Operating temperatures

Robbo

XS400 Member
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
New Brunswick
Hello XS400 World,
I like to do a custom bike build over the winter months when I'm not out riding. This winter I'm doing a killer bee themed XS400 Maxim styled somewhere between a cafe racer and a streetfighter. The bike is completely torn down and I'm getting ready for the paint stage. On the engine I'm going to use a high temp black and be painting the crank case cover on both sides, stator cover, chain guard and valve cover yellow. My question is, does anyone know what temperature range these bikes run on these cover components. I haven't painted engine pieces in the past only frames, fenders, tanks, etc and I'd still like to use the same polysiloxane coating I've used in the past for the yellow but it has a maximum temperature rating of 200F continuous and 250F intermittent.

I see a post from XSChris with some temps he measured on his 79 and 80 running 235-255 on the heads and 170-180 on the bottom end. Anyone else taken temperature readings? Similar results?

Thanks,
Rob
 
Last edited:
I've only monitored oil temp in the crankcase. I've seen oil temps regularly around 90C, above 115C for brief times. Usually after getting off the highway and being stopped at a light. That leads me to believe your paint will be beyond its limits on the cylinder head, especially around the exhaust ports.
 
I used vht on both the engine rebuilds, stated temp up to 1200F...should be oven cured though...
 
Thanks for the reply Dave. I will use a high temp black on the cylinder sleeves head and most of the engine. The valve cover and side covers (crank case covers, stator, chain) I'd like to do the metal flake to match the tank, this is the stuff with a max of 200f continuous or 250f intermittent. Seems like it is right on the boarder line. Oh well maybe I'll give her a go and if it goes to hell its not the end of the world to take these off and redo them in something else.
 
I used vht on both the engine rebuilds, stated temp up to 1200F...should be oven cured though...

Funny you say that. I have just been looking at the VHT and looking at some reviews. I think I'll use the VHT on the cylinder sleeves, heads and block for sure. I'm thinking the black metallic. What did you use jeff1033? Any pics?
 
Used flameproof flat black, results look good
IMG_20161222_174136.jpg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20161110_172819.jpg
    IMG_20161110_172819.jpg
    177.3 KB · Views: 245
Looks good man. I think I'll use the VHT on the motor and try the metal flake on the covers and see what happens.
 
Man that looks awesome. Did you get fasteners yourself or did you order a polished kit? I've looked at a couple on EBay, I'd like to replace a lot of the fasteners with polished ones.

I just measured mine and bought them off the internet. There is a list required on the xs400.net site but its in german, luckily maths is multi lingual
the top cyl ones are stainless and I polished them myself as its cheaper that way
 
Bought as individual bolts on e-bay, payed half Price compared to kits...Check out dynaglide's thread je explains how to get the measurements with the parts numbers.
 
There's a guy on eBay that sells bolt kits for a bunch of different bikes. I think he's AlloyBoltz. Anyways, the product was perfect and it was complete. The packaging was also very impressive as every nut and washer was packaged and labeled. There's also a torque difference with the stainless bolts but it's all included with the paperwork.

Only thing that changed from original bolts to the new bolt kit was that the cam cover bolts were also hex keys. So if the motor is in the frame you need to get a hex socket and extension.
 
I also bought the AlloyBoltz kit a couple years ago. After considering the time it would take to research and order individual bolts, washers, and nuts, their kit was rather inexpensive. As @NewHavenMike said, the packaging was great.
 
I use PJ1 engine paint (500*f) on my 82 and 81 and never had any issues. On the sohc xs400 after some more tuning over the years and two more bikes, head temps of around 265-275 f seems to be more in the range of what they should run for a proper plug burn.
 
Back
Top