Introduction & mechanic needed in Chicago

caitxedge

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Hi all,

My name is Caitlin and I am new to the forum.

By way of an introduction, I live in Chicago (Avondale) and finally brought my 1980 XS400 Special II down from Stillwater, MN, where I was born and raised.

My dad has been a small engines mechanic in MN since the mid-late 70's. When I bought my non-running XS400 for $400 in 2012, he took about 30 minutes to get it going again. I'm not entirely sure what all he has done to it over the last couple of years (cleaned and timed carbs, new spark plugs, fixed some weird wiring problems, new battery - pretty basic stuff) but when I picked it up from him at the end of April, he said it was running perfectly.

I'd been traveling and moving around a lot over the past few years so have probably only ridden the bike 3-4 times since owning it. Finally that I have it in Chicago, I was really excited to ride along Lake Michigan and be able to park easier throughout the summer months.

However, the bike has since decided to start acting like a real dick and I can't figure out what's up on my own. I've called my dad a few times, giving him the rundown of its issues and while he says it sounds like I'm doing everything correctly and the bike SHOULD be running perfectly still... but of course, it's not. And I'm not mechanically inclined nor do I have any tools to work on it myself. So naturally, I'm getting really pissed/feeling helpless/hopeless.

I don't have a trailer hitch on my car and would prefer not to take it any further than I absolutely have to. If anything, I would love to find someone that would just bring their tools and fix it in my spacious, clean garage but I realize that's asking a lot. Does anyone have recommendations for shops/mechanics in the city of Chicago? I've looked at Motorcycle Mania and Yamaha of Chicago.

I really don't want to sell my bike because it's gorgeous and I loved riding it the half-handful of times that I did. Any help you folks could provide would be stellar!

Thank you!

Caitlin :banghead:
 

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What's it doing? I highly recommend learning to work on it yourself, there is plenty of info here and lots of knowledgeable folks ready to help along the way. The amount a mechanic is going to charge to work on it will add up, you could pretty much buy another. They really aren't that hard to work on, perfect bikes to learn it all!
 
If the bike has been sitting a long time you will need to flush the fuel system. New gas in the tank, clean the carbs and make sure the petcock works. The battery will also need to be fully charged and topped up with fluid. An oil change and a new set of plugs would be another good idea. Use the search function in the forum. There are lots of threads on these things. You can also down load the manual for free in the classified section.
 
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