XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father - DONE!

So a little background here, if you're in the mood for a little story -

My dad had ridden a few bikes when he was younger, but never got his legit class M as back then he would just get his temps every year as it was only 5$ and i guess you could renew it as many times as you liked. So he's ridden, but hadn't for a longggg time. My grandpa gave him his moped when he bought another one, it being a 79' yamaha jog with 8000 miles on it, so it was pretty wore out and didn't have much life left in it. He would ride it to work which is only 3 miles from home, but other than that he couldn't really ride it anywhere in green bay without feeling like roadkill.

Anyway, around the time that i bought my maxim, it just so happened to be around the same time that his class d license needed to be renewed, and without even mentioning anything about it, when he went to do that he once again took the temps test and got his class M temp.

So i let him ride my bike home from school last year while i drove my car home, and when he got on the bike he smiled from ear to ear again just like he was 16 and driving for the first time. It was just so cool to see and i instantly knew that i needed to get him back on a bike.

But my dad being the frugal dawg he is, when i would mention it, he would always say "i'll get one someday". Well, he's 60 and frugal like me, and i knew that unless i did something, he would never get around to actually picking up a bike.

The thing being that my dad's legs are pretty short, i wanted to find a smaller bike as he doesent need anything big, my 750 is way more bike than he needs, as he only rides around town and to work, and down to oostburg (1.5 hours or so) to visit his dad.

So I had my heart set on finding a 550 seca, and a while later, picked one up. I've been working on it ever since, but with school being more and more consuming the closer i become to graduation, and it turning from a "get it running, safe, and reliable" project to a frame up restoration/rejuvenation/resto-mod , I just dont have the time nor money to be able to finish the bike within the timeframe that i had wanted/planned to.

So then a while ago i picked up a bunch of bikes for the shop, one of which was this 81 XS400:



Fell in love with it, only 12k on the odo, 100% complete down to the tool kit minus a broken turn signal, and bent headlight brackets, and a roached front fender, and thought just how perfect of a bike it would be for my dad. Big enough to take down to his dad, but small enough for him to handle confidently and not be way overkill riding the 3 miles of 25&30mph roads to work.

Buttttt, only thing is it not having a title, so that kinda put the kabosh on that.

But while taking the seat off to list on ebay, i found a PO's registration papers from 2010 with his phone number, address, and believe it or not the guy's soc. security # on it, so my hopes were raised once again as if i could track the guy down then i could have him file for a replacement title and put on new tires, battery, go through the brakes, do the carbs, adj. valves, new plugs, fresh oil/filter, fusebox, just the basics of bringing it back to reliable and safe with a bit of elbow grease and have it back on the road within s few weeks.

Wellll, the guy wouldnt answer the phone, and i was starting to get bummed, but then saw another xs400 pop up on CL for 600$

So after some hagling and dancing with the guy on a price, i go look at it, take it for a little rip to make sure things are basically solid, and ended up talking the guy down to 360$ and rode it 40 miles home at 11pm last night.

Probably not the best idea with the tires and brakes, shot handlebar bushings, and all the other things that are toasted on it, but it made the trip and the engine ran like a top the whole time, and it shifts super smooth. I just couldn't afford to take the work truck to pick it up because that only gets 8mpg lol.

So anyway, here's the newest additon to the stable, an 81 XS 400.

The tank has a decent dent, and theres quite a few little things that need fixed, ins. pannel lights, broken tank emblem, tach, smashed turn signal, po lost the key and wired in a toggle switch, whoever put on the 2-1 ripped off the center stand, missing a mirror, but the plant is solid and its all there, plus, i just so happen to have access to a perfectly complete parts bike with all of those things on it that my boss is cool with me having, so it was a no brainer to pick it up. I plan on putting back on the stock pipes and center stand too obviously.

So here she is! I'll post more pictures as the progress continues, should all happen pretty fast!





Crazy thing, i stopped at the gas station to top it off before heading home and the odo read 19992.0 - and i was born in 1992. - wild.


anyways, here she is back home in the garage:



which is starting to look pretty good i must say


But the cx500 is for sale, 1500$ if you know anyone looking for a bike!
New tires, batt, oil/filter, carbs cleaned, new pads, plugs, front brakes rebuilt, all ready to rock! (small plug there )






Just thought I'd share some of the excitement!

