The Honda CB250N and CB400N Super Dream are motorcycles manufactured by the

Honda Motor Company is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

from 1978 to 1986. The successor to the short lived

Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

model, it had a series of revisions including a six-speed transmission and what Honda termed as European styling which resembled the CB750F and CB900F. It was a popular model for Honda with 70,000 bikes sold in the UK alone.

Engine

The Super Dream was fitted with a

four stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directi ...

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

-cylinder engine. It had three

valves A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...

per

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...

, two inlet and one exhaust, operated by a chain-driven

overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

. Ignition was provided by capacitor discharge ignition (CDI). It had a 360° crank layout similar to many traditional British parallel twins, but with two

balance shafts Balance shafts are used in piston engines to reduce vibration by cancelling out unbalanced dynamic forces. The counter balance shafts have eccentric weights and rotate in opposite direction to each other, which generates a net vertical force. ...

to reduce unwanted vibrations. It used a six-speed

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

and

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

final drive. Fuelling was provided by twin Keihin

carburettors A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meterin ...

CB250N

The CB250N Super Dream was a motorbike. It was a popular model in the United Kingdom due to the licensing laws at the time allowing learners to ride any motorbike with a capacity under 250cc. The CB250N was the most popular selling bike in the UK with over 17000 bikes sold in 1980 alone. Its popularity in the United Kingdom waned along with many in the 250cc class when in 1983, the maximum size of learner machines was reduced to . During its production run it had several variations from 1978 to 1986. The various designations were, CB250N (1978–1979), CB250NA (1980), CB250NB/NDB Deluxe (1981) and CB250NDC (1982–1985) and CB250NDD (1983–1986).

CB400N

The CB400N Super Dream was very similar to the 250N variant. However, it differed from the 250N with its larger engine capacity, twin front brake discs and a halogen front head light. The instrumentation had different markings for the rev counter and speedometer to reflect the higher top speed and lower RPM redline. The CB400N had several revisions during its production run. The launch model CB400N (1979–1980), CB400NA (1980–1981), CB400NB (1981–1983), CB400NC (1982–1985) and CB400ND (1983–1986).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honda Cb250N Cb400N CB250N Standard motorcycles Motorcycles introduced in 1978 Motorcycles powered by straight-twin engines