'82 XS400 Special

[tweeder]

Hi all,

I wanted to introduce myself since I've been lurking around this site for a couple of months now. My friend Joe (perattzi) bought this XS400 Heritage Special in December and I have been working on it with him since then.

See here: http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6605

I recently bought it from him, but he has been helping me out still to try to get it done just a little bit quicker than I'd be able to do by myself. We're shooting for the goal of being able to ride it this season!

We both work in the same shop space and this is my first venture into the 4-stroke world, having only worked on 2-strokes prior to this project. Anyway I thought I'd post up a few photos of our progress.

Engine covers and forks after 220 grit:

Front wheel after sanding and painting:

Finally starting to mock it up with the completed wheels and forks and the xs750 tank:

A little photoshop of what the seat will (hopefully) look like:

All the brake bits have been painted, and caliper rebuild kits are on the way, so mounting up the brakes will be next. We are working on cleaning up and painting the engine right now as well. I ordered shocks and some other assorted parts today. The shocks I ordered are about 7/8" longer so I'm excited to see how they look. I'll post up some more progress photos here soon.

This is a great site and it has already been a great help to me for this build. Thanks, and cheers!

-Tim

 

[Sandrew]

Great start!
I like to begin the process form the wheels, too.

 

[PT_247]

that is gonna look fantastic... keep posting pics of your progress

 

[drewpy]

welcome to the forum.

looking good already, like the xs750 tank

 

[tweeder]

Just a quick update on my progress...

The front and back wheel are all sorted out now as far as spacers, sprockets, discs.

The engine is all prettied up and valve clearances all set. Waiting for new cover gaskets and then it'll get all buttoned up.

I started on making the fiberglass seat. Shaping the foam right now so I can start making the mold. You can see the rough shape sketched on the side of the foam. It'll be tweaked a little before its finished.

I have Woodcraft clip-ons on the way as well. It'll be nice to have something to hold on to finally!

 

[bentwrench]

Ooooh! What's the white wheel in the background?

 

[drewpy]

Ooooh! What's the white wheel in the background?

Tomos moped?

On the rear seat, why not reflect the curve on the tank where grey meets black? It will tie it all in nicely

 

[dburrows6735]

LOVE the set up! Is that tank from a different model or did dent it on your own?

 

[tweeder]

Ooooh! What's the white wheel in the background?

Its a 1980 Motron Medalist. Basically, an Italian moped with a Minarelli engine that has a CVT. I rescued it from a curb on trash night and restored/customized it. Here's a photo:

On the rear seat, why not reflect the curve on the tank where grey meets black? It will tie it all in nicely

Good suggestion. The curves of the tank are definitely playing into the seat shape. Its kind of hard to see in the photo. I'll post some more photos later.

LOVE the set up! Is that tank from a different model or did dent it on your own?

Its a tank from a '78 XS 750. They already have the knee dents. It takes a little bit of work to make it fit, but it wasn't too bad all-in-all. The tank is getting repaired and repainted eventually, but I'm going to keep it the same colors.


Thanks guys!

 

[bentwrench]

I love the wheels on that Motron.

 

[PT_247]

keep the pics coming of the 400

 

[tweeder]

A quick little 1 photo update...

We finished the fiberglass seat and did some work on creating some brackets for the rear sets and rear master cylinder. Since this photo, we have also finished restoring the tank up to the primer stage. No more dents! it took a lot of work because it looked like this tank had been kicked down the road a few times.

The next mission is getting the hardware sorted out and the final shaping and sanding of the seat. I also nee to figure out what diameter the front master cylinder piston is so I can figure out what master cylinder I need to get to work properly with the front disk. Any suggestions?

 

[Scorpio1963]

That looks realy nice so far.I like how the wheels look when they are polished.I plan on keeping my bike original for now maybe just fixing some things in hope that next spring I can get me something better.

 

[Scorpio1963]

Looking nice where did you get the conversion kit for rear disk brakes at?

 

[tweeder]

It wasn't a conversion kit. The swingarm, wheel, disk and caliper are from a 1978 XS400E. I simply mounted it all on to my frame and added some longer shocks.

 

[tweeder]

A quick update post:

Wiring is all done except for finding the right tail light for the bike. I want integrated turnsignals. The controls are all hooked up and working, except for the throttle. I haven't finished the carbs yet. The rearsets are all squared away. I still need to modify the kickstart lever to clear them, though. Or find a different lever. Lotts of little bits and pieces have been added and modified here and there. The biggest hurdle I have left is building the 2-into-1 exhaust system.

Wiring:

More wiring...

Rearset brackets done:

And how it all looks now. This was before I finished drilling the brakeside rearset bracket:

 

[arl5370]

Wow,that polishing looks fantastic. Is '220 grit' sandpaper or blasting media?

I also like the painted barrels and head with polished fin-ends. I may go that route as the soda blasting of the barrels and head did not give me quite the result I was after.

 

[tweeder]

Wow,that polishing looks fantastic. Is '220 grit' sandpaper or blasting media?

I also like the painted barrels and head with polished fin-ends. I may go that route as the soda blasting of the barrels and head did not give me quite the result I was after.

I think i started with 180 grit and went up to 800 grit sand paper on the polishing. I wanted a little bit of the matte finish look instead of the mirror finish. did it all by hand. it took a lot of time but i have more time than money!

 

[karatekid1194]

Did you machine those rearset brackets yourself and Do they mount up easily to an unmodified frame?

 

[Scorpio1963]

I gotta say Im not usualy a big fan of chopped or modified bikes but yours is looking awesome.I like the billet style brake lever thing you made up.Also did you rebuild or go through your engine or just clean it up and paint,Looks realy good.I apologise if you mentioned anything about what work you may have done.M knee dent tank Im making ironicaly is the same as yours.I wish my camera wasnt broke I`d post a pic.