Getting there and if it was me try to clean the rust up and do not paint them......Painting chrome is pretty much impossible when it comes to headers......I know as I did a set on my 1100 and well it was high temp paint but after a few runs it just wiped right off and I sanded the crap out of the headers trying to get a tooth on it.....
-
Enjoy XS400.com? Consider making a donation to help support the site.
XS400.com receives a small share of sales from some links on this page, but direct donations have a much greater impact on keeping this site going.
Cafe project so far.
- Thread starter WelderDave
- Start date
I tried to sand my headers down as well. Even used naval jelly to try and get the rust off. I ended up leaving the headers as they were with rust and a sanded chrome finish, as you can see in the pic I posted. The pic actually makes them look decent lol
WelderDave
XS400 Addict
Too late, lol. I sanded the entire thing down and used high temp paint on it. I guess I’ll see how it goes. If I comes off oh well I guess.
Down the road I want to get everything professionally painted, but for now, I have had a large out of pocket with this bike so far I’ll keep the cost down till I have set aside funds for that. However, the gas tank came out great other than I didn’t have a booth to paint so there’s some dust that settled on it unfortunately. I’m gonna try and polish that out.
Ps. I hate chrome.
Down the road I want to get everything professionally painted, but for now, I have had a large out of pocket with this bike so far I’ll keep the cost down till I have set aside funds for that. However, the gas tank came out great other than I didn’t have a booth to paint so there’s some dust that settled on it unfortunately. I’m gonna try and polish that out.
Ps. I hate chrome.
WelderDave
XS400 Addict
WelderDave
XS400 Addict
So here's what I've gotten into this so far. anyone looking to do anything similar in the future with what I've done may find this helpful.
-Paid $400 for the bike, had the drive sprocket cover dangling there and only ran on 1 cylinder. Was sitting a couple years I'm betting.
-New tires dual sport 120/90-18 in the back, and 110/90-18 in front, since I have mag wheels. Both fit no problem.
-New 7/8" cafe racer handlebars with a new brake cylinder, clutch lever, throttle and grip, center headlight switch (grey switch seen), dual switches next to clutch lever for rear blinkers only.
-Orignal headlight for now (bought new one I can swap H4 bulb for demon eye assembly), New universal guages. RPM's seem right, MPH doesn't. (All lights are LED except the headlight.
-brat style seat from Ebay.
-cut off back of seat post and welded on a hoop I made out of the small sissy bar in the back.
-Emgo mufflers, made a relief cut about half inch to 1" on one side only and used exhaust clamps to tighten her up.
-Purchased a new license plate light to put in the holder for a brake and running light.
-fork LED blinkers for the rear hoop, they're flexible so it will fit nicely on the hoop.
-Obviously took care of rust spots and reainted everything (unprofessionally until next year)
-New wheel bearings which I didn't expect to do, but had to. And all new grease.
-rebuilt forks
-added gator boots for the forks, nice touch and helps keep it clean there for the sliding motion
-MikesXS performance carbs
-AGM battery 2.9ah, but thinking about sing a 1.3ah battery to conserve a bit more space.
-Bought a reg/rec combo unit ESR350 and will be putting that in to save space and I bought a R292 part from Orielly and it only seems to charge at 12.5v even though I confirmed with a jumper that it can output quite a bit more than that, so I don't think its running right despite being hooked up properly, and its about 2.5x the size of the original. R292 is made to control power, not ground, so keep that in mind, one wire will have to be grounded at all times, and power sent out from the green wire of the unit to the field coil (78'xs400E)
-Welded a bolt on the frame next to the side stand so it doesn't hit the mufflers, rubber boot or not I didn't want them touching.
-made a quick seat plate for electronics, I'll be making a nice one this winter, I just wanted it rideable at this point and slapped that together since I ripped out the harness and made my own.
