1980 xs400 US

Andy_T

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Hi all. I've just purchased my first ever xs. It was pit in a shed 2 yeats ago and ran fine before that.

I'm planning a modest restoration and want to put straight bars and newer lights on.

Should i strip and clean the carbs before i do anything else? I want to make sure its running rigjt before i do anything else.

Also are there any problems i sgould expect replacing all lights with leds?

Thank you
 
if you want to make sure running right first, do that immediately. if you want e-start bars must allow start button to ground, which painted aftermarket bars won't unless you sand/grind off paint at connection points.

shed for 2 yrs = oil and filter change, pull the carbs and clean them straight away. check valve clearance. 1980 so believe you should be ok without dealing with timing issues. check for spark tho
 
After buying a bunch of (junk) bikes over the years, Ive come to realize that some things just need to be kept simple.

-Check the oil, just make sure that theres some in there and its not too low.
-Check battery by turning the key on and make sure it powers up. Its easier to have a known good battery so you can eliminate that and go right to the fuses if you have power issues.

Make it this far with no issues? good

Open the gas line and get the carbs filled and give it a couple primer kicks with the choke on. Then see if it will fire up. If you cant get it to at least kick over, try pouring some gas in the spark plug holes and kicking it over. If it kicks over and stalls, thats great. You can now take the carbs off and clean them up.

If you get nothing still, then you may have other electrical issues.

Dont bother tearing things apart when you dont have to. Give it all a good look and just leave it alone. Either way, the carbs really should be cleaned, theres practically no chance that they are clean, unless it was stored very properly.
 
Thank you, I previously part-restored a 1978 Hondamatic and used one of the variable relays (was about £2), which worked perfectly.
I have some of the adjustable orange flasher relays. Same appearance as those linked except orange and adjustable. Dirt cheap and functional.
Rearranged the pins in the connector, but that might have been back to stock after previous changes. Can't recall.
 
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