My XS 400 Cafe Racer Project

trzcina2

XS400 Enthusiast
Messages
88
Reaction score
4
Points
8
Location
Poland
Hello,

So i finally decided to put pictures from work on my XS 400. I bought bike in may, however i'm living and working in different city than my garage and bike is, so i'm able to work on it almost only in weekends.

So the bike arrived. I putted pictures of it in different threats asking what kind of XS that is :) It came out that is 1980 XS with tank from other bike.

Przyjazd 20130525_160842.jpg


Przyjazd 20130525_160804.jpg


I cannot resist showing off with my other beauty :bike:

Rozbiórka Motocykla 20130805_114124.jpg



It is time for dismantling!

Rozbiórka Motocykla 20130530_163832.jpg


Rozbiórka Motocykla 20130530_175618.jpg


Rozbiórka Motocykla 20130531_235855.jpg



After all day of work it became clear that frame is broken and need to be fixed or replaced. I managed to find frame from 77XS, with tank in reasonable price, so i decided to buy it...

Rozbiórka Motocykla 20130531_124657.jpg


In the meantime i decided to dismantle the engine. It wasn't so hard however i didn't manage to avoid mistakes... Big Ones...

Silnik 20130614_225158.jpg


Silnik 20130622_164034.jpg


Silnik 20130615_172600.jpg


Składanie motocykla 20130814_194649.jpg


After dissemble whole engine and carburetors was sand and glass blasted and later some covers was powder painted.

Rozbiórka Motocykla 20130803_123400.jpg


Rozbiórka Motocykla 20130715_165212.jpg


Rozbiórka Motocykla 20130715_165141.jpg


Silnik 20130720_160439.jpg


Silnik 20130720_145052.jpg


That was really time consuming...

Silnik 20130720_145057.jpg


And that even more...

Rozbiórka Motocykla 20130714_205537.jpg



Rozbiórka Motocykla 20130714_204043 (1).jpg


But i think the final result is quite ok.

Silnik 20130720_145104.jpg



Cleaning engine parts and carburetors from glass powder was pain in the ass. With some patience all parts were cleared and it was time for reassembly.


Składanie motocykla 20130804_131433 (1).jpg


Składanie motocykla 20130804_143528 (1).jpg


Rozbiórka Motocykla 20130804_143514.jpg


Składanie motocykla 20131005_124608.jpg


Składanie motocykla 20131019_152313.jpg



I ordered new timing chain, seals, clutch plates and everything needed for complete renovation. Only think i didn't found was half-bearings for crank shaft. I'm a bit worried because old ones wasn't in top condition.. I hope they will be ok...

The biggest problem for now are pistons and cylinders liners. I bought some additional used pistons and cylinders but they aren't in great shape... I'm trying to figure out what to do... Probably i will have to buy new 55.25 pistons with new rings. However they aren't available in Europe and i will have to find and buy them in U.S.

Składanie motocykla 20131020_000103.jpg


New package arrived!

Rozbiórka Motocykla 20130715_085903.jpg


And another one!

Składanie motocykla 20130928_111559.jpg


And another :)

Składanie motocykla 20131031_213508.jpg



I decided to try to use rear set from... 50cc Peugot "sport bike". They weren't pricey so i bought it and for now it seems that was good choice.

Składanie motocykla 20130928_141224.jpg


Składanie motocykla 20131006_173650.jpg


Measuring for rear-sets mountings :)

Składanie motocykla 20131005_233915.jpg



Leaving engine partly assembled and waiting for good offer of new piston at ebay.com i started modifying new frame.

With A LOT of help from my dad, we managed to cut every spare element of new frame. Next step was to weld new rounded and a bit bent end.

Składanie motocykla 20130815_122833.jpg


Składanie motocykla 20130928_132510.jpg


Składanie motocykla 20131105_163946.jpg


Składanie motocykla 20131105_172441.jpg


Składanie motocykla 20131105_163930.jpg



With frame almost ready it was time to start messing with modeling form for new seat-end ( i really don't know how to call it :) ).

Firstly i made picture on my computer and scale it to fit my vision of proportion between tank seat and rear part.

Then i printed it and cut it in carton.

20131105_192003.jpg


20131105_191506.jpg


Time for some artistic hand work :D

Składanie motocykla 20131106_182251.jpg


20131108_165125.jpg


20131108_210741.jpg


20131108_203342.jpg


20131108_213139.jpg


20131110_161125.jpg


20131109_174910.jpg


20131110_162909.jpg


20131110_161117.jpg


And.. that's it for now :)

I'm still looking for pistons to complete engine reassembly, and waiting for some parts being shipped back from chrome plating.


Anyone try to dismantle speedometer without any damage? I think it's glued and it's better to ask you guys first than use the force :)

20131103_212043.jpg



Cheers, Hope you enjoy my photo story :)
 
Genious I love the idea of Styrofoam for the back of your seat.Looks like you been having a lot of fun.I have been wanting to tear my engine down but you know the saying if aint broke don't try to fix it LOL.If anything I`ll take the heads off and clean up the valves and replace the seels.

Got a question what is the aluminum peace near the swingarm on the bottom of the frame?Is that the mounts for the mufflers and rear brake?I cut my originals off now I wish I would left them on there:doh:
 
Last edited:
Got a question what is the aluminum peace near the swingarm on the bottom of the frame?Is that the mounts for the mufflers and rear brake?I cut my originals off now I wish I would left them on there:doh:
Thanks!

Styrofoam still needs a lot of work to properly align left and right side but it will have to wait for my next visit at home in December.

