He has a CB400T  (I think that is what it is).  He wants it to be restored to orignal set up down to the Stickers, Badging and Paint.  Any referances for a jumping off point would be helpful.  Yes it runs but...
 
1.  Around between 3000-4000 RPM's it stalls but higher or lower then that it shifts great.
2.  The paint has about 2 or 3 layers and the old chrome front end has black paint on it now as well.
3.  And most if not all the badging and stickers are falling off pealing or gone.
4.  The cables are rusting and work but just barelly.
5.  Any Transmission upgrades possable?
6.  It has Oil leaks in a few places on the motor but not to bad.  I think it may be the seals,  but on the cylinder head on the side of the spark plug it may be spitting out where the top of the motor and the cylinder connect is there normally a head gasket there or something like that?

Any of the Answers would be helpful because it will get me riding that much sooner because while I do this for him I can ride it.

Thanks In Advance for the advice!

The flat spot at 3000 can proably be cured with a carb cleaing 
You need to know the year, as well as the model. If it's not too old  you can probably find parts at  Honda Direct Line. 
The paint is a loss and if paint is adhering to chrome parts, the chrome is probably rusted
If you can't find the OEM replacement cables at Honda Direct Line, try  Motion Pro

The transmission is what it is.
'
Degrease the engine and tighten some bolts before you spend money on gaskets.  

Good luck with your project.

Sorry, 1980. But he just had the carb rebuilt. But the old owner cut off the tail pipe and welded a sporty pipe on the end of it with out a baffle in it. Was wondering if that may have been part of the problem as well?

But thanks for the info!

ok I was thinking it was as well but wanted to conferm that.

Once I get it over here to where I'm at, I'll try to post some pics. Of before and when I'm done if I ever get it done. haha

Hate to be a downer but....He could probably get one in better shape on Ebay if he's gonna do a total restore.A guy I know has a beautiful 52 BMW he restored to museum quality at a cost of 40 grand and it's only worth about 10.

Well he desided to sell the bike to me and I can't turn it down for $300.00 So I'm going to repaint it and clean it up a bit and ride it until it falls appart or I upgrade to a newer bike and sell it.

Sounds like a fun project to me, I love working on old bikes. You said it does run but with some problems so that's a god thing. From what you said it should be a lot of time and elbow grease and hopefully not too much money. Cables and gaskets are just a few bucks. Even paint is not that expensive if you tear it down and do all the sanding and prep your self and just go with a single color.

Good luck and let us know more when you get it back at your place so we can give some more specific help!

Yep been sanding the last 2 days it had 3 layers of paint on it and it is all by hand.  But I have time to kill,  and I still get to ride it when I want to and it is together.  The Oil leak was an easy fix (had to titen the Oil filter bolt and body)  Just trying to find some bits and pieces together to replace and repair some of the parts it needs from the other 4 owners but the Oil is Metal free when I drained it and was not a burnt smell.  The Carb was rebuilt 4 months ago so it is ok but I think part of the stalling at 3000-4000 rpm is mostly due to having no back pressure on the exhaust and no cross exhaust.  But I think I may deal with it becuase the pipes are loud but not excssive to me.  But for the most part it seams like a solid little starter bike.  All the lights work, gears shift easly, just need to titen the chain and get a new Oil filter and then paint it for just riding around town. 

Been having a blast looking for parts and checking all the nuts and bolts on it to see if I can find more missing or need replaced.

my mistake, I thought you hadn't got it home yet.

Depending on how much the exhaust has been modified and the amount of back pressure you have you may be able to tune the carb to perform a little better with the setup. If not head for your local motorcycle swap and see if you can find a set of pipes.

It looks ruff but it is a solid bike the last owner tryed to strip off paint and... ya it did not go well.  So as you can see most of the black is off the bike am working on getting blue off it to get it down to plastic / metal to get a nice base coat on it then take it up to the local Tech college and have them paint it (because they are going to school for it and it will be cheap and easyer for them with proper the equipment).  Going to also do the body work myself (got to learn some where).  But the leak from where the Oil filter goes still leaks when the bike is on but not when it is off, But I found out there is a rubber seal that I need to replace (wish I knew that before I filled it with oil and new filter.)  But I'm learning.

With the rear tire and chain with the chain being lose.  Should I replace it or just move the rear tire and wheel back and titen the chain up because it has 2-3" of play on the bottom and 1-2" on the top so I know it is lose.  But I need to know what to look for to see if the chain stretched or just was lose from being used.

 I've attached a section from a Yamaha XV250 service manual that shows how to inspect the chain for wear. 
Also, inspect your drive sprockets, the ends of the teeth should be square, not pointed.
Both the front and rear sprockets should be replaced when the chain is replaced.  I buy chains and sprockets for our Hondas from  Bike Bandit dot COM

Man that bike don't look near as ruff as I was expecting from your previous posts and when you said you got it for $300.

Hell your practically on the road already.

Do those mufflers have any baffles in them?

yep it runs good but it has a hell of an oil leak where the oil filter goes going to try some liquid sealent to seal it it keeps driving me nuts. Been on the road doing some pratice oil leak or not just need to buy another quart of oil but I got to ride it 2 times. The old owner got a bagger and needs the cash so he is letting it go cheap. (he needed the $300 for his clutch upgrade to hydrollic). Nope they are strait pipes off a sporty from what I was told.

