new guy with an XS400

rear fender is generic boat trailer fender and the bars are clubmans turned upside down(which I think is blasphemy...)

 

I gotta say, I like'm *drools* I may have to pick one of those up...

They're about $30 shipped on eBay...

 

by the way..

Does anyone know the power/torque output of the 400 Maxim? I found a site that said it had about 27 horsepower, but that the seca of the same year had 45..

I always thought the two bikes had the same drivetrain, just that the rest of the bike was set up differently. If the Seca DOES make more power, what were the differences that gave it that extra power? Someday I may want to add those extra few ponies, and if its possible I'd love to know how, assuming of course that the above facts are indeed true...

Anyone got any light to shed on this?

 

same motor same power...around 40-45 ponies is right...Germany had a restricted model that was limited to 27 for licensing reasons.

 

That is exciting news

I'll have to remember to take it easy when I start riding then. The only other thing I've ridden was a 250 Nighthawk during the MSF course

 

for HP I've seen tha stats posted as 38 and 4x so ya, that's the ballpark...

Not mentioned in the manual :/

 

still sounds like plenty for a first time rider

Also, my friend let me borrow his sportster tank that he has on his project Triumph 500 (not running or even remotely hooked up, so we just took it off and test fit it on my bike






I KIIINNDDD of like the look, but I'm undecided. I don't mind the pressed frame showing so much since mine is red and cool but idunno.. Its got a sort of attitude i think, and it looks like it wants to get in a fight with other bikes in the alley. thats cool and all, but im still not sure..

Do you guys think it looks alright?

 

No

 

thats what the general consensus is...

maybe I should just make my own coffin-style tank or something

 

I'd rather see what the two piece tank looks like. installed at a proper level.
That sporty tank is a no-go!

 

If only I knew someone who could lend me their tank lol

I'm bidding on a set of fat bob tanks that are at about $40, hopefully I can win these cheap...

 

I ended up winning the fat bob tanks for $53

 

3.5 gallon fat bob tanks on the bike. I'm gonna try and put the wiring harness through that gap in the center, and make a metal trim piece to cover it all, hiding both the gap and the wires

 

looks good to me - far better than that other tank you stuck on there the other day.

 

Heh, yeah that tank was just borrowed to see if a sporty tank would fit. Alas, it did not. The bigger two piece harleys look great though

 

please, oh please don't put those fugly gauges back on...you don't need a tach, no one cares about the mileage, and you can get a tiny nice speedo for $40 from mikes XS or JC Whitney...

 

lol, i know I hate it too

but its not a necessity. A new speedo will happen when I have the extra cash for one. I'm all out at the moment thanks to those Tanks. they were $53 with $37 of shipping

My bank account is too busy healing

 

dwcopple, love your sig.
Kimbo got rocked.
:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

So i hooked everything back up, save for turn signals and lights and tried to crank it

the previous owner said it would crank, but it would not receive spark. but when i hooked it all up to my car battery, i got nothing, not even the click click click of the solenoid.

anyone have any idea what could be preventing any sort of cranking/starting other than a bad solenoid (which i suppose is possible)

 

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=7828.html


Everything you ever wanted to know....

 

You sir are a hero

I love this forum

 

Any updates???

 

Coming back to the metal piece dropped in the fuel tank, why not use a magnetic rod to pick it up? Wouldn't you be able to do that even without removing the tank?

 

lol, i assume you mean the original tank? i dont even know if its metal or not. it could be a rock for all i know. and besides, the harley tanks look sooooo good

No real updates yet. Sorry I havent been around. School is taking almost ALL of my time lately.

 

hey y'all. got some updates for ya

sorta

first of all, sorry for pretty much disappearing for a million years...

see about the time i stopped posting I had tried to sell the bike. I was originally gonna let it go for $200. Then one of the prospective buyers said for the same price, he could also rewire the bike for me, and get it to run. I thought about this and decided to spring for the wiring job.

