Karim
Lopez, pictured here in 1979 visited us at the MCN show February 2014. He
showed me these photo's and kindly agreed to share the story behind the
bike.
"I remember Pink Floyd's wall concert in 1981 as I was there.
This was the last CB400F to arrive in Gibraltar in 1978 before the introduction of the Honda 400 Dream which i disliked. Although i was only 16 at the time and couldn't obtain my learners licence i persuaded my father to buy it. The cost was £800.00 approx new and we stored it at the Dockyard Naval Base for almost a year during which time my father would take me nearly every weekend to practice my clutch control and clean it !! ( First Picture).
On the 17th July 1979 the great day arrived and i drove it out ( Second Pic with L Plate on the front fork). I soon managed to clock the first 1000km and took it to the local dealer for it's first service. Disaster was about to happen. When i went to pick it up later that afternoon i was told that the mechanic had test driven it and suffered a serious accident. My gleaming Four Four was a total loss. ( Crazy mechanic broken leg !). I walked back home devastated helmet in hand.
I was offered a 400 Dream in replacement which i declined and after a long struggle i managed to convince them that either they gave me a new CB 400 F which they couldn't obtain or a new CB 650 F (Black) in the showroom. I drove out with the 650. I would later drive this bike from Gibraltar ( closed frontier with Spain) via Tangiers and Algeciras to Earls Court Exhibition London to see Pink Floyd " The Wall" in 1981.
I would later on trade it for the CB 900 F Bol D Or — in
— in Gibraltar, Gibraltar.This was the last CB400F to arrive in Gibraltar in 1978 before the introduction of the Honda 400 Dream which i disliked. Although i was only 16 at the time and couldn't obtain my learners licence i persuaded my father to buy it. The cost was £800.00 approx new and we stored it at the Dockyard Naval Base for almost a year during which time my father would take me nearly every weekend to practice my clutch control and clean it !! ( First Picture).
On the 17th July 1979 the great day arrived and i drove it out ( Second Pic with L Plate on the front fork). I soon managed to clock the first 1000km and took it to the local dealer for it's first service. Disaster was about to happen. When i went to pick it up later that afternoon i was told that the mechanic had test driven it and suffered a serious accident. My gleaming Four Four was a total loss. ( Crazy mechanic broken leg !). I walked back home devastated helmet in hand.
I was offered a 400 Dream in replacement which i declined and after a long struggle i managed to convince them that either they gave me a new CB 400 F which they couldn't obtain or a new CB 650 F (Black) in the showroom. I drove out with the 650. I would later drive this bike from Gibraltar ( closed frontier with Spain) via Tangiers and Algeciras to Earls Court Exhibition London to see Pink Floyd " The Wall" in 1981.
I would later on trade it for the CB 900 F Bol D Or — in
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