 You can probably get O-ring  #10 at the auto parts for a buck.

If its been sittin a while then your beast bet is to replace any and all gaskets and seals that are easy to get to. Gaskets should only be a couple of bucks and like Mike said a good hardware store should have all the o rings you need.

As for the pipes, I would recommend to start checking swaps meets and such for an original set. Not sure if you will be able to tune the carb to the straight exhaust, plus the more original parts you can find, the better the bike will look. Do you have any motorcycle salvage yards by you. We have a few down here that you can find just about anything and get it for about its worth as scrap metal.

Those aren't straight pipes. They are mufflers (probably with the baffles removed) and they aren't off a sporty. They wouldn't fit if they were.

I don't recommend you use a liquid sealer. They can do more harm then good, but if you do, use it very sparingly. If it gets into the engine it can cause major problems. If you've changed the filter and it still leaks, it could be an issue with the thread. Clean the thread out really well. Make sure there is no debris. Then inspect the thread for wear/damage.

I'm going to run to the dealer here, because we don't have any salvage yards that have bikes. Yes, I would like to modify it not just put it back to stock. As for tuning the carb for the unbaffled muflers any ideas? I don't have a clue as of yet this is my first and learning bike for repairs and working on. As for what they got the mufflers off of, I was told that was what they were off. But I dont know for sure. But they are welded on.

I took the Oil Filter off again after draining the new oil and cleaned it all again. It was still going over the #11 gasket and I cleaned the grove that the #11 Gasket sits in so maby it will help. Looked at the bolt and looked for worn or cross threading and they look good no worn or metal flakes hanging off the threads or in the old oil. And thanks for the heads up on the liquid sealer.

Ok.... Got the Oil leak stopped! Finally took it off and cleaned every thing again put it back on and it did not leak filled the fluids again and started it up and ran it around the block and still no leak it looks good!

Are you sure the carbs need to be tuned. I am assuming the previous owner ran the bike with those pipes and it may already be set up. Have you already put new spark plugs and cleaned up all the electrical connections? If not I would do that first.

Lucky is most likely right. what you should do is have an emission's test run on the bike. That is really the only way to know, for sure if you are running too lean from having straight pipes. If that is an issue there is another way to get an idea of how the bike is tuned, but this is an unscientific method and will only give you a clue as to how the bike is tuned.

Blip test:
1. Start by warming the bike up to normal operating temperature.
2. Blip the throttle up several thousand RPM's or up to redline if you so desire.

As it comes back down to idle one of three things will happen and these are the three results:

1. Upon return to idle it hangs. Where ever it hangs in the RPM's it is running lean. Even a slight hang just before returning to idle means it is running lean at idle.(Must return directly to idle without popping,lag, or hanging).
2. Upon return to idle it goes slightly past and below idle then returns back up to idle speed momentarily. This is a rich run condition.
3. It returns directly to idle w/o any lag, hesitation, or going below idle you have a perfect a/f mixture and run condition.

All that being said. I suggest you buy a service manual for the bike and set it up to factory spec. Find out if your exhaust is truly "aftermarket" or if it just a stock exhaust with the baffles removed. Your bike will run better with baffles.

There are many arguments rolling around about HP/Torque relating to straight (Drag) pipes. Conventional wisdom seems to prescribe straight pipes as a quick and easy way to improve overall performance. The truth is straight pipes improve torque/HP only at high RPM. Meaning: They are effective on the Dragstrip but actually hurt performance on the street. On the street most of your power usage is in the midrange RPM so, the straight pipes actually rob you of some needed power.

That being said, on a big twin Harley or equivalent, that produces a lot of torque, you can get away with straight pipes on the street, but with a 400cc motor you would be much better off with out them.

It's your decision to make. I'm just giving you a little advice to help you make a more informed decision on which direction you want to take with your project. Have fun!

yep thanks for the advice. I want to get new spark plugs and new wires, but they are working for now until I can afford to get more. And as for the service Manual I'm in the same situation but atleast I found one. As for them being stock modifyed it is possable but they took out the cross pipe section of the old pipes. I like it a bit louder like this but it pops bad when rev the rpm's and let off. But other then that it is not to bad for carb being tuned then. But I did clean the plugs and connections until I can get more. And I thought the Oil filter cover was no longer dripping I was wrong it has a slite drip, but it is at least rideable now. I think after this toys for tots run on the 17th I will start it over again to try to get new / new used parts to replace with because I'm loseing ideas. Now also I was told to not use synthetic oil because it tends to leak more because it has smaller molicules, is that based on fact or not? As for the exhaust I would like to update it more and make it have the classic look. But I also want some nice sound. That may prove difficult even if I have to try build it myself.

For that popping you may want to check for an air leak between the carbs and the motor.  There should be a boot (similar to the one pictured to the right) on each carb.  I would remove the boots and replace the o-rings (just a few cents at the HW store) and also lubricate the boot real well - inside and out - with WD 40... especially where it goes over the carb, you want it nice and soft for a good seal.  Then re-install making sure you have a good clean fit on both ends.  Any air leak there at all will cause popping.

If there are cracks, the boot should be replaced, or for a temporary fix you could wrap it with electrical tape.  Since it is sucking and there is no outbound pressure the tape should seal pretty good.