Review of the Honda NT 400 BROS

Please send us your review and opinions about bikes you have known to
renwithnell@hotmail.com

I loved this bike...even though I was nearly killed on it!

I'd seen these around a few times, and I liked the single sided swing arm, the simple compact styling and the small but beefy looks. It always made me think of a mean aggresive terrier, small but vicious.

And when I needed some simple, reliable transport when the training bike had to go back I looked for one of these. I found a clean one but with some scratches and nicks for a good price. Those who know me will know I'm not fussy about how a bike looks, it's how well it works that bothers me. And it worked very very well. I'd been using a more powerful CB400 super four and was concerned the lower power would be dissapointing. But what it lacks in HP it makes up for with plenty of torque. It made me smile, and that's what matters.

It took a while but when I got used to the handling...what a superb handling bike! It feels like a big 125 in that it's light and thin, but it has more power and that torque. It's at it's best on twisty roads using it's flexible engine and planted handling. It is awesome fun.

On the larger roads it will cruise 2 up all day at 70, going to 95 or 100 at a push. Acceleration up to 60 is plenty good laughs but over this it pulls solidly but slowly. It's OK on motorways, it took me to Brighton and Cornwall with no great worries. It's not ideal for distance and loading the thing took some inginuity. Nah, it's a b-road hopper that can do anything else if asked

The motor is a sleeved down and reduced stroke version on the NTV650, the popular courier machine. It should last forever. In 650 fromat it's been known to run to 100,000 miles and more, so the less stressed 400 should be even better. I ran mine up to 45,000 kilometers, about 27,000 miles and it never missed a single beat.

But beware the tyres. I had this bike up to my accident when I still liked to push on a little. I was never a mad rider but I could eat a rear Bridgestone in 4,000 miles. You might expect this on a big weighty 750 sports bike but not a light 400. With fuel running about 50mpg it was not the cheapest transport available.

I'd recommend this bike to someone who wants reliability, good handling and is not too fussy about overall speed. It can be used everyday then played with at the weekend.

It's such a shame mine ended up in a breakers in a poor old state. Some bugger is probably using the nice new Bridgestone I'd just fitted before I was wiped out.

Post A Comment

Your Name
Your Comment

Please type the above number into the box below (I get a lot of automated spam...sorry)