The day I originally brought this Honda CM400 home it was sold and the new owner almost immediately asked me to rebuild it as a tribute to his days as an ordnance technician during the first gulf war. He wanted a rat bike simple and rough edged with his rank and an Ammo Corp logo on it. Olive drab paint was necessary, wrapped exhaust & low bars were part of his specification. He also did not want a side mount tail light, a rather unusual request on this type of bike. The rest was up to me
The hand painted logo is not necessarily authentic to his unit but is based on a generic amalgamation of such insignia as I found online.
The long exhaust pipes were made from small chain link fence posts bent & brazed to the stubs of the original head pipes. The exhaust wrap makes everything look cool and it has a mean sound, just listen to this video.
The rear fender started life as a brand new aftermarket front fender for a Harley Electraglide, that I cut down & installed backwards to make a fantastic custom rear fender. The voltage regulator was bolted to the side and a good old fashioned Sparto tail light was mounted on top.
A little while back I did a post on twin leading shoe brakes and here they are installed and working just fine on the front of this little Honda CM400
The factory carbs got a serious overhaul and were re-jetted to work with the 54 mm velocity stacks & open exhaust with a Six Sigma jet kit. The fine people at Six Sigma really know their stuff and can usually set you up with a jet kit custom matched to your application. The key switch is your basis auto parts store universal hot rod part but the alloy bracket and the ABS plastic battery box & side covers are my work.
The solo seat was a swap meet find that was reworked to fit and the covered in olive drab Cordura fabric.
Here’s a shot of my buddy trying to look all serious and tough when he really wants to smile
The bar end mirrors actually work very well on this bike.
That’s enough words from me, here’s a little 1 3/4 minute video showing various excerpts from the build and the proud owner taking it for his first spin around the parking lot, and a couple big pictures further down on this page.
Peace Y’all!