-Got an electronic LED flasher unit for the blinkers from Oreilly, they have it in one of the isles. wiring that up soon, has only 1 lead off the unit but supports up to 4 LED blinkers, just running a pigtail off that to power both blinkers and using the switches to control the individual grounds to select which blinker is on.
-Has a master switch for turning on and off the bike, but I'll be adding in an on/off key cylinder before the switch for anti theft. But this way you turn the key and you get the LED on the switch to turn on when the system is live.
-didn't wanna purchase an LED and try to mount it for the fuel pressure, so I am hooking up the fuel circuit to illuminate my Neutral light in the speedo. Not using the neutral switch, I think I can tell when i've got it in neutral, lol.
-Purchased 2 distribution blocks, one with 6 fuse holders and 1 with 4. Currently running the 4 since space is tight in the tray for now, will be using the 6 once I get the smaller battery and the reg/rec combo unit.
-pigtails are soldered connections, Connection points are crimps for now, Ohm tested all connections for 0 resistance after installing. However, once I have everything how I want it and finished I am going to make a list and how I want what wires in what plugs, and will be buying molex extension plugs, cutting in the middle and soldering the appropriate wires together, so I don't have all the crimps.
-Getting some wire harness covers, those plastic casings you can put the wires in, and having all of them ran through those for protection and to look neat and tidy.
-All grounds go to chassis, then 1 wire to batt -
- All wires are ran with AWG14, except the original wires on the switches and LED's since they are much smaller. For those, I soldered the small wire to a short piece of larger wire with an appropriate crimp on it for easy connection until I get my connectors.
-Eventually I will be getting new rear shocks/struts, but that will probably be next year.
-didn't have to touch the swing-arm bushings as everything is tight yet, however, Next year I'm planning on swapping them for bronze bushings from MikesXS, and probably adding the center grease cert. Hoping it's not going to be as much of a pain as the horror stories I've heard. Either way, I'll figure it out.
-Brakes and everything looked good yet, so eventually I will probably see if I can find some slotted rotors for this. I know a lot of people like drilled, but on cars I've seen a number of instances where they crack because the hole causes a weak spot, and the grooved ones work just fine. The idea is to make sure the gasses created don't get trapped between the pad and the rotor, so the grooves will trap the gasses building up to keep the pad on the surface of the rotor whereas the holes can eliminate it all together. But again, if your rotor cracks because of the weak spots, you end up spending again.
-spent the extra on hobbyist plates here in wisconsin. One time fee for life. Was going to go with collector plates, but my bike isn't stock as I modified it.
-Was missing the left foot peg when I got it, so I made a new one, then I took the right foot peg off, ground out the pin, removed the foot peg, and welded int a new peg with the bolts to match the right side. For the left, I cut a piece of length I wanted, heated it with MAP gas in a vise, and used a hammer to bend it accordingly. Welded a couple nuts on in the correct locations for the mounting holes, then welded the nuts on the foot peg portion and painted black.
-Bought a new shifter lever, which I think is shorter than stock, but that's quite alright, it sits where I want it based on how I made my foot peg to sit.
I have to thank everyone on here who helped me out with all my questions, and for those who had posts already that I found with information i needed. I could have probably done it without this site, but it would have taken far longer, and much more of a headache figuring things out on my own that did or didn't work, and probably would have spent more money on junk that didn't work. Now that it's driving and all is good, basically finished, don't think I will dissapear, I will still come on here and hopefully spread my knowledge to those who are looking for it. after all, I was helped, least I can do is return the favor. I'm also a member of 2 xs400 groups on facebook.
-Paid $400 for the bike, had the drive sprocket cover dangling there and only ran on 1 cylinder. Was sitting a couple years I'm betting.
-New tires dual sport 120/90-18 in the back, and 110/90-18 in front, since I have mag wheels. Both fit no problem.
-New 7/8" cafe racer handlebars with a new brake cylinder, clutch lever, throttle and grip, center headlight switch (grey switch seen), dual switches next to clutch lever for rear blinkers only.