Chris

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

Nice. I can't wait till I get my XJ fully functional again.

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

i hear you there, i cant wait to get this bad boy in tip top shape!

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

Amazing story !! I hope your dad can get on it by spring !!

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

Thanks! I hope so too, wanting to actually finish it in time before it gets too cold to ride it the 100 miles home to give to him, will be bundled up like a polar bear either way haha

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

So I called up my locksmith who does all of the key/lock related things for the shop, and he said it would be 35$ to cut a new key from the ignition.

I then had an idea to call the near-ish yammie dealer and see if they could cut me one from the code on the bottom of the ignition instead. Its a pretty neat shop because it's been around since 1966 and the owner/founder's son who is now in his late 50's is still a tech there and his dad who's 87 still comes into the office everyday, so when it comes to knowing about whats up with older bikes, they're always super helpful. They let me swap the shims for my maxim for free, so thats pretty rad.

Anyway, went there and the son cut me a key from the ignition code, was pretty hard to see and the first one we tried we cut a D instead of a C which is what it actually was, but he was super cool as always and I left with a brand new perfectly working key for only 10$ - way cheaper (and faster) than the locksmith!





Also, found the reason why the tach wasn't working, pretty obvious haha


More to come soon, spent the weekend making a few extra bucks replacing the wheel bearings in a friends prius, so that took up the garage for the weekend.

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

Sweet!

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

Nice! Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

Great fun the XS 650, this is what I did with mine.

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

sofa king gorgeous Wiz... If I ever get a chance at an XS i'll take it, calm compared to the XJ I figure reckon.

M

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

The XS's are notably a generation older but have a charm of their own. I have a 80 XS850 Midnight Special and love it. The three cylinder engine has a sound of its own and the low grunt of a two cylinder but revs like a four. I recently put a Vetter faring and trunk on it and took a 700 mile trip to the Dragon and Moonshiner 28. Enjoy your bike.

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

The XS's aren't overly fast, but they are seriously built like tanks. The (SOHC) 400 and 650 are nearly mechanically identical. Solid bikes.

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

Totally agree with all above, not overly fast, tame compared to an xj, but still no doubt a rock solid, fun to ride, nice sounding scoot.

I cant wait to get it finished, I put in a big order at the shop after work yesterday so parts should be coming in pretty soon.

Nice bike as always Wiz, beautiful.

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

Been making a bit of progress, life's been a bit rocky, I'll copy over from my thread on the xs400 forum here: http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11695

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

Bike was more or less on hold for a short time, my grandfather whom was the person who i looked up to more than anyone else in the world passed away unexpectedly a few weeks ago now and things have been crazy with all involved, and I have a pile of school-related responsibilities that i need to get taken care of first, as I know that both my father and grandpa would rather see me succeeding in school than making progress on the bike, even though my dad will love it.

Priorities priorities priorities.

I just thought I would drop in and give an update so that you all don't lose faith in the project!

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

I do have these pictures though -

So there was a big dent in the tank that i had/have confidence that will come out for the most part and look decent-ish for the time being before i can strip and bondo and re-spray the tank and side covers.

before:


First try was a cheap 2$ sink plunger -


And the lower part of the dent indeed came right out:




The plunger so far failed to pop out the upper dent, the plunger is getting enough suction, the issue rather being that the rubber part that actually creates the seal/suction kept popping off of the rest of the plunger(the billowed yellow part)

So once i find my gorilla glue, I'm going to try gluing the rubber ring to the yellow part of the plunger and then try again. If not, I'm sure that I can find some body shop that has a commercial vacuum type dent puller.

Otherwise, last resort being that i sand a small area down to bare metal in the center of the dent, then weld a small stud to that, pull the dent, cut/grind off the stud, and then take a little touchup paint to the area.

But i have a feeling if i do that, I'll just say screw it and re-paint the whole tank.

Time will tell, I'll hopefully be painting the tank/cowl/fender/side covers of my 550 seca this winter, and i figure if i have the gun out and the paint booth set up, i may as well paint this bike as well.

But that's a tad ways off still, as the frame's still in primer and i still need to decide just exactly how i want to go about painting the engine for the 550, or whether i'm going to paint it at all.

