Motorcycle Repair: Honda 400 Steed, chris cheers, learner bikes

Question
Hi Chris,

Thank you for your previous reply on my question re the Honda 400 Steed.

Your answers gave me some definte lines to follow up.

We have confirmed the bike is not stolen, and was manufactured for the Japanese domestic Market, and it is in fact a 400. They have identified it as a Honda 400VLX Steed which would appear to be a local custom vesion very similar to the Honda NV400C.
The bike is apparently restricted to 33 hp for a the learner category over there. The bike is super quiet and I would suspect a lot of the restriction is through the exhaust system. Do you have Any other advise on HP restrictions?
I have been advised ( not sure if correctly) but the only manuals available for this model would be in Japanese)
I would assume that an export model NV400 workshop manual would be the closest thing I can get for this bike. Would these be available from the USA?

Thanks for your help  Chris

Cheers

Alan
NZ


Answer
Hi Alan.

Sadly, there is no restrictions on horsepower for learner bikes here in the States, as there are overseas.  Wish they had it in cars, here, to be honest.

You've taught me something new.  I had no idea that there was an export 400 of the VLX series.  Here there is just the VLX and the VLX deluxe models of the VLX series and they are 600cc's.
 Because of that, you will not find manuals for them here in the U.S.  However, if you check a local (however local they may be) Honda dealership or contact the regional Honda offices, they should be able to set you up with a repair manual which is not written in Japanese.  The repair manual will end up being the shop manual and will be expensive (for a repair manual), but will be worth every penny.  Did you check www.repairmanuals.com to see if they had any not in Japanese?

I wish I could help more on that one, but I'm all out of ideas.

Good luck and ride safe.
FALCON