Introduction and Cafe build log

Sorry to rub it in for all of you in the rest of the USA who are either sitting in Forest Fires or melting in a heat wave, but it was cloudy and cool here in SW Washington State today so i figured i'd make the inaugural run around on the XS around Mt St. Helens before the rain hit. I fixed an air leak and now need to adjust the timing to get rid of a hesitation at 6K rpm. Other than that she ran pretty well!

Stopped for gas at a little town at the base of the mountain called Cougar:
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Stopped by Swift Reservoir.
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Pine Creek ranger station
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love the bike in the garage setting.

Just want some flames coming out of the exhaust now to set it off! :)
 
Nice to see it in the outdoors and looks good :thumbsup: Hesistation prob not the gas but did you buy gas at that station? :) Leave the side covers to match!
 
Nice to see it in the outdoors and looks good :thumbsup: Hesistation prob not the gas but did you buy gas at that station? :) Leave the side covers to match!

Well, i backed the timing advance off a little bit (that's my scientific measurement "a little bit") and the hesitation went away.

As far as gas at the Cougar Store goes its pretty good. Its a pretty popular gas stop around here for motorcycles so the have a pretty consistent flow through their tanks, plus it is the only station up there that has premium fuel.
 
Awesome thread! Happy to a parent parenting/bonding...how about some slow speed pics of your son on her ;)

Well my son is 14 so a little early for a street bike, plus he is not really into bikes he is more a car guy. Mostly he just helped because he was into the artistic mechanical part. But i will try to get him on it sooner or later
 
Went to a local Cycle Gear bike night last night. Lots of new shiney bikes there,

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But guess which bike everyone wanted to come look at and talk about? :thumbsup:
 
Took "cranky" as i have come to call her, on a 6+ hour road trip yesterday with lots of twisties and very "spirited riding", burned thru three tanks of fuel! Cranky took the trip like a champ especially since we were chasing 4 liter sportbikes (2 CBR 1000rr, 1 z1000, and 1 FJ1200) around Mt. St. Helens all day. Only one issue - on the way back down the mountain we stopped for a break and when i hit the starter button i got a "click" dimmed lights and nothing else no turn over. i think i might have lost a wire to the solenoid, or the starter motor is jammed some how. Any thoughts? But 1 or 2 kicks and cranky fired right up.

Here are a few pics

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Looking into the crater of the Volcano from Windy Ridge

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Check the charging system again for giggles. Check fuses.

Check all connections; did you solder everything? Any corrosion on terminals specifically connected to the starter? Clean and re-tighten.

These little guys vibrate quite a bit; I've lost several crimp connections in the last few thousand miles. I just solder the replacement connections as I go since I am not going to tackle the entire electrical system until winter.

I see you've got some newer bikes; do you know how to bump start? It's good to know how to do just in case.

How do you like that seat anyway? How is the comfort? Is that the one from http://www.hotwingglass.com?
 
These little guys vibrate quite a bit; I've lost several crimp connections in the last few thousand miles. I just solder the replacement connections as I go since I am not going to tackle the entire electrical system until winter.

I see you've got some newer bikes; do you know how to bump start? It's good to know how to do just in case.

How do you like that seat anyway? How is the comfort? Is that the one from http://www.hotwingglass.com?

Yes I am finding that loc-tight on all my bolts is my friend. This bike vibrates nuts off bolts like crazy! My negative battery terminal bolt vibrated off, one of the solenoid nuts vibrated off and the nuts holding down the seat pan vibrated off too. I was hoping that it would be something easy like losing a nut off the solenoid again but it was loc-tighted still on. So i pulled the starter motor and the planetary gears on it were locked up. There was no lube left on the gears either, just dry gunky...gunk. I knocked the gears free and slathered them up with gear grease and it is working fine now. Kinda a pain getting the motor out and then re-connecting the chain blah blah blah...

One of the nice things about riding up in the mountains around here is that you can usually find a nice downhill road and just put it in second gear roll it down hill a bit "pop" the clutch and fire it up :thumbsup:

Yes the seat is a hotwings glass seat. It's pretty comfortable. The slope of the seat actually gives me a little higher sitting position (but my 43 year old knees still were sore after almost 7 hours on the bike). I'm not crazy about the look, i like the look of the cafe seats better but that flat seat on them i think would not be nearly as comfortable.
 
Throw some euro bars on there and you'll be more comfortable and I think they'd match the "tracker" style seat pan better.

I am considering a professionally made seat; I think it adds a lot.
 
just realized you're in Vancouver after reading this whole thread, so am I, howdy neighbor. I recently acquired a 1980 xs400 that i'm building into a cafe style bike. I'll make a build thread once I get started. Thanks for the inspiration!
 
I don't know a ton about carburators but try the exaust before you re-jet the bike. Some exhausts need it and some don't. It seems to me that if it is some kind of genaric brand muffler that it may be even less restricted. I bought a MAC 2 into 2 system for my 1980 xs400 and it sound absolutely amazing now. Has a nice low rumble and is definitely louder. They are a bit shorter than stock ones but keep the same megaphone look. I didn't have to rejet my carbs and the bike still runs like a champ. So just try it before you re-jet them. I don't believe MAC still makes the 2 into 2 system though. They also make a 2 into 1 system that looks nice. It would be worth a shot!
 
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