Introducing myself

[WFox93]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to introduce myself and my new (to me anyway) 83 Seca.
Just under 14k Miles. She needs some attention with a few things but all in all seems pretty solid.

This is my first bike too so I plan to be learning a lot with this one.

Here's a quick pic that I snapped after we got it off the trailer. I'll put some more up later if you guys want.

 

[Big D]

Welcome aboard!
Sweet bike .... I have an '82 just like it ... I love mine.
Big D-

 

[drewpy]

welcome, that's in good nick

 

[Johnny3D]

Welcome to the forum! Looks like you have a nice bike there and in good shape.

 

[WFox93]

Thanks for the welcome guys,

Unfortunately things were not as good as I initially thought. she currently sits in my garage in a couple dozen pieces. Just as we finally got everything together to get it inspected, she quit starting. Upon going to replace the starter clutch we found that there is something wrong with the gears that interact with the starter clutch. It appears that the drive idle gear is moving from side to side when the starter is pressed which is causing it to slip off of the gear that actually turns the engine and ruin the teeth on that gear.

But I guess that the fun in buying a 32 year old ANYTHING used.

 

[BBS360]

I just happened to be browsing the starter clutch replacement thread:
http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7989

There are repair kits and sprockets on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=90101*10105&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.XXS400+starter+clutch.TRS0&_nkw=XS400+starter+clutch&_sacat=0

 

[WFox93]

Thanks for the links there I'll have look more into the sprockets and what not on eBay. Unfortunately the starter clutch replacement thread there is absolutely useless for the later model DOHC like mine. Rather than the clutch being located conveniently on the side of the engine we had to split the crank case and remove transmission components to get to mine.

 

[WFox93]

Found the problem:

That's the rotor on the backside of the starter clutch and the gear has a similar crack. I have ordered a new whole assembly off ebay.

and here she sits now

 

[Big D]

WOW! That makes me sad, but I am glad you found it.
There is not much help on here for the DOHC bikes, but there is still a lot of great info and the members are really great.... and every once in a while someone can help you out.
I personally hope you will keep this machine stock.... these are relatively rare machines and it is hard to find them in as nice a condition as yours appears to be.
Big D-

 

[WFox93]

Thank you and yes I do intend to keep her mostly stock. If I do anything aside from repairs to get it running right. I'll be replacing the broken side panel in the right side of the bike. And there are a couple small dents in the tank on that side as well. From there I'd like to either plasti dip the whole thing or paint it (leaning towards dip that way I can change colors once or twice a year). Other than that I'd like to pick up the two into one and mod it to take a more modern slip on muffler.