82 XS400 - She's ALIVE - Adventures with my project bike

Well I found an 82 XS400 in fair shape with no title but the price was right so I brought her home today. The PO said he couldn't get her to run and even bought another TCI. He even told me he had cleaned the carbs. The good is it turns over fine and appears to have good compression (I need a smaller adapter for my gauge) and the tank has near zero visible rust inside. Also only 16k on her.

Plan:
see if she runs
get title if she runs well
If I can get title I'll restore her for either my wife or son to ride or maybe sell
If all else fails part her out

 

Re: My Latest find - 82 XS400

sweet. now get some diet coke and tinfoil and start on that chrome!!!

 

Re: My Latest find - 82 XS400

Hey DW - I'll have to try that - I did some cleaning on the forks - looks to be pitted.

 

Re: My Latest find - 82 XS400

Bill that is a great project bike. I would love to come help you work on it sometime. It is in better conditon than i thought it would be from what you told me. I know you can get it running.

P.S. lovin the bike in the backgound!

 

Re: My Latest find - 82 XS400 - She's ALIVE

She's alive! got her fired this afternoon and she purrs like a kitten. I'm really stoked. Now on to get a title and get her restored.

I cleaned the carbs well but not surgically - I didn't want to spend the time if it wouldn't fire so I 'll have to rebuild them once I straighten out the title.

I'll tell a couple of tales on myself - First when I added oil I didn't know the pickup cover was part of the sump so oil comes flowing out.

Next when I tired to start her she cranked but only backfired and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Then I realized I was not positive I had the plugs connected right. Swapped them and she fired right up. Happy dance time until...

The clutch cable pulls a lever the presses a rod through to the clutch. The rod was in but cover was off - well the rod slipped and it started shooting oils out! - cover in place an all was well - I laughed about it after I cleaned it up.

Man these things are a bit different - Also I was surprised it's a YICS engine.

 

Nice thing about a twin... you always have a 50/50 chance of getting the firing order rignt.
Good luck. sounds like a great project.

 

Not only is it a YICS engine but the valve shims and everything are the same. I believe they have Mikunis on them like the 550s. Check the valves right away; there' a tad more difficult to access than your Max and as a result often got ignored altogether.

I passed one up earlier this spring because it had really low comp on one side, and only about 18K miles on it IIRC. Doubt the rings were worn, more like a burnt valve.

Those "XJ twins" are really cool. Nice find.

 

One more thing-- those are 12mm spark plugs, also like in the 550s. That bit of info will help you in your search for an adapter for your gauge.

 

Yea valves are next - It actually had the cover off when I brought her home. But I wanted to see if it would run at all. I was surprised when she fired right up (after the plug cable swap).

The carbs are Mikuni 34s I think all the XJs are 32s - shame I could just get parts from Len - oh well

 

Nice fine Bill, I bet that thing will get killer gas mileage.

 

Thanks Mark - it sort of found me. I posted my "Looking for project XJ" craigslist ad and the PO contacted me.

 

Is that the bike you need the title for? If it was titled by the PO you purchased it from, and he lost it you can get a new one from the DMV.

 

This is it but he got it without title - I think it has been passed around a bit without title unfortunately.

 

A bit of tear down progress. I thought I'd post a few more pics. Hope to decide what to do about the title this week.


Take a look at the brakes - not delaminated - totally powder. Not sure if they were worn down or just powdered with age.

 

Take a look at the gear. I'm not real experienced wiht chains - appears worn out to me....

Opinions?

 

that sprocket is toast. replace it and the front one too. ALWAYS in pairs...chains are cheap for these too. Go to dealer and lookup a parts unlimited standard. I pay around $17 for one.

 

Bill, i replied to that Craiglist message as well. Mine is the one that is strewn about my garage. If it runs someday, I will post a picture or something.

 

DW's right Bill; time for new sprocketS and a chain. Not expensive.

A lot of the Mikuni parts are the same even though the carbs are a bigger bore.

 

If you need any Carb parts for it, I have a set for parts off of an 80 XS400.
Grabbed them from a friend for the floats as they were the same as my XS750.

 

that is a sweet bike, my wife is looking for a project that size as well, hope I can find her one that looks that good to start out.

 

I only got the one reply to my ad. I was really lookingfor an XJ project but this one came along.

 

Thanks - Carbs are in excellent shape - just need a bit more cleaning. Nothing bound up - pins came right out. I had to drill out the idle mix plugs. I even go the bowl drains free with a bit of KROIL.

 

My suspicion too. I'll add the sprockets and chain to the list of needed parts thanks guys!

 

How did I miss your project, Bill?
It's not a competition, who can get the crudiest project. :lol:
Good luck & don't spend too much. Wiz.

 

Wow... what did they do that sprocket... got 31K on mine without any shark tooth fx (unless the PO had changed them many years back)

Get her going bill, these guys are fun

 

I dunno Wiz I think you are still winning

I hope not to spend too much - I think about $500 -$600 the biggest expense will be 2 tires and the bond to get a title I think.

I spent tonight rescuing the headlight bucket - I thought it was toast but I was able to get it presentable at least.

 

Thanks - Only 16k on the odometer I can only assume they did not keep the chain adjusted correctly.

I hope to restore her - runs and will go through the gears and she is in decent (if currently somewhat cruddy) shape.

 

chapparal for tires. $100 shipped to my door. Kenda K657 Challengers tough looking tires too.

 

Both Tires? I have $200 budgeted that would help a lot

 

I just put Bridgestone Spitfires on mine...
Can say enough good things about them....
Broke them in in the rain...... 0 slippage...
Wants to throw itself innt corners....
Made her feel like a whole new bike.....