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

My mind is a bit cloudy it seems still so i for some stupid reason still feel as if i can't make progress as efficiently as I'm used to, always loosing train of thought and spacing out on what all i have to do to the bike. But i'm going to make a list that I'll hang in the garage so i'll be able to cross things off, so that should help I'm thinking. But like last night, i was in the garage for like 4 hours and got done what should have taken 1.

But oh well, can only get better as time goes on and life returns to a more normal state.

Anyway, I picked up a blade-style fuse box while I wait for the steering bearings in the mail, As alot of what i have to do involves tearing the front end down, replacing cables and such, rewiring in the ignition, swapping bars, etc.



The old:


Looks sketchy:


Pulled the clips off the holder:


Clipped all of the terminals as close to the end as possible:


My cat Jim was helping me the entire time: (This cat also being the one who rode all the way back from california to wisconsin on the back of my motorcycle - but that's another story, haha)






:thumbsup:

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

Back on task here -

Wires stripped:


Supplies ready:


Jim was fading a bit:


Terminal crimped:


Covered in Shrink-Tube:


Fire!


And done!


Midway:


And just like how it is on martha stewart, its all done!


Took the old fuse box and broke off the metal tab:


Mounted upside down in stock location:


Grabbed some screws to secure the new fuseblock:


Screwed right into the old fuse box:


Fuses in:


Cover on!

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

But when i put the seat pan on, I noticed that it was hitting a bit. Not much at all, and the seat still latched, but i just didn't like it resting against it at all.

So out came the sandpaper!


One 'ear' sanded:


Both sanded:


A little more roughly cleared out on the underside edges where it mounts on the bike:


And sanded:


Back on:


And success!


Next in order was to deal with this little injury:


PO decided that the best remedy was to just throw in an amber bulb and call it good? :doh:

Nice to have a parts bike right next to it though!


This area was kinda mangled:


The old:


The frame ear was bent out as well, so that the signal would sit at an angle, and that just cant be happenin'


Out comes the mallet!


Much better:


So i go to grab the signal off the parts bike.... and sadly both have suffered identically:


So i grab a front one!


Buttttt the stalks are different lengths:


Jim is still observing:


Ended up pulling off the rear right signal, and that fit the bill perfectly:

 

Re: Now an XS owner as well!! Pics!

Then, I pulled the stock pipes off the parts bike to replace the 2-1 that was on the bike when i bought it:


Sucks that they're in a good bit worse shape that i had thought, but oh well, gotta work with what i have. But i will offer, if anyone has a decently nice stock exhaust, i'll trade you straight up for the 2-1 that i have!

Snagged the tool kit:


Pulled the remaining part of the tach cable out of the bike:




Went to grab the one from the parts bike....


Dangit! Another part that will have to be purchased :/

such is life i suppose!

Gonna have to deal with this little un-mentioned present from the PO



There's 'some' threads in there, so he had just partially threaded another stud into it. Seems to have worked, but if i could get the rest of it out i would feel much better about it. I drenched it in some kroil so hopefully between that, a torch, and some drill and extractor bits, she'll come out for me.

Then, I went to pull the front brake in its entirety off the bike to rebuild the caliper and mc, but cannot get the upper brake hose support/mount bolt to budge because of its awkward/cramped placement.


So what i was wondering, is how do i remove the front yamaha trim piece? I cant seem to figure it out easily, so i figured instead of spending time and getting frustrated and the possibility of breaking it, i would just ask you guys! :thumbsup:

So that's where i am in this adventure, chain and sprockets are in the mail along with the steering bearings, and the tires are waiting at the shop, so things are in place to start cookin' once i have the time to do it!

Hope the pictures wern't too much, if so just let me know and I can tone it down a bit :thumbsup:

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Following along.Good to see you and Jim are still hanging out.

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

RE: The front fork trim piece: You don't. (At least not easily.) The fork tubes look like they SLIP THRU IT. (Sorry.)

Look in the fiche: http://www.yamahapartshouse.net/oempart ... front-fork

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Thanks!

Damn, that's what I had come to think may be the case, thats a bummer.

But I'll be pulling everything off when i put in new tapered steering bearings anyway, so all in all not the end of the world, I just wanted to get an idea of how much shorter i should make the brake line when I put on the lower bars, so I could get that ordered up and delivered so I'll have everything I need once I have a long weekend to work on the bike.

