'80 XS400 Newb saying hi

[jpatt006]

Hey all! Just thought I'd introduce myself. I just recently got a hell of a deal on a 1980 XS400 with only 5,000 original miles on it. Fires right up, but idles a bit rough and could use a good carb cleaning. Also noticed a little fuel leaking out of the air box, so I'm going to adjust the float needles...not bad for $550.

I have always loved cafe bikes, and figured this would be a good project for me to start on. I have done a lot of work on cars and cannot wait to try my hand at bikes.

I will post some pics tomorrow when I actually have some daylight. But rest assured, the bike does exist haha.

 

[xschris]

Welcome to the forum

 

[drewpy]

welcome to the forum

 

[Lou Ranger]

Welcome to the Forum.
One caution. Install a < $3 in-line fuel filter. You will likely have to take the carbs off and clean them, but in case there is any PO's detritus in the tank in the mean time ....

Check out this thread too. It can walk you through what to do the first few days before you accidentally create a maintenance opportunity ...

http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10595

 

[jpatt006]

Welcome to the Forum.
One caution. Install a < $3 in-line fuel filter. You will likely have to take the carbs off and clean them, but in case there is any PO's detritus in the tank in the mean time ....

Check out this thread too. It can walk you through what to do the first few days before you accidentally create a maintenance opportunity ...

http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10595

Cool, thanks for the help. I fully plan on pulling the carbs and cleaning them.

I wanted to take it for a short cruise today, but it stalled as soon as I put it into first. Looks like I'll need to adjust the clutch.

As promised here are the pictures (I hope)...

 

[jpatt006]

Ok, so first issue solved. The bike was stalling as soon as I would try to put it into gear. After doing a little reading on here I decided to adjust the clutch. There were a couple write-ups on here that were really helpful.

I popped the rubber cap off and began to break the locknut free that is supposedly a bitch to loosen... the thing threaded right off with no effort...looks like the PO attempted to adjust the clutch but never tightened the locknut. I adjusted the screw with a pass through socket and screwdriver, and threw the cap back on. Shifts right into gear.

Next up is pulling the carbs for a cleaning, replacing the cracked fuel line, adding a fuel filter, and changing the oil as it smells like gas (assuming from bad float heights and flooding).

 

[arfstrom]

We always are amazed at how easy it is to follow the directions, when there a good pic is available.

Your welcome!

 

[jpatt006]

Pulled the carbs today to start disassembling and cleaning, and I came across some peculiar things...

First, the throttle cable was attached by a thread...that's going to need replacing.

Then, I noticed a little surface rust on the diaphragm housing. I'm thinking about sanding it down a little and painting it with Rustoleum or engine enamel...something inconspicuous like flat black.

Finally, I opened up the float bowls, and noticed something strange... brass floats in my 1980 carbs... I should have plastic floats, correct? I also noticed that my idle screw is exposed. From what I have read, the idle screw is supposed to be tamper proof for emission reasons and the 1979 and earlier have an exposed screw.

Does anybody have any insight?

I guess the new float needles and float bowl gaskets I bought won't fit...

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[arfstrom]

Everything seems fine with us. Plastic floats came later, a PO had done some adjusting of the idle mix screw. Not a big deal. Your gasket, and float needles should be fine, unless there is a visible difference between the old and the new one?

Just looked at your pics again, everything seems normal so far.

 

[Pork Chop]

The carbs on my '81 has brass floats so I wouldn't worry about it.
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[Pork Chop]

Nice bike by the way. I still can't believe how common it is in the US for 30 year old bikes to have such low mileage.

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[jpatt006]

Thanks for the reassurance guys! It looks like the gaskets should line up fine. I've got the bolts on the diaphragm housing soaking in WD40, so hopefully they'll be able to break free tonight and I can finish the teardown and get them cleaned and adjusted.

 

[Battlax]

Nice clean looking machine you got there jpatt

 

[jpatt006]

So a bit of an update. Go done cleaning the carbs. Boiled them in water/vinegar for about 30 mins, then rinsed, blew air through them, used q-tips to clean in some of the nooks and crannies, then used some small wire from a bread tie to clean the jets... Then repeated 2 more times. Adjust the floats to 26mm and sanded and painted the diaphragm covers to prevent them from rusting any more. See the results below:

Hopefully that will be good enough to get her running smoother (probably not). Can't throw them on yet because I lost one of the washers for the drain plug on the float bowl. I've spent the last 2 weeks trying to find something that would work, but no luck. Finally decided to order the washers on-line... $5 for 4 and cost $5 to ship... Awesome...

In the meantime, my new throttle cable, fuel line, fuel filter, and clubman bars arrived. Threw the bars on and they look great. Also removed the turn signals and will replace them with something smaller:

Only one problem, now that I added the new bars, I've noticed that my front break is rubbing quite a bit. Any suggestions? Maybe bleed them?

Eventually I'll post some better quality pics when the bike is looking better.

 

[willem]

what do you mean exactly by rubbing brakes? Bleeding the brakes is never bad, so try that yes

oh and it looks pretty nice with the new bars

 

[jpatt006]

what do you mean exactly by rubbing brakes? Bleeding the brakes is never bad, so try that yes

oh and it looks pretty nice with the new bars

Thanks! I wanted clubman bars, but wasn't sure how much I wanted them to drop forward. These dropped everything just slightly lower than the original bars.

As for the rubbing. Before I put the new bars on I was able to push the bike around easily, now it feels like the brakes are rubbing and preventing me from pushing it. I can even hear them rub a little.

I knew that I would need to adjust some of the cables if I got lower bars, so I adjusted the clutch cable and I am currently working on rerouting the throttle. But I wasn't too sure what to do about the front master cylinder.

 

[Lou Ranger]

Could it be that in remounting the front brake handle onto new bars you moved the little adjuster on the handle so that there is no slack in it and it's putting a little pressure on?

 

[jpatt006]

Could it be that in remounting the front brake handle onto new bars you moved the little adjuster on the handle so that there is no slack in it and it's putting a little pressure on?

That is entirely possible haha. I will have to check that when I get home from work. Hopefully it's something as simple/stupid as that.