Hondamatic 450 for touring?

1858 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by longdistancerider, Jul 20, 2019

starman

Discussion Starter · Jul 15, 2019

Hi all! I've been really interested in a 1983 CM450A I found locally; does this bike have enough get up and go to sustain highway speeds (75-85mph) for extended periods? I've never ran an air-cooled bike before, so I'm not sure how hard it's pushed by riding hard. All of mine have been much newer. I've never had a bike that wasn't a Honda "under-stressed" design capable of WOT all day so I'm not sure how to treat one like this (if it isn't *also* under-stressed, but I'm not sure).

I'd be moving over from a Honda Helix 250cc which barely hits 70mph WOT on the freeway, making those rides a bit underpowered and gusty... the 10 inch tires don't help much. The Hondamatic also weighs about 60 more pounds which I figure should help.

Any other impressions of the 450A from owners would be awesome!

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knauff13

· #3 · Jul 16, 2019

I've found that on my 1978 400A, I can hit and hold 70 without a problem. 75, I'm not so sure. I think that's probably close to the max speed for me/my bike as it currently stands... I weigh 185 and probably don't have it tuned as well as it could be. I don't hesitate to get on any roads that average 55-70, but on some of the faster interstates where people think you're slow at 70 mph, it makes me a little uncomfortable.

I'm sure the extra 50 ccs will give you a little better output, but I'm not sure how much.

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knauff13

· #5 · Jul 16, 2019

Performance on a hondamatic is pretty different from a manual between the torque converter sapping a healthy percentage of the power and the wide power bands with only two gears. I would guess a 400A performs more like a 250.

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