The Honda CBX400F is a motorcycle manufactured by

Honda 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 ...

between 1981 and 1984.

z400FX

After the ''Dream'' CB400 Four, Honda made the ''Hawk'' series for mid-sized sports models which were powered by obsolete

SOHC 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 cha ...

straight-twin engine A straight-twin engine, also known as an inline-twin, vertical-twin, or parallel-twin, is a two-cylinder piston engine whose cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. Straight-twin engines are primarily used in motorcycles; ot ...

s. Those models were not popular in the market. In comparison, Kawasaki's Z400FX, powered by high-class

inline-four engine A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...

s, became a hit as a sports model in 1979.

XJ400 and GSX400F

In 1980,

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

and

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

introduced the XJ400 and GSX400F respectively, also powered by in-line-four engines. In addition, Yamaha introduced the RZ 250, with a water-cooled

two-stroke engine A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

, which is as powerful as ''400cc'' class.

CBX400F

In order to break through the market and to address the demand to introduce an in-line-four engine model, Honda introduced the CBX400F in 1981.

Features

The CBX400F had; a compact body reminiscent of the CB400 Four, a meter panel resembling that of the CB750F, forged separated-handles, forged pedals, "x" shaped 4-1-2 exhaust pipe, hollowed aluminium swing arm with pro-link suspension, and ventilated

disc brake A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the calipers to squeeze pairs of pads against a disc or a "rotor" to create friction. This action slows the rotation of a shaft, such as a vehicle axle, either to reduce its rotational speed or to hol ...

s. Particularly, the engine produced 48 horsepower, when other ''400cc'' class motorcycles could not. Its sophistication and high performance attracted the market and marked the highest sales among the sports models over the long run.

Integra

In 1982, the CBX400F Integra was introduced. For the first time in Japan, it was equipped with a fairing and a cancellation mechanism for turn signals. Its sister model, CBX550F Integra, was also introduced. An American-style, CBX 400 Custom was added in 1983.

CBR400F

When the racer replica boom started, the production of CBX400F was completed and CBR400F took over the position. However, there was residual demand for the CBX distinctly different from racer replicas and it was re-introduced in 1984, making the record total production unit number in the category of over 125cc. The record was not broken until 2003 by Yamaha YP400 Majesty.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:HondaCbx400 Motorcycles introduced in 1981 CBX400F Standard motorcycles