Greetings from Hong Kong and...

Hello Monster lovers...

Just spotted this pre-loved S4 and wondered if anyone could shed light on what all the mods are on it? The paint isn't exactly what I'm looking for, but it's the right age and the cost is ok; GBP3900 before we knock the usual HK 10% off.

http://www2.ibike.com.hk/buysell/buy...=96763&image=2

Thoughts?

[Dirty]

S4 is water cooled so a little more complex (and powerful) than the 2vs

It's had a tail chop, clutch cover, mirrors, hi level exhausts, 916 mudgaurd.................

[Dirty]

Yellow has similar connotations in Thailand where it was considered the Kings colour. In the recent political turmoil it was hijacked by one side and wearing a yellow shirt became a political statement that could get your head kicked in if you turned up wrong place wrong time, presumably riding a yellow bike ditto!

Asia is culturally complicated

[Kato]

Looks pretty good to me also has a foggy rep paint job nice bike

Service history on that engine is much more important than an air cooled, however if lacking history as long as its clean and fairly low mileage you could always negotiate the price of a full service off the asking price

Well... pants. SOLD!

However, all is not lost and I'm booked in to see this M400 on Sunday. At HK$25,000, that's about 2,000 British Groats. Sound right?

http://www.28car.com/sell_dsp.php?h_...7098746&h_vw=y

The M400's 43hp should do the job around the Hong Kong twisties. In fact, HK is only made up of twisties.

If anyone has any red flags on the M400 or things to poke at (so it looks like I know what I'm talking about!) when I go see it then I'd very much appreciate it.

Added complication? Not ridden with gears for a few years. Hope it all comes flooding back!

[Kato]

It was specifically developed for the Japanese market there was only 1241 Monster 400's ever made, of which 300 went to Saudia Arabia and 941 to Japan a few have since made their way around the globe I know of at least 3 here in the UK, the only down side I see is the sheer lack of power, but if that doesn't bother you then all is good

Thanks Kato!!

Seems to me more than a handful in HK as the classifieds have a few in there that have been sold; yellow, red, white and Dark flavours.

Currently on the hunt for an M400 workshop manual to see just how easy it is to work on before I take the plunge. And, I enrolled onto a refresher course; a bit of a safety briefing never hurt anyone.

[Dirty]

It will be a lot simpler than the S4. Good luck with the hunt, I like the M400s, great little town bike and their rarity makes them special, though of course not so rare there as here.

Thanks Dirty. As they say over here... 谢谢您

[Dirty]

別客氣

.......

[Mr Gazza]

The 400's fascinate me.

At 43bhp it's in the ball park of an awful lot of the popular British twins that once dominated the world. Some of the big ones even aspired to the heady heights of 50bhp...!!

That is just over 100bhp per litre too, so very respectable really.

With appropriate low gearing and, what? a 5 speed box? I would say it's ideal for town riding with the Monster's nimble handling and powerful brakes.

Assuming that you are planning to return to Blighty at some point? I would say that a M400 is one that would be worth bringing home, as we don't have many here...Never seen one myself...Would love to try one out round the local lanes one day...

[Dirty]

I dream of 43bhp

Well then... I just returned from putting a deposit down on an M400.

With my limited knowledge, it seems straight enough, doesn't look like its been down the road, few scratches here and there, but pretty respectable for a bike of that age. We struggled for a while as I couldn't translate 'timing belt' into Chinese!

It's got a few carbon goodies on it (hugger and some other panels on the nearside - maybe you can identify them much better than I can!), an all-in-one LED rear light and indicator thingy, adjustable levers, crash bungs, new tyres, a full belt change 6 months ago. I'll pick it up on Tues or Weds; between now and then I need to remember how to ride a bike with gears! Good grief!

So, this means I can go shopping for new stuff... bike cover, doesn't have the rear seat cover (not sure what they are called), and the front fairing and screen are a bit dodge, but overall it looks like it just needs a little TLC and we're up and running.

If you spot anything that I missed then please let me know - learning lots from this forum but once I get my hands on the little Monster later this week then I guess the learning will ramp up significantly!



Seem to have not gotten the hang of linking photos to this site just yet!












http://www.flickr.com/gp/133079087@N02/f8918y

http://www.flickr.com/gp/133079087@N02/G0m214

http://www.flickr.com/gp/133079087@N02/F1C04t

http://www.flickr.com/gp/133079087@N02/78Z2fr

[Darren69]

Looks ok, nice and clean. What year is it?

Thanks Darren. It's a 2000 and came into HK in 2010.