Intro: New to bikes and particularly my XS400

[Jaycool25]

Hello all, I've been lurking for months reading up on everyone's build story's and guides and am finally getting into my 1980 XS400 I bought last summer.

Little about me.
I'm a college student pursuing an mechanical engineering degree. Mechanical engineering is neat, but its nothing like doing some actual wrenching and fabrication which I love.

Like I said in the title I'm new to motorcycles, but I love cars, mainly jeeps. I have a 1996 Jeep Cherokee named Betsy who just loves to be upgraded.

Other hobbies/interest are computers (been building those forever), electronics, robotics, gaming, 3D CAD work, and fabrication.

Now what you really care about the 1980 XS400

Background
Picked it up last summer, not running and mostly there However by the time I got it home and oiled up I managed to get it running. I was up at school without a garage so I spent the time mainly acquiring missing parts.
Aside from being pretty beat up, the bike runs fairly well after a half-assed carb cleaning. Due to issues with the brakes and tires, I never rode it more then around the yard, so I don't know for sure yet if its going to shift and run at higher speeds.

When school ended I had to bring it home so I managed to take the forks off of the bike and stuff it in my Cherokee with all my other stuff A friend of mine was generous enough to give me a corner of his garage to store it in, and that's where its sat till about now.

Currently
I just started taring it apart. I have it down to just the frame and the engine. The oil filter bolt was stripped, but I plan on welding a new nut on it tonight to remove it.

I'm planning on a tracker build but I'm trying to do it as cheap as possible (who isn't?) and plan on reusing as many existing parts as I can, and modifying the rest.


I am currently having a few debates as to what I want to do such as...

Front brake: Leave as stock disc setup, or upgrade to newer?
Rear brake: Leave stock drum setup or upgrade to disc?
Rear shocks: Leave stock or convert to monoshock? (modify existing swingarm or buy new?)
Possibly a fork swap to something newer?

If anyone has any thoughts, please share them. (Admittedly a lot of those mods I like for the looks, but I can't complain if performance comes with that.)

Thats enough for now, I will eventually start a build thread and try to add some pictures and the like.

P.S Great forum, lots of information and what seems to be a lot of great people!

 

[bentwrench]

Thoughts on front brakes: In my experience I can't get in enough trouble to need more than 1 disc. But, 2 discs looks the bomb. More expensive though, to source the new wheel.

I am instead thinking of upgrading to braided SS lines to improve front braking.

Rear brake - I never use mine.

You say you want to keep it cheap, but a switch to monoshock or a front end swap can run quite a bit in parts alone very quickly. Sounds like you need to decide your vision, and then start working on it. If you don't know where you're going, you'll never get there.

 

[drewpy]

I have twin disks on the resto bike and they stop awesome and can lift the rear wheel off the ground on the track.

If you want to go mono rear, the Milvin moto had a cool concept by placing the mono under the frame. Check out "modded xs400"

all this won't be cheap so don't kid yourself it will.

Do as BentW said, then get your vision on paper , stick it up and work towards that.

 

[Jaycool25]

Thanks for the reply's. Price and time are always the issues. What you guys have said are pretty much confirming what I had thought, which is to stay stock.

I've looked at the Milvin mod quite a few times and I love it, especially being more fab work then bought. However my access to precision machining is minimal, but it still could be possible.

My other thought was would it be possible to modify the existing swingarm and weld some addional brackets, and braces to basically turn it into the equivenlent of the swingarm that's on the later maxims, I think.

Like this

Then I would just need to make a frame side mount and brace the frame there, and obviously get the spring/shock.

Basic outline of how it looks

I already plan on pods and moving the electrical so I should have the room. Is this possible, or am I being crazy?

 

[eric123]

Easier and cheaper to just get a Maxim...They aren't very desirable, so they are usually fairly inexpensive too.

 

[lowpunk]

Easier and cheaper to just get a Maxim...They aren't very desirable, so they are usually fairly inexpensive too.

I was thinking that or a Virago.

 

[Jaycool25]

I'm just weighing my options for things I can do, the project is as much about getting a complete bike in the end as it is to teach me new skills, from fabricating chassis, to engine work and paint. Besides I'm a Jeep guy can you blame me for wondering about suspension upgrades?

I Just thought I'd get some more opinions about each one of those topics before I decide whether they are worth me attempting right now. That way I can stop envisioning 10 versions of the bike with all different brake,wheel,fork setups and start narrowing it down to what its actually going to be.

Then I can know where I am going and how to get there, and have a vision on paper in case I get lost.

 

[bentwrench]

Easier and cheaper to just get a Maxim...They aren't very desirable, so they are usually fairly inexpensive too.

HEY! I desire my Maxim.

No love for maxims. Sniff...

 

[Jaycool25]

Haha, it would seem that way.

After some "welding" and a couple "really there's another bolt holding this in" I finally have the engine out of the frame. The motor weighed a lot more than I thought it would.

 

[bentwrench]

Yeah, it's amazing how much 1.5 cubic feet of metal weighs...