Honda nv400 Custom, who else has one?

[AllanB]

After a lot of searching I finally found and bought what I hope is an ideal bike for my needs. A circa 1984 Honda NV400, which is a V-twin, liquid cooled, with shaft drive, needs a bit of work and spares are like rocking horse shit, so I was wondering if anyone else had one, or had worked on one.

There isn't much on youtube, as they were only built for the domestic market and production didn't last long. but if anyone knows what other bikes they fitted the 6 valve engine too, it would be very helpful, as it has some carb issues.

This model was called the Honda Steed, but obviously differs from the later Thai built models.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ll2]

finally you found it.

hope repairs go well. happy rides.

Edited October 2, 2013 by ll2

[denkiblue555]

^^ Nice one scoring something that you've been hunting for!

I'd do a bit of wiki/googling to see what other bikes the engine went into - may have been produced in similar form in other developing countries back in the day?

In the mean time I would suggest hunting down a Thai 'NV400' fan club/facebook page or something.

I'm sure there will be a few enthusiasts out there!

Also, these guys seem to stock a few parts (haven't checked the pages though)

http://japan.webike.net/HONDA/NV400/225/mtop/

[JSixpack]

That's an old Shadow. Hope you enjoy endless tinkering.

It's a bit top heavy and it will slide easily. Need to be careful riding it.

[AllanB]

This being a home market only bike, the only place to get accurate information is from Japan using the handy Google Translate, some interesting information.

Horsepower 43@9,500rpm, not sure if I dare rev to that speed.

Engine:- V twin 399cc, 6 valves, twin spark.

Gears:- 5 speed plus overdrive, with overdrive light. Never heard of overdrive on a bike before.

Year of manufacture (rectangular headlight model) 1983-85 and judging by chassis number 1983.

My guess is that there were less than 10,000 built and only a few hundred grey exported, I have one in Greece advertised as a 2000 model another in Ireland as a 1995 and a couple in Singapore. They were all advertised a few years back, so very difficult tracing their current owners.

Getting accurate technical data will therefore be difficult and right now I would like to find out the correct valve clearances.

If anyone has any details, or methods of working this out, I would be grateful, I think I read somewhere 004", but don't remember where. This is basically a Steed engine, but haven't found a manual for that either, was the Steed built in Thailand?

[yankee99]

The manual will most likely be in japanese

[AllanB]

The manual will most likely be in japanese

Yes, the only ones I have found are on PDF and I think you can copy and past into Googletranslate, may take a while.

I have a question...fitted new Dunlops to the bike 6400baht for F&R and set the tyre pressures at 30psi, but the ride seem bumpy on Isaan roads, any views on tyre pressures, 25psi may be appreciably more comfortable? I am not throwing the bike around and don't drive fast.

[GirlDrinkDrunk]

That's an old Shadow. Hope you enjoy endless tinkering.

It's a bit top heavy and it will slide easily. Need to be careful riding it.

jdm baby shadow it would seem