-Orignal headlight for now (bought new one I can swap H4 bulb for demon eye assembly), New universal guages. RPM's seem right, MPH doesn't. (All lights are LED except the headlight.
-brat style seat from Ebay.
-cut off back of seat post and welded on a hoop I made out of the small sissy bar in the back.
-Emgo mufflers, made a relief cut about half inch to 1" on one side only and used exhaust clamps to tighten her up.
-Purchased a new license plate light to put in the holder for a brake and running light.
-fork LED blinkers for the rear hoop, they're flexible so it will fit nicely on the hoop.
-Obviously took care of rust spots and reainted everything (unprofessionally until next year)
-New wheel bearings which I didn't expect to do, but had to. And all new grease.
-rebuilt forks
-added gator boots for the forks, nice touch and helps keep it clean there for the sliding motion
-MikesXS performance carbs
-AGM battery 2.9ah, but thinking about sing a 1.3ah battery to conserve a bit more space.
-Bought a reg/rec combo unit ESR350 and will be putting that in to save space and I bought a R292 part from Orielly and it only seems to charge at 12.5v even though I confirmed with a jumper that it can output quite a bit more than that, so I don't think its running right despite being hooked up properly, and its about 2.5x the size of the original. R292 is made to control power, not ground, so keep that in mind, one wire will have to be grounded at all times, and power sent out from the green wire of the unit to the field coil (78'xs400E)
-Welded a bolt on the frame next to the side stand so it doesn't hit the mufflers, rubber boot or not I didn't want them touching.
-made a quick seat plate for electronics, I'll be making a nice one this winter, I just wanted it rideable at this point and slapped that together since I ripped out the harness and made my own.
-Got an electronic LED flasher unit for the blinkers from Oreilly, they have it in one of the isles. wiring that up soon, has only 1 lead off the unit but supports up to 4 LED blinkers, just running a pigtail off that to power both blinkers and using the switches to control the individual grounds to select which blinker is on.
-Has a master switch for turning on and off the bike, but I'll be adding in an on/off key cylinder before the switch for anti theft. But this way you turn the key and you get the LED on the switch to turn on when the system is live.
-didn't wanna purchase an LED and try to mount it for the fuel pressure, so I am hooking up the fuel circuit to illuminate my Neutral light in the speedo. Not using the neutral switch, I think I can tell when i've got it in neutral, lol.
-Purchased 2 distribution blocks, one with 6 fuse holders and 1 with 4. Currently running the 4 since space is tight in the tray for now, will be using the 6 once I get the smaller battery and the reg/rec combo unit.
-pigtails are soldered connections, Connection points are crimps for now, Ohm tested all connections for 0 resistance after installing. However, once I have everything how I want it and finished I am going to make a list and how I want what wires in what plugs, and will be buying molex extension plugs, cutting in the middle and soldering the appropriate wires together, so I don't have all the crimps.
-Getting some wire harness covers, those plastic casings you can put the wires in, and having all of them ran through those for protection and to look neat and tidy.
-All grounds go to chassis, then 1 wire to batt -
- All wires are ran with AWG14, except the original wires on the switches and LED's since they are much smaller. For those, I soldered the small wire to a short piece of larger wire with an appropriate crimp on it for easy connection until I get my connectors.
-Eventually I will be getting new rear shocks/struts, but that will probably be next year.
-didn't have to touch the swing-arm bushings as everything is tight yet, however, Next year I'm planning on swapping them for bronze bushings from MikesXS, and probably adding the center grease cert. Hoping it's not going to be as much of a pain as the horror stories I've heard. Either way, I'll figure it out.
-Brakes and everything looked good yet, so eventually I will probably see if I can find some slotted rotors for this. I know a lot of people like drilled, but on cars I've seen a number of instances where they crack because the hole causes a weak spot, and the grooved ones work just fine. The idea is to make sure the gasses created don't get trapped between the pad and the rotor, so the grooves will trap the gasses building up to keep the pad on the surface of the rotor whereas the holes can eliminate it all together. But again, if your rotor cracks because of the weak spots, you end up spending again.
