my new project/ first bike/81 xs400h

[bcware]

Epsom is right next to Concord; not terribly far, but up there. My forks basically bottom out as well and don't feel like they have much oil in them. I will probably try the same thing before going crazy. I need to do fork seals and fill some pits as best I can. I just want to pass inspection and have them last a season. After that I will just get new tubes if I plan to keep this bike for a while

 

[ahale2772]

I guess im complaining more about the rate that they sag, I know I read in some random forum that guys were having good luck with 20wt filled six inches from the top...cant hurt to give it a try

 

[bcware]

It is definitely going to be the cheapest, easiest fix to start with. Worst case scenario you end up with fresh fork oil.

 

[ahale2772]

more tinkering tonight...

flipped my foot pegs, im 6',2" so my knees were in my face, they dropped down about 3 inches, if down the road my foot gets close to pavement ill make a different setup, but for now it works fine. (yes im going to cut and reweld the pegs so the grip side is up)

in the giant box of parts i got with the bike there were about 3 sets of brake levers and shifters, I had to cut and weld a brake lever to fit right, the shifter is just a shorter one from some other bike.

next up, my headlight buckets had some of those crappy ebay sheet metal fork mount headlight holders, one was bent so I ditched them. I decided to do something different....

I flipped the stock bar holders over and made a plate to connect the two:

Off of that plate ill have some brackets going to the headlight. Its going to be really high tucked right in infront of the guages, havent made the bracket to the headlight yet, thats what tomorro is for

crappy pic but you can see what the bike look like with the batt box and seat pan on:

going to go hard this weeknd to get the bike all wired up and running good on the street, licence plates came today

 

[ahale2772]

two questions....

Pulled apart my spare set of carbs, the main jets are a 145....thats pretty big correct? i thought a stock was 137?

next up... steering/headset bearings are toast, about a half inch of play forward and back at the front wheel when its on blocks...yeah THAT bad

will I need to buy a new race? im going to go with the taper bearings from mikesxs

 

[bcware]

142.5 is stock on my 78, but yours may be different. I don't think you'll know if the races are still good until you take it apart. I picked up an all balls set from bike bandit for 35 or so which includes new races. Someone told me to make sure you have a magnet available for the loose bearings when everything comes off if you plan to keep them.

Edit:

There are actually some great videos on youtube of people swapping out to taper bearings. The special tools they use are generally just metal pipes or rods that closely match the diameter of the races/bearings to pound them in and out. Heating some pieces up or sticking them in the freezer can help get everything in and out easier.

 

[ahale2772]

thanks Bc, I guess the taper berings come with races so thats a pluss....but mikesxs is sold out for a while, so ill have to tighten mine up for now I guess...if thats even possible.

 

[ahale2772]

welllpppp, had some serious gremlins with the bike this weekend.

seems like after putting the wiring harness back together it wont charge. the harness itself is a mess but I went thru it andthere are no bad connections or shorts. Anybody have an opinion on where to start diagnosing that?

That LED flasher I bought works but... still dont have enough load on the flasher with my leds. This week i will thro a couple regular markers on the system to add load.

the bike is clearly still to lean, it will not rev over 6000rpm without popping and acting like its got a revlimiter. I will rip the bowls off and check what the jets are and swap in the 145's if needed.

seems like my headgasket is leaking a bit of oil there is a slight oil leak on the left cylinder but im not going to address it untill I see oil smoke... or can it cause problems???

took a lonnggggg time to get the wiring sorted out, its all cut up and not many original connectors... I'm in the market for a complete harness if any one has one.....

got the leds molded into the tail and headlight.... (everything is painted in whatever i had at the time....)

 

[ahale2772]

does anyone know if the regulator/rectifier need to be grounded? I have both mine mounted on my seat pan and thats not grounded

im thinking this might be my charging problem

also, will any xs650 steering head bearing kit work for my 400?? mikesxs is out of them but im thinking of buying thru ebay

 

[ahale2772]

can someone confirm that the xs650 taper steering bering kit will work on my 400?

any opinions on the rectifyier and regulator needing grounds???