Answering your question,

Yes. these are mounting for rear-sets and/ or rear-brake , probably mufflers (i have to wait for engine being fitted into the frame to check if i could mount exhaust to those).

These aluminium sets are screwed to custom water cut steal platates in this shape:

20130531_235855_03.jpg


Those are welded onto the frame instead of original much bigger ones ;)
 
Maybe if you do a fiber glass covering over the Styrofoam that will help?
So those aluminum piece were custom made?I would like to get a set of those.I regret cutting mine off as I don't have any mounts for my mufflers and want the rear pegs back on.
 
Did you glass bead the carbs? If so I hope you got all the stuff out of the little holes:wink2: Looks like everything is coming along well.
 
Great work. Are those the original carbs? Are you going with clip-ons or clubman bars? :thumbsup:

Posted via Mobile

Thanks! Yes these are original carbs. After glass blasting they look like brand new!

I've already bought clipons on ebay.

LINK

They came last week and it seems that was good deal :)


Maybe if you do a fiber glass covering over the Styrofoam that will help?
So those aluminum piece were custom made?I would like to get a set of those.I regret cutting mine off as I don't have any mounts for my mufflers and want the rear pegs back on.

I've tried to make Styrofoam as smooth as possible with car body filling putty but it reacts with styrofoam and dissolves it... So probably fiber glass will be necessary. However the big plan is to make negative mold and make this whole "rear cover" in carbon fiber... but... we'll see :shrug:

I would like to move battery and "other stuff" to the rear and hide it under this cover.


Alumium parts are not custom made. These are from Peugot XR 50 :D

Motorhispania_RX_Racing_50__Peugeot_XR_6__2004_02.jpg


Custom made are parts which allows fixing those aluminium peaces onto the frame.
I've posted image in my previous post. :)


Did you glass bead the carbs? If so I hope you got all the stuff out of the little holes Looks like everything is coming along well.

Yes :) The inside of the carbs wasn't glass blasted. I've try to protect them with paper and other stuff making impossible for glass particles to came through. Still... i had to clean them very precisely:)

Cheers!
 
I doubt I find of those bike for parts around here to rob those from LOL.Guess you can score!Know that car body filler gets hot as it cures I understand the problems with the Styrofoam.I haven't personaly worked with glass but I think it would be your best alternative.
 
Anyone tried to open tachometer? I have no idea how to get it open without any damage... Any ideas?

:confused:

20131103_212043.jpg
 
I believe that the metal band around the gauge has to be opened up. Not an easy job to do nicely, and just as difficult to close up afterwards. It is swedged at the factory.
 
I have opened them up to fix screws that have fallen out of face plates. I used a small set of wire cutters and went around the edge prying till the cover came off. Then fixed my issue put the cover back on then used a small hammer and punch to carefully pound the edge back into place.
 

Attachments

  • DSC02246.jpg
    DSC02246.jpg
    155.3 KB · Views: 395
  • DSC02247.jpg
    DSC02247.jpg
    229.8 KB · Views: 395
Im realy glad you took pic of your engine tear down,If I ever decide to go that route I will take lots of pics of everything this way I shouldn't forget how it all goes back together.I do plan on doing a top end rebuild in the future.
 
A bit pricey...

Those from ebay cost about 54$ with shipping so it seems like a good deal but i would like to know if they won't explode after 1k miles :)
 
how about at your local yamaha dealer? These look alright but if you can get them at a shop for a similar price you can always still visit them with a baseball bat if they explode after 1k miles
 
Yamaha don't have them anymore. I have a set of the ebay ones. They look good and the guy has sold a lot of them. Both of my bikes won't be needing them anytime soon so I can't help you with how long they will last.
 
Yamaha don't have them anymore. I have a set of the ebay ones. They look good and the guy has sold a lot of them. Both of my bikes won't be needing them anytime soon so I can't help you with how long they will last.

That's great!

I will buy them and let you know how they fit :)

Thanks for the feedback.
 
Hi every one. It's been a while since my last post, however i didn't forget about ma XS 400.

Progress is slow, mainly because my job in another city. Anyway.. There's some pics.

Almost all of the screw and other small stuff was galvanized.

20140131_230108 (Kopiowanie).jpg


First Tail fitting

20140131_230112 (Kopiowanie).jpg


A lot of sandpaper grinding and polish... and then "gluing" tail in to the base to make the negavite mold.

20140301_161520 (Kopiowanie).jpg


After painting and polishing it looks like this.

20140328_214851 (Kopiowanie).jpg


New pistons and rigs arrived! Yey!

20140131_230434 (Kopiowanie).jpg


And now the important part:
Completely new Cylinder sleeves for new pistons.

20140328_225732 (Kopiowanie).jpg


And the result after few hours of assembling. Getting pistons with rings into sleeves was quite stressful :D But everything went fine.

20140329_205406 (Kopiowanie).jpg


Anyway i think i will have to take cylinder head once more because in my opinion compression in one piston is not propper... we will see what mechanic who did cylinder head restoration has to say.

Fist time on the wheels!!!

20140315_180705 (Kopiowanie).jpg


Original shocks 330 mm

20140315_184015 (Kopiowanie).jpg


And with temporary modification to 350 mm. I think 350 is fine so i probably order Hagon shocks for Kawasaki z1100. The should fit perfectly.

20140316_161802 (Kopiowanie).jpg


Some other stuff and idea for tachometer and speedometer...

20140315_204614 (Kopiowanie).jpg


20140330_164443 (Kopiowanie).jpg




Guys, do you think that Teflon bushings for rear swing arm will do better than bronze bushings? My Turner says that Teflon bushings will do much better. What do you think?

Cheers!
 
Back
Top