New brings home a '80 400 special... Now what?

My experience includes machining, welding, fabricating, farm wrenching and other relevant man skills. I'm pretty mechanically inclined but I have no experience with motorcycles. While most motorcycle nuts seem to have been infected from early on in life I'm coming into this a bit late at 46. I brought home a 1980 xs400 earlier this week and I could use some guidance.

First Question: The bike hasn't run for a long time. Last time it was registered was '89. All indication is that it's been in my friends mothers garage since that time. I'm assuming it hasn't run in 29 years. Obviously I need to get the tank cleaned out and go through the carbs before I try to get it started. Anything else I need to know about before I try to resurrect this beast?

Second Question: The bike hasn't run in nearly 30 years. It's got a few dents in the tank, a few scratches from being laid down, 3200 miles, rotten tires, no keys and no title. I haven't paid anything for it yet. Not sure what to offer my friend for the bike. Can I get some opinions on what a reasonable price is to offer? $200? $400?

Thanks!

Welcome.

First off, get a battery. These bikes need a battery to start and run, unlike your average dirt bike.

Honestly, I wouldnt start tearing into things yet. Id clean the fuel tank and put a fuel filter on it. Then Id let the carbs fill up with gas and let it sit for a few minutes. Then Id crack open the fuel bowl drains to see if fuel flows out. then Id close them back up. this will give a chance for any goo in the carbs to dissolve. Im pretty sure that gas was different back then and didnt have all the crap in it that todays gas has. I would open up the fuel bowl drains before filling just in case there is any leftover fuel in them.

then, Id take the plugs off and squirt some sort of oil in the cylinders to lube it up and then pour some gas in there as well. I might just top off the oil too, but ONLY to get it started and in effort to save a couple quarts of oil that youll drain out anyways. Take the valve adjustment caps off and squirt oil everywhere in there too.

Once that is done, turn the key on and youll get a neutral light and an oil light. Id keep the run switch to off position and give it a couple kicks to prime the oil. The oil light should go off. Then you can really try to start it up.

A carb clean is in order, but at least by doing this first, you can see if itll kick over.

Dont leave the run switch in the ON position when the bike isnt running.

As for the price of the bike, It seems that pricing varies greatly all over the USA, and having not seen your bike it makes it harder. Id say around 2-300 would be very fair. Youll have to put at least 500 into it to get it road worthy and thats being modest.

Tires, Brakes, Brake lines, Carb rebuild kits, Battery, Oil.. Thats at least 500 right there.

Hi there and welcome to the biking family!
On top of the post of NewHeavenMike I would add to the initial price new chain and preferably sprockets, but that’s later.
I would not try to start a 30 years stale engine with its oil inside. Throw the oil put brand new lighter (5w-30 or lighter) oil and oil filter and after that try the kicks proposed from Mike. If after everything the engine start, leave it working with that oil no more than 5-10 minutes. It will go through all the oil paths and clean (a bit) the dirt inside. Throw the oil and oil filter again.
Remembered something, before throwing the light oil, remove that spark and check the compression. Take in mind the with lighter oil it can be slightly lower (0,1-0,2 bars).
If you have compression and the bike sounds and looks OK but it (don’t know how are the prices in USA). If there are some major noises, bring it to some motorcycle garage for opinion, it might be a deal breaker.
If I was on your place and everything is fine and I’m taking the bike, I would dismount the entire engine in order to clean it and check if there are hidden problems.
But that’s just my crazy opinion!
In all cases have a lot of fun with working on it!

Use only wet clutch oil. These bikes take 20w-50. Unless below 50* f then 10w-40.

Thanks for all the input! Today I was able to get the gas tank lid open. The inside of the tank is clean and dry! Got the guts out of the ignition switch so I can start using it. Drained the oil. Put in fresh oil (sight glass is clear!). Pulled the plugs and put some marvel in the cylinders. Need to pick up filters, fresh gas and a battery. Will let you know what happens!

Thanks again!

It's alive! After repairing a leak at the tank petcock and installing a new battery, I decided to see if she'd start. 3rd kick and she was running! Let it warm up and then changed the oil and filter. Yahoo!

Remember to drain the sump and clean the screen. It's the plate on the bottom of the motor with six small bolts in it. There are posts in the forum on this.

xschris said:

Remember to drain the sump and clean the screen. It's the plate on the bottom of the motor with six small bolts in it. There are posts in the forum on this.

Click to expand...

Got that too! I slightly overfilled with oil. Haven't run it since due to a leaky fuel petcock. Made an NPT adaptor plate and installed a new petcock yesterday. Hopefully will run it again today. I'm assuming it will take over 2000cc of oil since it has a new filter. I hope the oil level reads correctly after running the engine. If it's still too full how big of an issue is that?

Welcome to the world of xs400`s.I have to throw this in you said the bike has rotten tires well I have brand new Shrinko