1979 xs 400 build. Vancouver Canada

[XS NEWBIE]

Alright so this is my first road legal bike... and I always like to tinker with things and had been looking for awhile and came across this 1979 xs400 wasn't sold on it when I first saw it.. until I go ogled more about them and saw all the pictures and decided I wanted one and would be hung to chop it up right away. Ran when I got it. A couple of issues... battery charging, small oil leak which seems to be from.the neutral switch and doesn't like to start right up.

 

[XS NEWBIE]

So when I got it home.i started ordering parts. New bars and mirrors and bar ends were first. I did a lot of searching and found out about cutting the rear of the frame off and welding in a hoop... I was going to get some pipe and make.my own jig to bend one... then I found the perfect already bent piece to fit.. instead of a hoop it had two 90 degree bends. I also designed a battery tray and had it bent up by the guys that do all of our sheet metal work. (I'm an estimator for exterior building construction company) the tray needed a bit of adjusting but I did get it to fit the way I want and the tire doesn't hit it... next was building my own seat... took some ideas from others threads

 

[XS NEWBIE]

A new agm battery was purchased to fit in the tray it's a 12v 4ah battery... I plan to delete the electric start but it's not quite there yet.. and of course my starter relay went also.. so I've just been jumping it past that anyways... once it warms up a tiny bit it starts no problem with a kick. A couple pictures of my seat build... some wood.. some sheet metal some cheap foam from kneeling pads from the dollar store.. some silicone caulking.. some 3m spray can glue and some fabric... I found some outdoor umbrella fabric so I went with it.. I plan to build a better seat... or have one made.. but needed something to get me going and figuring out what I wanted. All in the seat cost me 20 dollars. Most supplies I already had.

 

[XS NEWBIE]

Currently where my bike is at.. license plate mount still to be nodded a bit.. changed the rear blinkers for led will do the fronts soon when I feel like it... I have now put a led tail light on it.. and it's causing me a lot of issues... it works as a brake light.. but if I hook it in to the running/driving light wire.. it comes on full... like brake light brightness.. so I'm not sure what I have to do yet.. perhaps add some some sort of resistor??? Anyone have any advice. Also it comes on when I turn the key... not when the bike begins to run like the headlight. Help!!!!


Also I had the valves set. Picked up new points and installed them and set the timing with a light bulb set up. It starts much better now but still not perfect.. and have went up to 150 main jet.. didn't touch any others. And have played a lot with the tuning as it was idling around 3-4000 rpm when warm. I think k I must have messed with the idle stop at some point.. cause after investigating and I decided to try that and it seems to have fixed it

 

[xschris]

A 150 main is quite large for these bikes and with the setup you have may be too much. The mains only affects 3/4 to full throttle. I would look to the pilot circuit for better startups. 3-4 turns out on the mix screws to start with. If you need more then go up a jet size and turn the screws back. Check the plugs to see how they look. You want a clean plug with a little tan on the porcelain.

 

[XS NEWBIE]

A 150 main is quite large for these bikes and with the setup you have may be too much. The mains only affects 3/4 to full throttle. I would look to the pilot circuit for better startups. 3-4 turns out on the mix screws to start with. If you need more then go up a jet size and turn the screws back. Check the plugs to see how they look. You want a clean plug with a little tan on the porcelain.

Ya my plugs actually looked good when I pulled them. After a 30 min ride.. ya I will probably lyrics have to look in to changing the pilot then to assist in better start up.. but I'm going to see what happens first today on a cold start up.. the 150 was the only size the local yamaha dealer had in Stock that was close to what I wanted.. so I gave it a shot... seems ok... but maybe I'll order something a bit smaller one day

 

[xschris]

I would look at a 135-140. If your bike pulls to red line then stick with what you got.

 

[XS NEWBIE]

Ya it actually pulls pretty good... it does have the K&N pod filters on it.. that's about it really someone said the exhaust was aftermarket but I dunno ... it will be eventually though... runs pretty good.. not perfect... but I can kick start it at like 7 degree Celsius out so that's cool..

 

[xschris]

Your bike does have an aftermarket exhaust. As long as it works well then don't worry about it.