first build

[fwelling]

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.

 

[hardtailed77]

Looks pretty good man! I may be a little biased towards a hartail though....lol Have any plans for paint yet?

 

[drewpy]

looking better with the PSW hardtail

welcome to the forum

 

[fwelling]

i was planning on painting the tank black too with a nice glossy finish and dark brown leather tool bag and seat. I have a friend making me the bag that will hang right under the seat.

 

[hardtailed77]

I looked into the PSW kit, but never received a return email for some reason...so I just decided on Travis's kit and went for it!

 

[fwelling]

he was not very good about responding to my emails either, and it took a longer than he said it would, but he kicked $50 bucks off because of it.

 

[CadXS]

Looking good mate, and a few more bobbers being built at the moment. Did you go pc or rattle can on the paint? I'm still trying to decide what to do, the lazy me thinks send it all for power coat, while my wallets says get sanding and rattle can

 

[fwelling]

i had the same dilemma and went with spray cans. i sanded it all down, primer coat, black, then a few clear coat layers. I was pretty happy with the way it turned out, but it seems to chip pretty easy. im still considering doing a powder coat later. you might be able to get a little bit lower price if you find someone already powder coating something the color you want and just stick it in there with it.

 

[ahale2772]

wow...that looks killer, I love those bars and the high headlight.

I think if you just keep posting pics of your bike, my craving for another xs/bobber build will be satisfied

 

[fwelling]

thanks man. That is the stock bucket and mount point. im thinking about replacing it all together, because it is such a pain finding a replacement lens for a reasonable price. There are some cool aftermarket headlights that i like and while im spending money on parts, might as well spend a little more. i plan on diving into the wiring this weekend, so hopefully that goes smoothly.

 

[fwelling]

hopefully i can get some better pictures than the ones i took on my phone too.