400/4 - what to look for when buying?

A mate at work has decided he wants to buy a 400/4 and has asked me to
come and check it over for him.
It's a 1977 on an "R", no MOT, asking £700.

The information I have is:
Seat cover damaged (split/holed) at the sides of the rider part.
Some corrosion on the mudguards - not major.
Appears to have a new exhaust.
It's a runner with with no serious racket.
The "little cover" is "gashed" but no damage to the engine cases. I
presume this is the points cover.
The paint is good and the suspension is ok.
Electrics appear ok.
Should easily pass the MOT.

This is how the bike was described to me - I haven't seen it yet.

It seems the owner bought it as a basket case and rebuilt it. He
regularly fires it up and rides it up and down the farm track. No idea
of mileage.

What I need to know is if there are any potential faults to look for
and does the price seem ok?

TIA

 

If it's a rebuild, it sounds like "reassemble original bits" rather than
"restored". No tax, MOT, meaningful service history. Rusty mudguards,
knackered seat, accident damage, used offroad etc. Suspension "ok" probably
semantically equivalent to "there". Probably cheapest possible aftermarket
exhaust. Original chain, sprockets, tyres. Wheel rims a thin veneer of
chrome over rust. And probably no grab handle...

Could be a little gem, of course, but it sounds like a shitheap to me.

I suspect that if your mate had the mechanical nous to easily turn it into a
sound, reliable road bike, he'd already have a good idea whether it was
worth bothering with.

 

OK, new seat covers are available, but the metal buttons make a
re-cover a bit trickier than normal.

Depends. The rear ones rot through under the seat, and are
unobtainable. NOS ones crop up on Fleabay for about £130.

Genuine Honda or Motad?

Any top end noise?

Yes. easy and cheap to replace. Note that although other Hondas have
the same size cover, the mounting screws are in a different place. So
you *must* get one for a 400 Four.

Original paint? What colour?

They don't usually give trouble.

Originality is all for a decent price. Rattling top ends because of a
seized camchain tensioner are common. There *is* an easy fix, *if* you
know how to do it.

Check for a clunking primary chain. That's expensive.

Front brake calipers seize up: not usually the piston, but the alloy
swinging arm it's fixed to.

Mangled front oil filter bolt head - can make changing the filter a
horrible task.

Disintegrating seat base.

Clocks that are from a 250 - should read up to 120mph and have a
10,000rpm redline.

Broken headlight flasher switch.

Usual head race and swinging arm bush decay.

For £700, I'd expect something with original paint, or a half-decent
re-spray (not necessarily in the right colour), some cosmetic issues as
you've mentioned, and probaby a Motad exhaust.

 

FrJack @ work wibbled:

If it's blue with reg RMV191R run away. Fast,