eexist
XS400 Member
Just found this forum and I'm pretty stoked. I bought an 82 XS400 the other day and I am having a few issues. On my initial ride home the bike died randomly in the middle of a bridge..... Luckily it was later at night and there were very few people out and about because there was no shoulder. I have zero issues starting this thing up, even @ 30 degrees at the crack of dawn it instantly fires up.
Issue: Bike seems to randomly die, I will be going 35-40 mph and it will just suddenly shut off like I hit the kill switch. Once I was able to turn the petcock all the way on and it was able to start back up since I was going pretty fast. It looks like the previous owner installed a gravity fed petcock (both vacuum ports are capped off I believe) and told me to only turn it on 1/3 - 1/2 the way for cruising. If I turn the bike off and let it sit after a few minutes it will start leaking gas out of the air filters(the box is cut away, aftermarket filters attached directly to the carbs). After it dies it takes a few minutes for it to want to start back up again. When it dies the lights do NOT go out and the starter turns over fine. If I try and crank the throttle it sounds like it's really bogged down and wants to start but won't.
What should be the first thing I need to look at? Should I rip off the carbs and take them apart or is there something else I should look at. it doesn't seem like the kickstand switch would be causing it because there is no way for the kickstand to get down that far while riding. Battery terminals seem to be corrosion free and securely attached.
Thank you!
Karl
Issue: Bike seems to randomly die, I will be going 35-40 mph and it will just suddenly shut off like I hit the kill switch. Once I was able to turn the petcock all the way on and it was able to start back up since I was going pretty fast. It looks like the previous owner installed a gravity fed petcock (both vacuum ports are capped off I believe) and told me to only turn it on 1/3 - 1/2 the way for cruising. If I turn the bike off and let it sit after a few minutes it will start leaking gas out of the air filters(the box is cut away, aftermarket filters attached directly to the carbs). After it dies it takes a few minutes for it to want to start back up again. When it dies the lights do NOT go out and the starter turns over fine. If I try and crank the throttle it sounds like it's really bogged down and wants to start but won't.
What should be the first thing I need to look at? Should I rip off the carbs and take them apart or is there something else I should look at. it doesn't seem like the kickstand switch would be causing it because there is no way for the kickstand to get down that far while riding. Battery terminals seem to be corrosion free and securely attached.
Thank you!
Karl