 

[hardtailed77]

can someone confirm that the xs650 taper steering bering kit will work on my 400?

any opinions on the rectifyier and regulator needing grounds???

The 650 bearings WILL NOT work on the 400, they are different. I know of one place that makes the taper bearings for the 400, but it's overseas though. Here's the link that I got from Drewpy awhile back....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yamaha-XS400-...63?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item43a1a47757

....I'm sure with a little search on US Ebay, you will come up with some. The seller of the above is Pyramid, by the way. Hope this helps.

 

[hardtailed77]

Here you go, just the first one that popped up.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/XS36...Accessories&hash=item5d2da5f663#ht_2084wt_861

Be warned that the tapered style do usually sit a little proud in the neck though...

 

[ahale2772]

thanks guys, that helps alot, i was about to order the 650 ones.

edit: ordered those from ebay, thanks again

 

[hardtailed77]

thanks guys, that helps alot, i was about to order the 650 ones.

Not a problem.

 

[hardtailed77]

I'm pretty sure neither the regulator or the rectifier on your bike needs to be base grounded....at least my '77 doesn't have to be. Have you checked all of your electrics to see if they are bad? Do you have a manual yet?

 

[ahale2772]

yeah I have a manual, im going to test both the reg and rec this weekend, im thinking its something simple... maybe not a proper ground for the harness? now that i think about it i do think the harness is grounded at all.... should it be?

played more with my lights today, im gona rig the headlight up on a switch, I really want to have minimum load on the bike riding around so I have no reliability issues...are the headlight/ running lights supposed to be on with the key?

my markers are still not flashing even after getting that LED flasher, ive only got .13 amps of load on either side, im going to run a hidden incandesant light in-line to create some artificial load...you can buy resistors but i dont need to spend anymore on lighting, the whole bike is now led, ill post some pics of the rear all lit up soon, it looks bitchin i love the instant reaction of ledbulbs

 

[volcomskater77]

when you stretch that swingarm, i wanna see a write up. lol
bikes gonna look sick. i love the taillights and the drilled sprocket cover.

 

[bcware]

Bike bandit had all balls stearing bearing kits in stock. Got mine in the garage

Be careful with the hidden bulb because they get quite hot. Load resistors should be about 5 to 9 bucks depending on the size.

The voltage regulator is adjustable for tweaking the amount of charge delivered; the haynes doesn't mention a ground, but it is originally attached to the battery box that could definitely act as a ground. The rectifier is also originally attached the battery box, but haynes doesn't mention a ground for that either.

Maybe check your fuses just for fun as well.

 

[ahale2772]

volcom, I will do a write up but it wont be for a couple weeks/ month, I really need to get the bike all set and running reliably first. I hope the extended swingarm pushes center line of the tire past the end of my rear fender...I really like that look (I may end up makeing a totally new one out of some nicer steel, it would be nice to have the original to swap back to someday)

i need to cut into my rear faring/fender again, im going to mount two round leds (identical to the front turns) as my directionals and two small leds (same size as the red brake lights) for always on markers, should look bitching cool once they are recessed in but its going to take more cutting and welding than i want to do right now.

BC, I think they should need a ground, the regulator has a steel sleeve that goes through the mounting hole and that shouts "GROUND ME!!!"

like i said before my harness is a MESS....I dont even have any fuses in the whole system (ill add one main one before too long)

 

[ahale2772]

and yeah the drilled pieces were a treat when i got the bike, the motor was out wheels off and bareframe sitting there when i got it, I had a huge smile on my face when i saw that all the drum hubs and sprocket cover were extensivly drilled. (ive got spare hubs that arenot drilled too )

I think the only reason the bike never ran was because he had the coild wires swapped ...DOHHH!!!