In over my head?

[Windyshittykid]

Hey guys,

I'm a proud new owner of a 1981 Yamaha 400XS. I bought the parts/ project bike from a good friend & I have a nice list of items I need to buy for the bike. The main problem is I have no clue where to begin on this adventure of putting the bike together and getting it back in awesome condition. I did purchase the manual through bikebandit so any suggestions, hints, words of wisdom would be awesome.

 

[jmd_forest]

Safety first! Replace brakes, brake lines, rebuild master cylinder and caliper. Make sure the tires are good; 30 year old tires that "look" good should probably be replaced. Check the wheel bearings and replace if necessary. Check the neck bearings and regrease or replace as necessary. Clean the carbs: CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN the carbs. The carbs will affect the smooth running of the engine from idle thru full throttle more than any other. Do a decent bench sync off the bike and it might not be perfect but it should get you running smoothly. Check ALL of the intake parts for cracks and air leaks; replace items as necessary. While you have most of the "stuff" off the bike, adjust the valves. You might want to replace the fuse box with a modern blade type box. Many intermittent electrical problems are eventually related to corroded/weak fuse clips on the 30 year old boxes. Make sure the electrical system is working: lights, stop light, turn signals, charging system. I'd make sure it was safe and running well in stock/rebuilt/repaired/reassembled condition before attempting any modifications, especially if you are a novice (assuming you even want to make any mods). That way you know if things don't work, it was something you did as opposed to a problem you inherited from the previous owner.

 

[Ironhead]

Safety first!

+1



Work steady and try not to let it overwhelm you. I know my attention span is shit when I’m looking at a bike that needs seemingly everything. A single motorcycle may be a single project but what I do and recommend is to break it down into a series of smaller, more doable projects. You can begin to subcategorize with a list that goes like: ENGINE - CHASSIS - ELECTRICS - BRAKES - etc. Then, break those down further. (CHASSIS: Swingarm, Front end, etc.) I don’t have a lot of time so one little sub-project might take me a week of dedicated work. Only focus for now on what it needs. Don’t worry about icing the cake until after you bake it. Save the cool stuff for when you have a safe and reliable runner.

So is it a complete basket case or is it at least assembled? Pics would be cool. If it’s assembled, DO NOT just start ripping it apart. That’s where a lot of those low value basket cases come from. If you are going to completely disassemble it for a full rebuild then be organized and methodical, take more pics than you think are necessary, label everything and clean as you go.

Do at least something everyday. You have to consistently make progress.

 

[jmd_forest]

Ironhead's suggestion to label everything is a VERY good suggestion. I completely dissassembled our bike including removal of the wiring harness to paint the frame. I had NO problems with reinstall because I marked every connection. For parts and nuts and bolts, use zip lock baggies and label them with a permanent marker.

 

[arfstrom]

Yup, Label connections, relays, for future purposes, download the wirediagram, and label the left coil connector, and the right one. that way future coil related projects doesn't matter which coil is plugged in, just which one is going to fire on the correct side, like you planned. Seems some people will mix it up, the relays one is a safety, and the other is for the headlights. Its probably good to keep them on the right circuits. I know when I am planning on going deeper into the depths of the motor, a baggy is allways cool, a piece of paper to note what it belongs too. of coarse there is the Pizza cardboard method too, the baggie works fine for me. Keep a copy of the manual close, read 2 to 3 times, so that might reduce some work, Double check anything that could be put in backwards, (I did put in my clutch rod in backwards) Check locally acquire-able locations for parts, I have a voltage reg from the local autoparts store, and recently I found that I can get the Oil filter from there too(ch6003). For web purchases, If your going to spend $10bucks for shipping, might as well get everything you need from one site. I have been making Wishlist on this web site, seems to be less expensive here than locally/other sites. http://www.powersportsplus.com/ Download the parts manual, so when you call locally you can guide the parts personnel straight to the page with the part on it, or you can give them the part number, and try to one up them once in a while. Check Amazon occasionally, they have surprised me when ebay didn't have something. Sometime time soon, I want to take everything I have printed out, and stick it into a 3 ring binder, and leave room for the small things to be left in the baggies, like the spare screws, o-rings, gaskets as well. A nice camera to upload pics, we all love pics!

 

[arfstrom]

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