So why do l ride one? Well not one, actually, I've owned two of them and a CB500T. So let’s start the story at the beginning. I passed my test on a CD175 and had £200 to spend. Triumphs were too expensive, the Norton 350 a bad joke, for some reason I never considered a Yamaha and didn't particularly want a Honda until I saw my first 450.
I bought one, blew it up, rebuilt it, rode it on and off for six years, blew it up, bought another, rode that for a year whilst I had the first one rebuilt. So, now I’ve got two of the things. A total of twelve years of 450 ownership means that I know the faults pretty well. The rear shocks don’t, so Girlings, or better still, Konis should be bunged on. The best tyre combination I’ve found are a ribbed Avon front and Roadrunner rear. The combined speedo and tacho unit is unreliable, hard to read and expensive to replace - use CB250K or CB400F clocks. The steering damper must be used to avoid dangerous wobbles. The footrests are too far forward and the lack of working indicators is a menace on today’s roads. The tail light is feeble.
Tickover is hard to set right (try platinum tipped spark plugs - Ed) and soon becomes erratic. The tappets are dead easy to set if you happen to own a 1.2 thou feeler gauge - one of Honda's better jokes as there is no such thing as a 1.2 feeler gauge. Joining the soft link in the camchain requires four hands, much skill, patience and a large amount of violence. Finally, there is one bolt that holds in the camchain idler sprocket that always comes undone, falling into the engine and wrecking it - this accounts for one of my blown engines.
The gearbox deserves a paragraph all to itself. The ratios chosen by the designers are the least suitable that can be imagined. First is too low for any use at all, there is then a huge jump to second which means it can’t be used for moving off. Third is roughly in the right place but maybe a bit on the low side. Then there comes fourth which is top this is so close to third as to be ridiculous. Top is so low that you can go well into the red zone. The best solution would be to add a bigger gearbox final drive sprocket but I haven’t got around to this yet.
The gearbox does wear out. One of my Bombers jumps out of gear to the extent that no-one else has managed to ride it yet. Another solution would be to use a five speed gearbox from a later 450 or a 500T, which has much better spacing between the ratios, but an engine as torquey as this doesn’t need five speeds. In fact, a three speed box would be enough if the ratios were perfectly spaced.
Now the good news. Using Konis and Roadrunners plus thicker fork oil, the handling is pretty good. Not in the Ducati or BSA league, maybe, but up to a 400 four or an RD400. The bike is low, slim, compact and with a strong, rigid frame. This is quite a good start. The motor has loads of torque for a Jap and yet is quite happy to rev like crazy. Don’t tell me that 12500rpm isn’t possible for a big, sixties, parallel twin because I've done it. Throttle response is instant like a Brit bike, but the screamer of a motor could only have come from Japan. The best of both worlds. Faster than a Daytona, but my 750 Tiger would beat it in every way.
The engine is very easy to work on, except splitting and joining the camchain. The camchain tensioner works perfectly all the time and even if it didn’t is easily replaced - can this really be a Honda? Vibration is fairly low but is noticeable. All the controls are very light and the switches easy to operate. The switches can even be repaired. Try that on a more modern bike.
The valves are controlled by torsion bars and eccentrics. This is such a brilliant idea that it’s amazing that only the 450 and 500T were ever fitted with the arrangement. There are no valve springs to break or to replace, the torsion bars (which connect to the valves via rockers) are much more reliable than springs and don’t allow valve bounce at high revs. The adjustment of the valve clearances by mounting the rockers (actuated by DOHCs) on eccentric shafts is pure genius.
The 180 degree crankshaft is immensely strong, running on four huge roller bearings, and I’ve never heard of the 450 needing a big end replaced. The electric start has a junk centrifugal clutch that ceases to work after 30000 miles, although both the starter and battery are lacking in power. The brakes, TLS front, SLS drum rear, are tricky to set up, can become oval and it’s possible for the hub castings to become scrap when the cast iron brake lining cracks. But when the brakes work they are incredible. Every bit as good as modern discs and so much better than the discs available in the seventies that it makes you wonder how they ever caught on in the first place (blame impressionable journalists - Ed).
