fwelling
XS400 Member
When i decided that i was going to build an older bike back up, I was set on building a cafe racer. I came across this 1980 xs400 and traded a bicycle to get it. He said the bike wasnt running and he just wanted it gone. My buddy and i got it back to the shop and pulled the carps of and gave them a quick clean and it fired up on the 5th kick. As you can see from the pictures the previous owner started to bob it out. The job was a little half ass though. I decided to go in the same direction he was headed, but wanted to do it right. He had welded the swing arm rigid and rigged up some goofy seat system that no human could be comfortable in.
I started by stripping the whole bike down and ordering a hardtail from PSW. In hindsight i was a little ambitious with taking everything apart because I could have rode it for a few weeks. I also ordered new bars, controls, mirror, mini speedometer, seat pan, hairpin springs, and the mounts and hinge.
A few days after the tail arrived I got it welded on and realized the stock rear axel was not long enough, so i went to a motorcycle pick and pull and found one from an xs650 for $10. after that was squared away we got the motor mounted back in there and its starting to look like a motorcycle again. Now i just need to figure out the wiring and hopefully have it running again this week. Let me know what you think of it so far.
I started by stripping the whole bike down and ordering a hardtail from PSW. In hindsight i was a little ambitious with taking everything apart because I could have rode it for a few weeks. I also ordered new bars, controls, mirror, mini speedometer, seat pan, hairpin springs, and the mounts and hinge.
A few days after the tail arrived I got it welded on and realized the stock rear axel was not long enough, so i went to a motorcycle pick and pull and found one from an xs650 for $10. after that was squared away we got the motor mounted back in there and its starting to look like a motorcycle again. Now i just need to figure out the wiring and hopefully have it running again this week. Let me know what you think of it so far.
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