When our Japanese colleagues from Young Machine reveal a discreet news, it is always worth reflecting. It often happens that the Rising Sun magazine announces something new from the four sisters (Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha) well in advance, just as it would not be the first time that certain rumors turn out to be fanciful.
But we would like to say a few more words about this alleged new Honda CB 400 for 2025, not so much because it could also reach our market (a possibility that is still to be proven), but because 2024 would be the 40th anniversary of the first Honda CB 400 Four and… In short, in our opinion, important anniversaries should be celebrated: does Honda agree?
First of all, the news: as we mentioned, for several days now a rumor has been circulating in Japan – not confirmed in any way by Honda sources – that a new generation of the Honda CB 400 is on its way, both in the naked version and in the fairing version, and above all, equipped with the new electronically controlled E-Clutch that we saw at EICMA 2023 in the crankcases of the CB650R and CBR650R.
This leaves us, at first glance, a little perplexed: the Honda CB 400 Super Four and Super Bol d’Or were removed from Honda’s list at the end of 2022 because it was not considered necessary to update their engine to the latest outdated standards and also because the sales numbers were no longer what they used to be, perhaps also the result of list prices that reflected the refinement of the construction (there was also the Hyper Vtec variable timing system). What would be the purpose of bringing them back a few years later? Have the reasons for their discontinuation disappeared?
Everything is possible, none of us can know in detail the strategies of the builders, especially since the Honda CB 400s were rarely imported here. However, in Japan, there has been talk of a new generation of these motorcycles for at least a year, and if we combine these rumors with the news that Honda Motorcycle Sales has just been created in Shanghai (which will start operating on April 1, 2024) with the aim of selling medium and large displacement motorcycles in China, everything can take on a different perspective: could it be – a more than obligatory condition – a new generation of Honda 400 also intended to meet the demand for 400/500 cc motorcycles in the Chinese market?
From this point of view, it would have a whole different meaning and imagination could go even further, imagining a four-cylinder sport bike that could accompany the Kawasaki ZX4-R or the KOVE 450 RR and perhaps, who knows, even reach Europe as the heir to the CBR400RR from the 90s that never arrived in our country. It would be almost a unique event, which would be announced precisely on the 40th anniversary of the debut of the Honda CB 400 Four! But it is better to calm down the excitement because, as with any rumor, only time will tell if it has any foundation: we will see.
