Condensed from Cycle magazine, January 1982 article which compares the 1982 Honda CM450E model to competitors bikes.

*NOTE*
The test bike used for the article was a CM450E model which was the budget model 450 in 1982. Other models in the
"82" 450 line were much better equipped.    


Introduced in 1977, the Honda 400 was an impressive motorcycle, both in specifications and performance. Five years
later the motorcycle remains contemporary for three reasons. First, Honda engineers probably figured on a long
production life for the 400; thus they designed the engine with certain long-run features, such as three-valve heads,
and room for development. Second, step by step, Honda has refined the 400, steadily building in more engine
performance since 1977. Now Honda has taken one more step, increasing the displacement. The 450 version is a
13 second quarter-miler.
Honda boosted displacement from 395 to 447cc by widening the bore from 70.5mm to 75mm. With greater piston weight,
the contra-rotating balancers in the 360-degree twin have become even more important in controlling the vibration.
Honda employs two balancers, one forward and above the cranks axis, and the other below and behind the crank; these
balancers, which rotate in the opposite direction of the crank, are timed to the crank and one another by a 
single-roller chain. The balancers counteract primary imbalance because a 360-degree twin acts, balancewise, like a
big single. Stronger rod bolts and new heat treating for the connecting rods back up the increased displacement, and
Honda has discarded the rubber cushions in the clutch drum in favor of spring-type cushions. In the gearbox, the Honda
450 carries an overdrive sixth gear as a gas-saving measure; the change drops the engine revs dramatically on the
fifth-to-sixth gear change.
All Honda 450s carry the engine-mounted oil cooler that has been fitted only on the earlier 400 Automatics. As power
and displacement go up, so does engine heat. In retrospect, the inclusion of the oil cooler in the original 400
design scheme now looks like forward planning. Hondas CM450E has a blend of custom and standard styling; in fact,
the stepped seat and 16-inch rear wheel are the bikes most obvious custom touches. The motorcycle has drum
brakes, front and rear; the front anchor is a 200mm double-leading-shoe device. While Syntallic bushings improve the
forks compliance to road irregularities, the Honda has non-adjustable suspension, unless you count the
spring-pre-load adjustment on the rear shocks.
The Honda has no tach; the tach pod contains the normal warning lights (turn, neutral, high beam) and an overdrive
light, which winks on when the bike is in sixth. The Hondas choke knob resides up by the instruments rather than on
the left side of the port carburetor, a position used by other manufacturers. Too bad the Hondas choke knob couldnt
do anything about the engines very noticeable flat spot between one-sixteenth and one-eighth throttle. The Hondas
lack of a centerstand is a real annoyance; some situations (such as parking on a steep grade or in softish asphalt,
or lubing the chain) demand a centerstand.