Cost me $225 Cdn so should be well under your budget

 

So a bit of an update - Bike is torn down and sitting on jack stands. Hope to reassemble the triple tree in the next day or 2. Painted it last night to make it pretty..

On the title front I am going the bonded title route.
This requires an inspection to verify not stolen and Vin Not altered
The bike must be operational - which means will pass safety inspection
Then you bond it for 150% of the value they determine and get a title
Stays under bond for 3 years

So after 4 days of chasing them I talked to an inspector today. VERY helpful and pleasant. I explained I didn't want to spent several hundred dollars to find out it was stolen or otherwise not able to get a title. So she ran the VIN for me and it comes back clean. I can bring the bike in and they will do an initial report stating not stolen and VIN not altered but I would have to bring it back again when road worthy.

I KNOW the VIN is unaltered so I am tempted to do the minimum to make it road worthy then bring it in. This would consist of tires, battery, rear brakes. I would use the current chain ans sprockets. Then Title on the way I will start the restoration.

Won't be a factory restoration by the way. I'm thinking of adapting an XJ650 instrument housing and use an XJ650 tail light but it will look good.

Pics from 7/7/09

 

Interesting stand... it bit more fun with that frame isn't it?

I need to replace my steering head bearing s reall soon ( before inspection in sept)

 

Yea it's sitting on the engine not the pipes but I didn't have much choice. It was fun getting it there too. Had my son and his buddies lift her while I removed the tire and set her on the stands.

Lower race in the steering head is stuck to the tree, bearings balls came flowing out. Going back in for the inspection but being replaced before I Ride her.

Despite the ton of stuff she needs I am enjoying the tear down and cleaning.

 

Hehe I need to do my steering head bearing before inspection in sept.... got her as tight as she can go and it's still clunking a bit under heavey braking....

OR I'm eying a whole tree on E-bay.......

 

Bill, it looks to me like you have a solid foundation upon which to build.

Don't sweat the instruments, do a little "parts room engineering" and modernize it in the process.

 

Hehe like tose nice gauges from Mikes XS?

 

Or any Yammie cluster that a: comes apart, and b: features ROUND instruments. Then you can customize away.

 

who needs gauges? hehehe

 

Thanks to Jarred I have an XJ650 cluster - I need to do some customizing for the wiring and swap the Tach out since the 400 is a cable tach. Also going to use a 650 tail light - started reassembly after figuring out what was missing/broken.

DMV wants a bike that would pass a registration inspection for the Bond inspection. So tires and brake shoes on the way. Along with master cylinder rebuild kit. I cleaned the parts pretty good prior to stating reassembly.

 

Kinda nice to see info and pics from another 400 owner

My steering makes the clunk noise too under emerg breaking, maybe it's just the way it is? I've never had it stripped down enough to check the steering for slack.

I'd be interested in what slide needles you guys have in your carbs. Mine aren't what the manual says they're supposed to be. Air jets as well, as i don't have a reference to stock for those.

I'm sure Za and i can help out with anything you come across bill!

Glad i wondered over to the "Other" side lol

Will be watching for more!

 

You don't have to strip anything down to check your steering head bearings.

Crouch in front of the motorcycle while it's on the centerstand. (You can have someone sit on the seat to elevate the front to make it easier yet.)

Grab ahold of both fork legs down toward the bottom and try to move them fore and aft; there should be no movement. If there is "shifting" at the steering head, the bearings need attention.

While the front wheel is still in the air, move it through its full steering range, lock to lock. Is it free and smooth? Is there a "detent" or "flat spot" in the center? If so, the steering head bearings need attention.

With the front wheel still in the air, center the forks. Gently push to one side, the steering should gently "fall" over to the side with no binding; try it in the other direction. If there is any binding or stiffness or uneven movement, the steering head bearings need attention.

 

One week later and she is starting to look like a bike again. Sunday fellow XJ member Jarred came by and helped clean up the pipes and wheels - they look a lot better. He also let me at his XJ650 parts bike THANKs! Below is the 650 taillight and cluster on my bike.

Tires are on the way. I have to get it road worthy to get the inspection for a bonded title so I have suspended most of the cleaning and am concentrating on getting her ready. Hopefully by the end of the month she will be ready. I still have some caliper work to do, get the headlight functional and get a speedometer cable.

With tires and brakes I hope to take her down the street this weekend! We shall see.

 

Yee i've done all those checks Bill, so it must be just something that these 400's do when under a ton of stress.

 

holy huge taillight batman!

 

Yea same as my 650 I want them to see me stop

 

BIll thanks for the recognition. Anything to help a fellow xjer!

 

The tail light and cluster work great. If you saw my other thread I got the tach to work on my XS too!

 

Here are a couple of pics from my first ride down the street! Much cleaner and actually running.

For my DOT inspection to get the Bonded title I still need to get the front brake working and the stop switches.

Has a hanging rev problem at first - a sync and a bit of tuning seems to have resolved it. I can only run up my street but it sure is a fun bike to ride.

 

I am very envious of your tank, and center stand too, now tha tI think about it! But we have the same engine and suspension, no? Only tires are slightly different. Mine sure is a blast, I can't wait to get her safetied and insured... so much fun for 400cc's! What's wrong with the front break?

 

I had to rebuild the MC and when I went to fill/bleed the system I found out the bleeder is screwed up so I need a new one. I had to drill out the pad holding bolt and make my own . I'm hoping the cylinder is good. I will rebuild a bunch more stuff when I get the title straightened out.

I believe the seca and maxim are very similar - styling and the tires are different - I think you have 2 18s I have a 19 front and 16 rear.

My tank has some decent dings on the other side and no badge there but it is in overall decent shape. It has a few coats of wax on it to make it look better.