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Updates on the bike progress -

So just when I thought life was somewhat settling down, once again my world tooka huge flip upside down.

Last weekend I went down to the lady's folks place to meet her extended family for a thanksgiving type of thing which was nice, but my phone died on sunday. so then sunday night i get back into town about 1am and when i plugged in my phone i found out that one of my close friends died just hours earlier that night. Which just kills me because he was such an incredible person, so so so smart, literally one of the smartest people i knew, a semester away from graduating pre-med/bio chem, was doing cancer research with a huge grant that he helped write, was accepted into med school, following his goal to become a doctor and find a cure for his brothers leukemia, and was just one of the most driven people i've ever met. Its just so sad and I miss him so so much. So yeah, that was sunday, i bombed my ex phys exam wednesday, and all my classes are just taking a huge shit this semester. But anyway, sorry for that long negative rant, if i can get my shit together and pass all my classes this semester, i only have 9 credits between me and graduation, and then an internship this summer, so that's pretty cool, but i just havent been able to really get excited or even think about it with all that's been going on, let alone none of it will matter if i don't pass my classes this semester. Its been a rough semester, but hopefully the light at the end of the tunnel will get brighter in the weeks to follow.

So the bike is on hold and will pretty much be until the end of the semester, so later december. Over winter break I will absolutely have some time and next semester my course load should be much more manageable. I'm going to at least try tracking down and ordering everything that I'll need for the bike in the meantime, so that when I do indeed have the time to work on it, It should take all but a long weekend or two in the garage to finish the bike.

Already have a good chunk of the parts that I need, I'll throw up some pictures later just because everyone loves pictures

Keepin on, carryin on, one step at a time

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Hang in there.

PM me if/when you need some help re: the front brake line (before you order it.)

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

wow! just wow! your problems make mine seem trivial. I am touched that you have such a great family bond with your elders. good on you. I love jim. what an amazing cat to handle riding across country on a motorcycle. he looks right at home in the shop. keep on keepin' on, I look forward to seeing your dad on this bike you are building for him. good luck with school.

CN

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Two things I need to say:

1-Sorry for your friend!

2-I'd like my cat to be as cool as yours!

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Wow, sorry to hear about your friend & tough breaks in school. Obviously you don't need me to tell you to stick through it but when things seem dark just think how driven your buddy was & what he would have done

At least when you get finished with school you'll have a nice big stash & will be able to hit the bike hard with the resto stick. Will be keeping an eye on progress, I would say "race you to finishing, with the E-II" but the winner of that would be the last to finish anyway 'cause rushing it would be silly. :lol:

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Thanks for the comments and condolences guys, such a great community we have that i am ever thankful for.

I have some pictures of some parts that came in, that ill throw up cause people like pictures

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Pictures of parts cause pictures are fun

Some legit Granturismo grips I've been holding on waiting for just the right bike, and now i have one!



D.I.D Standard chain, 530x102


New EBC brake pads and shoes (FA41 pads and 516 shoes)


All Balls tapered steering bearing and seal kit 41-4154


Fram CH6003 Oil Filter


NGK BP7ES plugs and NGK LB05F plug caps


New JT Sprockets - JTR854.37 rear and JTF424.17 front - This was decided after much deliberation about whether to go with the stock 16 in front or bump up to a 17. I decided that my dad isn't one to be concerned about torque and acceleration as much as he's all about cruising at lower rpm's and better fuel economy, so 17 it is.


New Parts unlimited throttle cable.


New parts unlimited clutch cable - I put one on my maxim and have been very pleased with it's quality.


And this clock I've had for a while after winning it in a contest that formotion had on facebook. I way recommend their products, i have one on my maxim and love it, cant say enough about the company.



Heres a pic of the one on my maxim:


Tires are at the shop, now the main things that i still need to pick up are just the battery, mc rebuild kit, caliper rebuild kit, SS line for the front, some exhaust gaskets, and oil.

A guy hit me up with a stock exhaust that actually is on the way back to where my folks live so this weekend when i'm heading back for thanksgiving we'll be meeting up to trade, so that's legit.

Happy thanksgiving everyone!

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Mmmm new spares p0rn sensible choice on the sprockets IMO, it's not a "boy racer" bike so the higher gearing will be ideal I think.

What's the deal with the clock though, I can see a clock, but sealed inside a package clearly marked "The Formotion Thermometer"! :?

