Bike won't start

mnealeigh2

XS400 New Member
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Location
Lincoln, NE
Hi all
I've got an 82 XS400 Special-II that won't start. The electric starter has always been dodgy and worked only if the bike was warm or on a booster. The kick start worked on the first or second kick for the first 5 years I had the bike. Now I've got nothing. Just came out one day and it wouldn't go.

Things I've tried so far:
New battery
Replaced starter solenoid
Checked electrical system (power getting to starter and plugs ok)
New plugs
Compression checked out ok

I'd rather not take this into a shop here in Lincoln as they're booked out for maintenance till late May. Any suggestions or follow up questions would be much appreciated.
 
is the motor turning over?
have you got fuel, air and spark?
what was your compression?
has the carb sat with gas in it?
 
Motor will turn over with the kick start
I'll check to see if I'm getting spark after work this evening
Don't remember the compression numbers but when I did the test I remember the numbers being around normal according to the manual
It did sit with fuel (ethanol mix) in it for about 3 months
 
Clean carbs, new gas. Bowl gaskets will be swollen when you pull the bowl off more than likely, if so heat an old oven at about 350 for a minute. Don't let the gaskets start to smoke, fire is around the corner. It works trust me.

I let my bike set for 40 days with ethonal blend and I had to clean everything. It's going to be kind of green. Always drain bowl to store.
 
Hey everyone. So i recently just bought a 1978 yamaha xs400. I couldn't be more happy with the bike! Everything was running great after I changed the oil. Just last night I accidentally left the fuel on overnight and when I went to start it up this morning it wouldn't run. I figured that was the reason. How do I go about fixing this? I know I have to drain the gas from the carbs but not too sure how to do that. Please help it finally broke 70 degrees today in New Jersey and all I want to do is ride haha. Thanks!
 
Hey everyone. So i recently just bought a 1978 yamaha xs400. I couldn't be more happy with the bike! Everything was running great after I changed the oil. Just last night I accidentally left the fuel on overnight and when I went to start it up this morning it wouldn't run. I figured that was the reason. How do I go about fixing this? I know I have to drain the gas from the carbs but not too sure how to do that. Please help it finally broke 70 degrees today in New Jersey and all I want to do is ride haha. Thanks!

Simple way to drain the carbs would be the brass nut on the bottom of the bowl on the carbs. I would take the carbs off for this as it will get messy. Takes 10 min to get the carbs off (ish)
 
I had an issue with the fuel tank once. I had plactic kote'd my tank, with the fuel cap on. The hole got blocked, and I would make it about 2 to 3 miles down, and then it would act like there is no gas. That experience removed my plastic kote, and I had to do it all over again.
 
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