Faults:

Original seat was torn, had it recovered.

Battery side cover was missing, found one at a junkyard, repainted tank and side covers all black.

Chain was unreliable, replaced with new.

Windshield brackets to turn signal arms failed, both sides broke, made replacement aluminum brackets from slightly thicker plate.

No center stand, added one from junkyard off of a Honda 500.

Headlamp was dented and dim, replaced with new.

Instrument panel bulb burned out, replaced with new.

General Comments:

Very reliable, clean running bike.

Needs to be warmed up in cooler weather.

Shakes dangerously at highway speeds over 70.

100 mile range on 2.3 gallon tank limits trip length before refueling.

Not a speedster off a standing start, and not a lot of passing power on highway, however very smooth through gears, and sixth gear is a real bonus.

Faults:

The seat has started to wear badly and rip.

The bike has started to bog down through gaining speed and accelerating. Problem with the carbs?

General Comments:

The bike is very quick off the line.

I bought the bike a short time ago, and am very pleased with it. I am a beginner rider, feel really comfy on it, and I am 6'2" 220.

Will be shortening the turn signals and type.

Faults:

Well since I bought the bike I have totally rebuilt, chopped, rewired and added many new parts to the bike.

As far as having something go wrong, my main problem was carburetors. I had to finally take to repair shop and have them re-jetted, tuned, synced, and dyno-ed. But other than that, I haven't had to replace any parts.

General Comments:

I chopped up my Honda CM450E totally! I chopped off the rear portion of the frame, added taillights inside cutoff portion of rear frame. Removed rear shocks and replaced with custom made struts, so it's a hard tail now. Made a custom springer seat, which is actually quite comfortable even with the hardtail. Redid all the wiring completely, and removed anything unnecessary from the bike, ie. side skirts, battery tray, electrical tray, and made a custom wire box/holder under seat. Made a custom battery box under seat. Added a new chrome hi-watt headlight. Pretty much made my bike fully custom, one of a kind bike. It's old school.

Now that it is FINALLY done, I mean fully running. This bike is extremely fast for a 450. That being said though, I have a stage 3 jet kit in carbs, custom straight pipe exhaust, and custom air filter/ air pods. So my bike is differently modded, and was dyno-ed to around 60HP!! Stock is around 45HP.

Braking is not so great, but it's drum, what do you expect?

Handling is very good since bike is so small.

I am a very experienced rider, and stand 6' tall, 165 lbs, so not a small guy, but I can easily ride this bike, and it's actually quite fun to ride.

Now all this being said, I never rode the bike when it was stock, so I have nothing to compare to as far as recommendations. But, I do know, with some minor modifications, the Honda CM450E is a very quick, response easy to handle bike.

Faults:

Front forks were clicking and sticking slightly at points through the total fork turning radius - replaced seals and bearings which solved problem.

Front brakes squeal - problem still exists.

No center stand came with this model - added one from a junkyard off another Honda model.

A little rough over bumps... still experimenting with the different rear shock settings.

Sometimes hard to get into first gear at slower speeds, or from neutral when stopped into first gear.

Wobbles at speeds over 70 mph; it is just not built for higher highway speeds.

General Comments:

Overall very reliable bike, likes to be warmed up before heading down the road, consistent 50+ mpg city, 60+ highway, smaller tank means only 100-110 mile range before refueling.

Nothing flashy, but a solid "real bike" feel for a lighter weight bike. Very enjoyable ride city and shorter highway trips.