket fairing, Sean also fitted a small but effective front fender lower down. We spot a pair of aftermarket clip-ons in the cockpit, joined by MessnerMoto mirrors and a myriad of Motogadget goodies. These include stylish grips, bar-end turn signals, and discreet switches, as well as a Chronoclassic speedometer. Moreover, the same German electronics brand supplied a tried-and-true mo.Unit controller, which is hooked up to a new wiring harness.

A 12-cell Antigravity battery lives inside the tail, and the bike’s ergonomic package is finished off with CNC-machined foot pegs. When it came time to address the powertrain, MotoRelic’s mastermind was delighted to discover that most of the engine internals still looked as good as new. Thus, he simply vapor-blasted some of these parts and put them back together with youthful seals and gaskets.

You’ll find an upgraded clutch, too, but then there’s all that newly-installed breathing equipment. On the intake side of things, the CB400 gained a quartet of Keihin CR26 carburetors topped with custom velocity stacks. Its factory exhaust system was deleted altogether, making way for a handmade four-into-four substitute that ends in reverse megaphone mufflers from Cone Engineering. Now then, the final thing we need to talk about is the paintwork.

The base color is a Monarch Orange hue from Nissan’s palette, accompanied by stealthy black accents on the fuel tank. As the primary livery was being executed at MotoRelic, items such as the frame and rims were powder-coated black by a local collaborator. Once the paint job was done, the machine was finally complete and handed back to Roger, who must’ve been over the moon upon seeing what Sean Skinner was able to pull off.