Hi i just bought an xs 400 epic adventure ahead

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weemonster

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Hi my names Niall and i'm from Scotland.
on the 21st of june 2013 the summer solstice (longest day) in Britain myself and 16 other intrepid adventurers (fools) will ride from John o Groats in the far north of Scotland to Lands end in the far south of England. Thats 906 miles.
We're going to do it in one day (24hrs) on bikes that we have bought and prepped for £300 or less.
The event is called the Longest Day Down and is in aid of Cancer Research.

So why am i posting an intro on the xs400 forums?

yep you've guessed it my chosen mount for this epic adventure is a 1983 xs400 Seca

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it cost me £200 so i have £100 left to fix it.

I haven't heard it run the tank is rusted through the front caliper is siezed but apart from that lol
 
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how much do you have to spend on consumables?

I would clean the carbs out and just strip the front caliper down and you should be ok there if the brake piston is not rusted.

tank are always a problem on those as the lowest part of the tank doesn't get used and water collects there as its heavy.

welcome to the forum and good luck on your venture
 
Haven't heard it run, and you have 100 to work with. Hmmm...

Charging system should be okay. As per Drewpy, clean the carbs. It costs nothing to check the valve clearances (as per the manual you can get on this site) and at worst, you'll have to trade valve shims with another Yammy owner. Your tires (tyres?) look good, but only you know if they'll hold air. You only need the tank to hold gas for 24 hours, so if you know a welder, and don't care how it looks, then I'm sure you can figure something out.

Great idea, great cause, post any questions and I'll do my best to help out. My mum survived breast cancer twice, and it's a bit of a pet cause of mine too.
 
i plan on blagging stuff from local bike shops so £100 should be ok.
I dunno what you call blagging in the US or Canada. Its pretty much begging but with more bare faced cheek than humility or pity.

The yamaha dealer is gonna be pestered into donating a battery.in return i'll use his license plate frame that kinda thing.


The rear tyre still has the bobbles round the edges its almost new.

The bike has done 29k miles its been in the uk since the 90's and its had 9 owners over here.
 
9 owners is typical, as is the low km. Too bad most people just see these as beginner bikes. Lots of the posters on this board have been riding for 10+ years and discovered how much fun bare bones vintage riding can be.

But as it's a beginner bike, often basic maintenance isn't done before selling to the next beginner owner (who doesn't know what to do either.) That's why a valve clearance check is worth it. If you find the bike is really slow to warm up, or really difficult to get started, or running really lean, valves are a likely culprit (after carbs. It's almost always carbs first.)
 
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some progress pics with bigger tank from a 1990 XJ600 i belive just to confuse things that in the US an XJ is called an FJ.
It needs a small amount of manipulation to get it on at the front and an adaptor plate so it can bolt to the stock mounting point.
after this is done the fron will be further down.

Happy bonus the cap of the seca tank fits.
 
nice bike..lovely progress..i have a friend who rode his honda 250 for almost two years with a 2 liter coke bottle for a gas tank lol...so u r doing way good. i have full confidence that the bike will run she looks good so far..considering...!!
 
Any progress to report on fitting the tank? Pics during the process?

I'm about to start shopping around for a larger tank to extend the range of my Maxim...

Thanks,
Dave
 
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