I found that after the Triumph the Honda was soggy in corners and that it seemed to lack bottom end power. However, I decided to forget about the British horror and think of the smooth, smooth, motor.
With 1000 miles on the clock I changed the oil and filter and generally checked the bike over - for some strange reason I could not come to terms with running a four - it did everything I wanted but unfortunately felt that it was just a little bland. A shame, ‘cos it looked great, with brown paintwork and lotsa chrome... I think I basically wanted a 500cc twin with good economy and handling, a little vibration at low speed, smoothing out above 50mph, with the usual attributes of reliability and affordability.
I picked up my new Yam XS400 a few weeks later. The road test in Bike Magazine had slagged the little Yam, so I figured it must be good. The Yam came to me in perfect condition, a fact that still astounds me because of all the new bikes I’ve bought, the XS is the only one that didn’t need adjustment or bolts tightened up before I could use it.
Riding the Yam home introduced me to the characteristic primary drive whine and a slight vibration. The handling was what I wanted - nice and taut. Running the XS in went really well; at the 500 mile service - you don’t think I’d trust a dealer, do you? - all I needed to adjust was the ignition timing.
With 800 miles on the clock, a leisurely jaunt to Yorkshire was planned with a friend on a Z650. As we rode into Harrogate and as I pulled in the clutch the revs shot up to 6000rpm. I adjusted the idle stop and all was well. We had a stroll around the town, a bite to eat, then filled up the tank and headed for York then Scarborough. Since the idle had been adjusted the Yam felt much sweeter, obviously the engine must have loosened up. On the way home, I opened up the Yam to 7000rpm for the first time (80mph), the engine felt unburstable at that speed and the exhaust had a healthy bark.
With 1500 miles on the clock I decided to service the bike, problem was no dealers in Newcastle had a genuine oil filter. I had to take the CB550 out for a run to Batley where I bought five filters. The tappets and ignition didn’t need adjusting. The chain was loose but there was plenty of adjustment left. The XS400 has two oil drain plugs, the one for the primary drive having a special washer that has to be replaced each time the oil is changed. No dealers had one, but I found that a Leyland injector washer fitted and cured the leak (pack of ten for 40p).
By 2500 miles the motor was sweet as a nut and it was time for our first long run, two up in company with some big Jap fours and British and Wop classics, to Bristol for a 21st birthday party. Perhaps because of the Yam’s small size and, perhaps, because of the bad road test, everyone thought that it couldn’t cruise at 70mph two up - in fact, an owner of a Ducati 450 advised that I set off an hour before the rest of the chaps.
We started off slowly, 60mph down the country roads with the rest of the bunch. It was a really nice May morning and a joy to take all the cars. On the M6 I wound her open to 85mph, the engine felt unburstable and the road was smooth. I felt I could screw the XS up to its top speed, but refrained myself. I enjoyed overtaking the Ducati, a Honda 400/4 and a T150.
At our first stop for petrol, the XS400 idled over lovely and smooth, no roughness, signs of stress or oil leaks, Back on the road and up to 85mph, again, all the way to Bristol. Sadly, the Duke and T150 didn’t make it to Bristol - I'm not laughing while I write this, honest. During the party the CB400/4 owner informs me that he’s going to beat me home by half an hour. I don’t accept the race, telling him that sometimes I like to ride at 50mph (something to do with my Triumph days). Party over, the XS400 refused to start. I told the others to go on without me. I flattened the battery.
I kicked the engine over so many times that I had to strip off. After fitting some new plugs and kicking it over for fifteen minutes, the engine roared into life. Quite a common fault, apparently, with no known cure. I zoomed up the MS at 90mph, until I caught up with the others. The Z900 and CB750 shot off, the 400/4 goes past, the owner giving me the V sign. I opened up the Yam, can’t get past the 400, but he can’t get away. We sped along between 90 and 100mph, depending on road and traffic conditions.
We all pull in for petrol at Lancaster; the Yam idles smoothly at 1100rpm, the Honda sounds upset at two grand. From Lancaster to Carlisle we hold 80mph with no trouble. From Carlisle to Newcastle I indulge the other side of the Yam, and enjoy myself dawdling at a mere 50mph the 400/4 owner was happy too as he kept up his pace and arrived home half an hour earlier than us.
After a mere 4000 miles the rear chain was shot and the bike needed new contact breakers - it’s never refused to start since Bristol. The tappets never needed adjusting (Mr Honda please note). The motor used no oil between changes and it averaged 60mpg - I never could work out why it gave better fuel consumption at 80mph than 70mph.
The XS was used at night for rides to pubs and folk clubs, at weekends for long runs in the company of a Z650 and bigger fours, both solo and two up. In eight months I did 12500 miles on the XS and really liked the bike. I wasn’t the only one, someone pinched it. I really did miss it as nothing ever fell off or even came loose and it really did feel unburstable.
I rode the 550 four for a while, but my heart wasn’t in it and by the time I’d put 2500 miles on the clock I was looking for a twin again. Yamaha were only making custom 400 twins, so I made a big mistake and took the advice of the glossy magazines and bought a Honda 400NA Superdream - what a load of rubbish.
The dealer delivered the bike a mere five hours late. It was idling at 4500rpm, the steering head was loose, the brakes were full of air locks and the seat was torn - so much for the £25 PDI. I complained to the dealer who said he’d fix it at the 500 mile butchery, er, service, but I fixed the faults myself and wrote two letters of complaint to Honda who never bothered to reply.
The Superdream always felt stressed and by 2000 miles the head gasket had been changed three times by three different dealers. At 2500 miles I fitted a new head gasket with a touch of Araldite and torqued down the head way beyond the recommended setting - it never leaked again. The Honda may have looked better than the Yam, and it probably handled a little better, but engine wise it was a lot worse. The best fuel consumption was 50mpg, which went down to 40mpg at 75mph.
Cruise the thing at 75mph for as little as ten miles and the idle became very rough at 3000rpm, showing signs of the stress. I always felt that it was going to break so never really rode much distance on the Honda, doing only 9000 miles in two years. I was glad to see the back of it. I kept the CB550 as back up and bought a CB250RS as a serious hack.
The Yam had a much simpler and more reliable engine than the Honda. I could thrash the Yam in the same way as those old sixties Honda twins. The Superdream looked very flash but this just hid poor engineering (balance shafts when they weren’t really needed, for instance) and I’d buy the Yam every time. Long term reliability of either bike is not particularly good...
William Gould