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

I knew somebody would get excited to see shiny new parts

And I think so too, should still have plenty of get up and go even with the change in gearing.

Regarding the clock, I was wondering if someone would catch that
- Story being that the company had found a handful of their older models on a shelf somewhere and were giving them away, so I'm assuming they just threw them in whatever packaging was handy at the time.

I sure don't care, 'twas free for me!

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

yeah, free is good & sod the packaging for that price Oh yes, shiny new motorbike parts do hold an unhealthy fascination for me lol

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Ditto on enjoying the parts p0rn. Im looking forward to ordering new exhaust and shocks for the vmax.

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Hey everybody!!

Been a while! Life got crazy and I had to do what I needed to do to take care of it, car died, took an adventure across the country to buy another, finished up last semester and now on my last, hard to believe that graduation is less than two months away!!!

But my Dad's birthday is April 15th, and now with the weather finallllly coming around, I've been on a mission to finish the bike in time to give it to him on his birthday

So the other day it was finally above 40 and it was a sunny spring day so I opened up the door and spent the day in the garage with my cat Jim



Eager to wrench!


One of the rear shocks was missing the reflector, as well as I wanted to swap over the set from the parts bike as there is only 12k miles on it so they will be at least a bit better than the others until I can put some nice Progressive's on it.

The old:


In progress:




Replacements fitted - snazzy:


Onto the next line of attack - Swap bars, replace steering bearings, replace missing dust seal with one from the parts bike, fix ignition switch hack job, fix gauge lights.







Now this is the coolest thing ever. I pulled the headlight, and on a wire key ring around one of the wires, look what I found........



An original NOS condition key!!! Makes me wish i pulled the headlight before I had the replacement cut! Oh well, never would have thought and I still think it's way cool!

Hack job:


Nice table, haha


Was originally planning on just soldering the wires back together -


But then thought of another idea...




Snagged the unmolested one from the parts bike and hit the contacts with scotchbrite real quick:


And looking proper again!


Off comes the front end to replace the dust seal and to upgrade the steering bearings to tapered rollers. Hardly noticeable notch that I couldn't really even feel until I pulled the forks off and just the triple tree remained.









Triple tree removed -



Old upper race:


Jim fell asleep at this point:


The old:


Lower race removed from the triple tree:


The new:


Ready to go:


My home-brew bearing press:


Coming back together:


Note it has two dust seals now






After that, I swapped tachs as the one originally on the bike had something rattling around inside the unit which I am assuming is a sealed unit. I also swapped the indicator light panel cover with the parts bike one as the writing was still visible unlike the one that came on it. I also replaced the illumination bulbs as they were all burnt out. I missed the pics throughout all of that though, my bad.

But I couldnt resist throwing the seat and tank on though just for a quick sec to see what it looked like with the new bars though


More coming soon!

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Yanked the chain off, already have a shiny new DID ready to put on when the time comes:


Time for new rubber! Took some time at work to clean up the wheels and mount up the new tires.



New rear tire, went with the kenda challengers, pretty affordable and people seemed to like them. 100/90-18 front and 120/90-16 rear.


Old:


New (new JT sprocket installed as well):




This is how it sits now, hopefully going to make some more big progress tomorrow!

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Dude awesome, looks great.

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Sweet!!

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Be good to see pics of your Dad's reaction,looking good.

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

You're doing a hell of a job on it, keep us updated

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Right now I'm working on finding a battery, trying to decide between AGM and a wet cell, it's a kick bike and a small plant so I'm not toooo worried about getting a super crazy good battery, but I do realllly love the maintenance free aspect of a sealed batt and not have to even think about checking levels... but since it's is a chain bike and is something that could be made a part of chain maintenance, to check the batt. levels at the same time.

But I may have to just go the wet cell route anyway as I can't seem to find an agm that fits my battery box/tray/compartment from the line of AGM batteries that we carry at the shop. I put an AGM in my maxim and LOVE it, I'm sure never going back to a wet cell.

But then again my maxim would cook the batt. breakfast lunch and dinner, which I am assuming that the xs400 wouldn't do as where the battery is located on the XS should be cooler as well as It's a much smaller motor to turn over.

I also plan on buying him a battery tender to use to keep it topped off and healthy so it should be totally okay either way.

