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!
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!