Now to the facts. Top speed is about 110mph in favourable conditions and a quarter mile of around 14.5 seconds. Fuel averages 70 to 75mpg and the bike is very kind to chains and tyres. It won't drink oil but, like all Hondas, it feels happier with expensive 10/40. The narrow tyres and short wheelbase means it steers rather too quickly and drops into corners a bit too soon. The quality of the bike is fantastic. One of my frames has withstood 20 years of abuse and neglect without re-stoving or being covered in Hammerite, although the other frame has been re-stoved. Both guards and tanks have been touched up, but nothing has rotted away and the engine alloy puts modern stuff to shame.
All in all, a pretty useful bike but, for normal riding or long distance touring, it doesn’t really cut it in the company of the easy grace of big Triumphs, Nortons, BSAs nor can it eat up the miles like a Guzzi, Lead Wing or BMW. These days, it can be blasted into the weeds by an LC350 Yam. Around town it could never compete with a VT500 or RS250. There are times when being rational just doesn’t matter. The Black Bomber is like a first love. Everyone’s got to have one perversion. Mine's a big, black nasty Honda. Takes all sorts. Some loonies even use a Triumph for touring.
So what's the real attraction of a 450? The first bike I ever did the ton on. The time I went around the outside of a CB400F and an RD350F on the deceptive Mickleham bends - if the Box Hill Crowd know what | mean. Cruising down to Bristol in the pouring rain with the engine droning out its cry across Marlborough Downs. Getting to London on one cylinder for an MOT where the examiner is likely to say, “Oh, that’s a 450, it’s bound to be alright.” Rumbling across Somerset at night with no lights working and having a laugh with the coppers who stopped me. Singing, “Who's Going Mobile,” on a sunny day to the inside of a crash helmet and the amusement of the missus.
One disadvantage of owning a Black Bomber is the attitude of Honda dealers. They seem ashamed of having made a bike with character (and a working camchain tensioner). One dealer told me the 450 was a four cylinder bike and reckoned I must have miscounted the number of pistons when I'd taken the head off. All the time the beast was standing outside looking the way that only a parallel twin can. Some dealers even refuse to order parts and spares are very expensive - I was once quoted £200 for a complete exhaust system.
So, to sum up, if you want a practical, usable, everyday sort of transport then forget the 450. If your fantasies are other peoples’ nightmares and you dream of Ducatis, Gold Stars and Continentals, then the 450 could just be your cup of poison. In fact, the Black Bomber is a whole lot more civilised than a Goldie and a lot more fun than a CX500. Depends on how eccentric you are, really.
Finally, a note on the CB500T. It’s the same engine save that the stroke has been lengthened to increase the capacity. To improve the CB500T you have to fit low handlebars, a lower seat, change the shocks and tyres, ditch the awful front disc, and change the exhaust for a less, restrictive one. The result will still not be as good as a 450 but will be close. Further improvement can be made by using the fiercer 450 cams and the 450 frame is much more rigid than the 500 item.
Apart from all that, the 500T is a pretty good machine, save that it’s not as attractive as the 450 with its big, humpy tank and minimalist styling (the huge DOHC engine dominating the machine). One of my Bombers is currently using the 500T engine, it’s hard to tell the difference, except that the 500T has a better gearbox and a bit less crack to the throttle response.
The 500T can be made faster by using the cruder but freer flowing 450 carbs. The biggest problem that the 500T had was that most people who bought 450s in this country were enthusiasts, whereas most people who bought 500Ts were looking for cheap, easy to use transport. This is really what gave the 500T its bad name. So what is a Black Bomber worth? Forget it. To me, my old 450 is made of memories - good memories - and money just doesn’t buy them at all. I’ve ridden five of the things now and they’re all lovely. Evil, sweet, cuddly, enigmatic bastards.
Elvis Evans