How rare are Maxim 400s?

I'm going to go see one tomorrow for sale for a girlfriend, and am wondering how rare these bikes are? It's more a matter of finding replacement parts to me, although this particular bike appears to be in very good condition and under 10K miles.

 

Reasonably rare, a 2-year model but there was also a "Seca" version.

In the engine bay, it's a "half an XJ" so a lot of parts are the same as the XJ550s for instance. Same shims as all our XJs, etc.

The rest of the bike is typical Yamaha "parts room engineering" with a lot of things that interchange with at least a couple of different Yammies. Pretty cool advanced monoshock frame design too.

Be sure to get a compression test; 12mm plugs same as your 550. The neglected valve clearance thing is even more prevalent as there are a lot more things to remove to get the valve cover off. (But only half as many shims.)

 

Parts aren't too bad to find, cables and such are still available.
As fitz said, Yammi parts room bike.
Other XJ and some Virago and XS bits can be used in many cases.
Next to no aftermarket support, but lots of genericitems will fit.

Great little bikes, good starter (once you get used to that clutch all others are easy )
Light, quite nimble, decent power.
A lot of fun, mine was very reliable.

Prepping the old girl for sale now..... will be hard to let go, but can't keep 2 atm....

 

The bike was sold before I got there. I'm OK with that. I never rush to see a bike.

 

From hanging out over on the XS board, Seca 400 seems to be the more rare one. There are fewer DOHC 400 Maxims than there are SOHC 400 Maxims.

 

Found a seca 400xs for only $350 but the owner says it will need a new timing chain. The adjuster is maxed out and the chain slaps on the case when running... would you fellas be concerned about this? It does have an OEM tank because the previous tank started leaking...(?)

 

How many MILES on it?

I'd be suspicious that it may need a chain guide or two; not a major operation.

 

15,200 miles according to the owner. I haven't seen the bike in person but from the picture it looks to be in decent shape.

 

I doubt it needs a cam chain. The tip might have come off the adjuster plunger or something else (like a chain guide) has failed.

 

BTW, I never ended up seeing that bike because someone else bought it before I could see it. It was me that was first in line, but then he discovered it wouldn't start (he hadn't winterized it) and had to get his carbs cleaned. I didn't rush over once it was ready so someone else bought it.

This past Wednesday, I set up a meeting to see a 400 cc Honda, and in the hour between me leaving work and me getting there, the owner let someone else come over and buy it. I showed up at the house, and nobody was there to answer the door or answer the phone. Assholes. And he was another guy who thought old tires and original brake lines were not a reason to lower his price.

Finding a small bike for my girlfriend is growing old... I figure November-February in Minnesota will be just right....

 

You also need to be aware of the differences in 400's, too....

xS 400 Maxim - two cylinder bike, basically a 400 Special with Maxim styling

xJ 400 Maxim - 4 cylinder bike, a small Maxim, that was a Japanese-market-only bike

xS 400 Special - two cylinder bike, a standard 400 Special

xS 400 Seca - two cylinder bike, basically a 400 Special, but with the sporty Seca styling...........looks very much like a small xZ 550 Vision

All of the 400's are chain-drive, the 550 Vision is a a shafty...........

Yamaha did a bunch of funky things with the 400...................

Those that have been to the CNYCC in the past couple of years have been able to see the 400 Special and compare it to the 400 Seca (xs400rj). The Special is no longer here, but the 400rj is, so anytime someone wants to see one, it's available............though it is a project, so it's rough-ish.

Dave F

 

Thanks for sharing Dave! Having known about the other sized models overall and their specifics (550, 650, 750, and a little bit about the 900s) I hadn't read or seen much about the 400s. Maybe chacal has this information available but having seen only the parts catalog for the mentioned sized models I wasn't sure.
Something special about the Yamahas to me.... i don't know if its just a great group of guys sharing free knowledge, or if I'm becoming motorcycle guru & an overall better mechanic but thanks again fellas. its a tough call for me deciding whether I want to travel and possibly purchase yet another bike,, ugh!

 

Yeah.....that's a tough decision. Here, let me help you------YES. See? That wasn't so tough, now, was it?!?!?!? LOL

dave

 

CLOSE in regard to the 400s, but...

The original XS400s had SOHC motors with rocker-actuated valves and twin-shock rear suspension. This is the "little brother" of the ubiquitous XS650.

For model years 1982 and 1983 Yamaha brought out the XS400 Maxim and XS400R Seca; both of these bikes had DOHC shim-over-bucket motors (like "half an XJ") and monoshock rear suspension.

What makes it confusing is that Yamaha continued to offer the XS400"Special" and/or "Heritage Special" at the same time, although that bike was the original SOHC, rocker-arm, twin-shock XS400.

All because there really WAS an XJ400, which was a 4-cylinder "true XJ" sold as both a Maxim and as a "Special" in other markets (not just for Japan only.)

The aftermarket completely missed the existence of the DOHC, monoshock XS400s for some reason.