Fast foreward to now. we lost contact for a while, his phone # changed, a bunch of random crap, but the important part is my little maxim is home! The wiring harness is much simplified though. its pretty much bare bones. the only things he kept on the bike were what i needed to make it run. no turn signals, or even lights (I'm gonna eventually wire up headlight and brake/tailight, but no turns)

he even put an ignition cylinder on it, which the bike didnt have before hehe... when I got it, it didnt have keys. when the previous owner got it, it didnt have keys. the PO had cracked the ignition open and turned it all by hand. anyhow, i was toying around today, and i finally got the bike to crank. i had to hook up a new battery (didnt have one before) and put a start button on, but now it cranks.

problem is... no spark. and frankly, I have no idea what to do about it. attached is a pic of pretty much what the harness looks like now. any tips or guidance would pretty much make you my lord and saviour

thanks guys!

the current wiring setup (minus the lights)



bike as it sits

 

use this

 

So ive wired the bike up almost entirely, as per that diagram. All the lines I've darkened have been wired (see picture)



now whats left me confused is the following:





I have no orange wire coming out of my rectifire regulator. but I do have those green and black wires coming out. is that just a difference from my bike being an XS (the diagram says XJ so..) I'm guessing the green might be equal to the orange an the black is that unlabeled ground on the diagram? I also dont know where to plug the brogn wire that comes out of the rectifire regulator. it goes to two places on the diagram, but the one i cant find is the one going to the ACG..

on that note, where is/what is the ACG?

I also have some Q's about the ignitor portion of the diagram



first, am i right in assuming that the plug that goes deep into the bowels of the motor is leading to that pick up coil? i mean the plugs got all the right wires...

heres what it looks like right now



is the little tiny black wire supposed to be that ground coming off the ignitor in the diagram, or is it supposed to go to the pickup coil? and what the heck are those unconnected wires, the blue, the black/white and the black/red?

the bike doesnt crank right now,but i suppose thats because its not all wired up lol

so yeah... thats where i am right now. any more help would be sweet

I can't wait to get this thing on the road I havent ridden anything since my MSF course last year and i really want to ride again

 

blue is for neutral light, black-red is for oil light, black white is for safety tip over or sidestand crap...none is needed. YES the black wire out of the CDI box grounds to the frame...Tie ANY open brown wires to the ON side of the key or switch you are using...you'll be all set in a minute!!!

you're welcome!

 

I can send you a scan of the original MAX 400 wiring diagram if you need it to reference any color differences....

 

Well.. I grounded the black wire from the CDI, and the only brown wire(it did have a Y split in it.. dunno if thats original or from the wiring guy) is going to the toggle switch i have

still though... no cranking, no clicking, no nothing.

On the section of the diagram that shows the CDI, there are 4 wires going to the pickup. I only have three. One black, one grey and one orange. I still dont know what to do about that..

also, from the rectifire regulator, the diagram shows the need for a ground, which i cant identify as well as an orange wire going to the ACG. the brown wire that goes to the switch in the diagram splits, just like my brown wire, and goes back to the ACG. trouble is.. I have no idea where tha ACG is or how to get that split from the brown back to it

everything else is done exactly per that diagram..

 

ACG is alternator in the Motor! the two blacks into the CDI shouldn't matter...they just ground...one is sufficient...I just cant understand why your harnesses are so jacked up...who did that to them?
I am not so sure the ACG has any other wires besides the white ones coming out of it...hang on a minute...maybe a brown that ties into the ON side which is the one you are holding I think...you do have a blue and white wire going from the starter solenoid to the start button right?

 

the blue/white and red/white wires originally went into a plug, but i ran the wires to the ignitor and the start button onto them and left it unplugged

 

uh, what?

the red and white wire needs to go from the starter solenoid to the coils, and the blue and white wire from the solenoid to the start button...got it?

 

the blue/white wire is exactly that.
and so is the red/white. i said "ignitor" bec (as on the diagram) the red/white goes to the coils and the ignitor

 

Different bike?

 

hey man, i like the bike so far, how long was the bar you made for the hardtail, and how much lower did it make it, thanks

 

I made it, and it was a foot or so. stock shock is around 13.75". topic starter hasn't been here in a LOOOOONG time.

 

True, wonder what happened????

 

HEY! HEY !

I want an update to this thread !

(i got the same bike, im diggin what your doing)

The topic starters been on a few hiatisus since the first post,
but i hope the 'reply' notification i send over to him with hitting Post will get him back.

so .. hey..
COME BACK !

 

I'd like to see an update as well..... GREAT start. Looks like a cool project.

 

tell you guys what, i have the same bike, i am going to build a hardtail lowering strut for it and try to do a minimal wiring harness.

i will keep everyone posted as i do this, it is the same base bike, and is currently a strong runner and my daily driver, so i know it runs, has spark, etc.

 

Dunno if you got a plan or not, but i just hardtaild my xs400,
you can find the build page in the MOD's section, under "kennys build"
if you need any pics, or somethin. im' interested to see how yours goes