I am 50 years old and have owned an interesting aray of bikes (CD175, YDS7, CBR1000, RD350LC, R80RT, VIRAGO - yukk, big mistake, KLR250, TS185, TS250 and others that I can't remember right now and a Bond Bug!!!!!) without break sence I was 17.
I owned a Honda 400/4 for 7 years and thought it was a nice bike. I never fell in love with the bike's looks, I always felt the 4 in to 1 gave it a slightly lop sided look and whilst the performance was impressive at the time it was never blistering. Equally, it was a bugger to keep the carbs ballanced and my model frequently suffered with a fuel overflow problem which I was never able to properly resolve.
On the other hand, I adore my XBR500. I don't agree with people who say that the bike is ugly. I think it's distinctive bulbous looks are entirely in character with the bikes handling and performance. Also, out of all the bikes I have ever owned it is the one that gets the most admiring glances from non-bikers when it's polished up on a sunny day - I think it's the Wallace and Grommit factor! It's quicker and handles better than the 400/4, it's a doddle to work on and my wife says it's the best of the bikes that I have owned for riding pillion.
My point is that in all the bike mags, particularly the jap classic mags, the 400/4 is renowned as an undisputed classic and yet I see very little reference if at all to the XBR. I know that to a certain degree this is all subjective but IMHO after 30 plus years of riding, this bike is the best I've ever owned and it appears to be one of the best kept secrets in the biking world.