So this is the current shopping list:
- Battery
- Batt. Tender
- MC kit
- Caliper kit
- SS Brake line
- Fender
- Tach Cable
- Oil - *opinions wanted* I run Castrol 4T 20w50 in my XJ's
- I'll probably do carb kits too just for kicks because I'm swapping the intake boots from the parts bike anyways.
- Output shaft seal *probably
- Clutch pushrod seal *probably - it doesent seem to leake when it's parked on the center stand so if time is limited I may skip it. although if i swap engines, the parts bike has a bad leak... and is not running....hmm....

Also, where can I find a head gasket? Theres a exhaust stud snapped off on it but the parts bike's is not.... or.... could also swap the 12k mile engine..... hmmmmm.

Anyone know how long it takes about to pull the plant?

The shifter on the parts bike also felt a bit weird but i was figuring it to be a spring somewhere that I was going to look into when i pulled the clutch cover after draining the oil to change it. Is there a gasket there as well, or can I use just black rtv on both?

Thanks!

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Great job! You're definitely in the running for the Son of the Year Award!
I'm sure he'll love it just as much as you'll love riding alongside him.

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

oops. dbl post.

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Got just a tad more done, but probably will be done all over again, grrrr.

Reason being that I think the oil leak may be the clutch pushrod or the output shaft seals, so that means taking the chain and sprocket/etc off again.

But at the same time, now that I installed the center stand, it hasant been leaking, and when i reinstalled and torqued the front sprocket tight, I checked the other 5MM bolts on the case cover in front of it, and they all were loose and there was oil below them which it looks like it could have been leaking from there as well, but it could also be the ever so deceiving redistribution of a shaft seal leak.

To also check, those bolts have a 7.5ft/lb spec just like the 5MM cover bolts on my XJs?

Here are some pictures anyways though:



















Also, this is a rubber from the headlight ears mount, correct? I found it on the floor near where I took off the front sprocket but I think its just a stray part that rolled off the parts bike, but I just wanted to be sure it wasn't something from behind the cover that I was unaware of -



That's it for now, about to order the last pieces I need to get it done and trailer it to the shop to throw it on the lift and go in power mode on it there to ride it home to my dad on the 16th as his birthday is on the 15th.

ALSO!! If anyone has a tach cable or clean chrome front fender, I am in need of those!!

Thanks!

Chris

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Looks like Jim must be pretty strong. That's quite a rope you have him tied up with.

It's really something how much more you can feel the steering head bearing notches when you just have the triple tree on the front, isn't it?

Next time you have the forks of strip the clear coat off and make them look like this.

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Nice Brad!!

I would have if I had more time, but of course in the future more things will be done, such as polishing the covers and fork lowers, new exhaust gaskets, etc.

But for now, it'll be okay, it will be safe and running like a top.

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Hey all!

So I admit, I've not been doing as well a job of documenting my progress with pictures, but my dad's birthday was this week Tuesday and the plan has been to deliver the bike back home today, so it's been a frenzy of work!

Unfortunately the last two parts that I need have yet to show up, most importantly of those being the caliper rebuild kit which tracking says will be here tomorrow, so I'm stuck waiting another day for that to get here.

I went to the post office today though and told them to hold it there so hopefully I'll be able to pick it up right away in the morning and be on my way home before noon tomorrow.

So although the pictures are not as detailed as before, I do have a few I can share -

Time for new plugs - NGK BP7ES, gapped at .6mm


And plug caps - NGK LB05F




Brake Time!


Old plunger -


V.S new!


Back together -


Rockin -


Caliper -


And now I wait for the rebuild kit so I can get it back together -


Replaced the throttle cable too, good thing! Look what I found when I took off the old one!


The new one was defective, which sucks as I didn't realize this until yesterday when I was trying to put it on. The collar that held the part that enters the control was loose, allowing it to go into the control body further than normal which would cause the throttle to jam a bit. So for the mean time until I can replace it, I epoxied it and it seems to be holding strong. It's not under a lot of pressure so it should be completely okay, but once I can warranty the cable I'll throw in the replacement.

Also lubed up the clutch and throttle cables with this nifty invention my coworker made-


More to come soon!

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

It is coming together though, here it was the other day -

 

Re: XS 400 Restoration Project/Present for my Father

Lookin' good!