SteveBeyer
XS400 Member
First the background story. My wife wanted a bike of her own. It was to be her first bike and she had no experience riding. So we were on the lookout for something we were not going to be super bummed getting a bit banged up. Also she is on the shorter side, so from the beginning we were limited in bikes to choose from. We found a buddy with a 1981 XS400 that had 10.5" shocks mounted bringing the already "small" bike down even more which was perfect. It was running, had all it's papers in order, and came from a friend that I knew I could go back to if something went south quickly. Here it is the day we got it.
We cleaned it up a bit, new grips, proper pod air filters, signals... and she rode it around the neighborhood for a month or so. Then we found out about Yamaha selling a 2015 SR400 in the states. They only brought 500 over. We went to look at it and the size was right for her. She already determined that she was hooked on riding and I much prefer her on a bike that she is 100% comfortable on (newer vs older). So we bought it. Here it is the day we got it.
Which brings me to the topic at hand. I now have a bike that I can strip down to the frame and build to my liking. This is going to be a first for me. I admit I'm in way over my head, but I'm not in a hurry so I'm going to take my time, do it right, and enjoy the learning curve. I look forward to you all schooling me and following along on the journey. My vision is a street tracker. I have started striping it down. Here is where it stands as of today.
We cleaned it up a bit, new grips, proper pod air filters, signals... and she rode it around the neighborhood for a month or so. Then we found out about Yamaha selling a 2015 SR400 in the states. They only brought 500 over. We went to look at it and the size was right for her. She already determined that she was hooked on riding and I much prefer her on a bike that she is 100% comfortable on (newer vs older). So we bought it. Here it is the day we got it.
Which brings me to the topic at hand. I now have a bike that I can strip down to the frame and build to my liking. This is going to be a first for me. I admit I'm in way over my head, but I'm not in a hurry so I'm going to take my time, do it right, and enjoy the learning curve. I look forward to you all schooling me and following along on the journey. My vision is a street tracker. I have started striping it down. Here is where it stands as of today.