-spent the extra on hobbyist plates here in wisconsin. One time fee for life. Was going to go with collector plates, but my bike isn't stock as I modified it.
-Was missing the left foot peg when I got it, so I made a new one, then I took the right foot peg off, ground out the pin, removed the foot peg, and welded int a new peg with the bolts to match the right side. For the left, I cut a piece of length I wanted, heated it with MAP gas in a vise, and used a hammer to bend it accordingly. Welded a couple nuts on in the correct locations for the mounting holes, then welded the nuts on the foot peg portion and painted black.
-Bought a new shifter lever, which I think is shorter than stock, but that's quite alright, it sits where I want it based on how I made my foot peg to sit.
I have to thank everyone on here who helped me out with all my questions, and for those who had posts already that I found with information i needed. I could have probably done it without this site, but it would have taken far longer, and much more of a headache figuring things out on my own that did or didn't work, and probably would have spent more money on junk that didn't work. Now that it's driving and all is good, basically finished, don't think I will dissapear, I will still come on here and hopefully spread my knowledge to those who are looking for it. after all, I was helped, least I can do is return the favor. I'm also a member of 2 xs400 groups on facebook.
WelderDave
XS400 Addict
Don’t have a video on my phone, but I’ve got the link from the Facebook live video I had of it running.
K Braun
XS400 Member
Congrats man, sounds great!!
WelderDave
XS400 Addict
Thanks man.
And the only thing that’s annoying, is if you forget to turn fuel on before starting, it will develope an air bubble in the fuel line. Because the petcock sits to low, you have to turn the line up and over the top of the carbs which creates a high spot for air if you don’t have a continuous flow of fuel.
To solve this, instead of the T fitting, I got a cross fitting. The top goes to a fuel cutoff valve at the top of the system to allow air out. So if you forget to open the gas first, just crack the valve until fuel starts climbing the top fuel line, then close it.
Everything is under the tank, so with an air escape, it will all just keep filling until the tank has no more gas, but it has to be below the lowest point of the tank.
Cheers. Hope all this helps some people who may be looking in a similar situation.
And the only thing that’s annoying, is if you forget to turn fuel on before starting, it will develope an air bubble in the fuel line. Because the petcock sits to low, you have to turn the line up and over the top of the carbs which creates a high spot for air if you don’t have a continuous flow of fuel.
To solve this, instead of the T fitting, I got a cross fitting. The top goes to a fuel cutoff valve at the top of the system to allow air out. So if you forget to open the gas first, just crack the valve until fuel starts climbing the top fuel line, then close it.
Everything is under the tank, so with an air escape, it will all just keep filling until the tank has no more gas, but it has to be below the lowest point of the tank.
Cheers. Hope all this helps some people who may be looking in a similar situation.
RZor82
XS400 Member
Nice job!!
What levers did you put on? I'd like to get some of those in black/silver for my project.
What levers did you put on? I'd like to get some of those in black/silver for my project.
WelderDave
XS400 Addict
Oh they were just some adjustable aluminum motorcycle levers, no brand as they are actually from China. I couldn’t find them made in US
RZor82
XS400 Member
Aliexpress? Happen to have a link?
WelderDave
XS400 Addict
Something like these.
https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Mo...dpPl=1&dpID=51QSJEUmYFL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Mo...dpPl=1&dpID=51QSJEUmYFL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1
khizer
XS400 Member
hey @WelderDave I have an XS400 2e with drum brakes and want to know where I could find adjustable levers for it. I have been googling it for a while but all I could find is adjustable levers for disc brakes. I would greatly appreciate if you or someone else could help me out in finding them.
Thanks
Thanks
WelderDave
XS400 Addict
As far as I know the rear is a foot pedal which I didn’t change. The front I don’t think it matters, but dint take my word for it. I just bought some on amazon.
