my new project/ first bike/81 xs400h

[bcware]

Yeah, that is the car. My car came with essentially no options, but I did a little body work, exhaust, intake, wheels, lights, etc. My favorite led is the "switchback;" normally blinkers are amber steady on and flash amber, but mine are clean white when on and turn amber when they flash. The only downside is that people see two sets of white lights coming at them and assume I have my high beams on

 

[lhaolpa]

Google chrome plating and you'll get the Thompson page with listings for hundreds of companies that can plate with all kinds of metals.They even have a taskbar to search co.s within____ miles of your zip code.Copper is usually put on to make some types of chrome plating. lhaolpa

 

[ahale2772]

thats a cool page Ihaolpa, Id If im going to do much plating on it anymore, as with most builds my mind has changed 15times on what style im going for, next build will be a bare bones Bite your face off style Bobber that im going to use a bunch of copper on

made no progress this weekend

still havnt got welding gas, still waiting on my sprocket.

good news is that im gona get me a seat made up By Ginger at New church moto, pumped to see what the final product will look like

 

[ahale2772]

got the lights in today, came out pretty good IMO

to dent or not to dent? I think it will look killer if I get it correct... but its a PITA if I mess it up

tires will be ordered friday (no money)

gona work to get the pegs mounted this weekend as well....should make loootttttsss of progress this weekend

gettin there...

 

[hardtailed77]

This thing is going to be sick!!!

 

[isigt]

that's killer!

 

[ahale2772]

thanks guys, its getting there, money is killing me at this point but my biggest forseable purchase is the tires

finally got welding gas so im going to go HARD this weekend.

I really reaaaalllyyy hope my charging system will be fine. I have found a few wires down by the front sprocket that are worn through, im sure they shorted to ground at some point and im hoping the stator isnt screwed...ill end up going the banshey charging system route if the whole thing turns out to be cooked

There is a way to test the stator correct?

 

[ahale2772]

did some hammering, need to do some more to straigten some places out...but it gets the idea across

spent WAY too much time thinking about how to mount the rear sets, the kick start is in the way ...my bike is kick only...ughhh

think im gona mount the controls on the swingarm...any thoughts on that?

 

[tonupNW]

I herd that a kick arm from a sr500 will work and its about an 1-1.5 inches shorter if that helps at all

 

[lhaolpa]

I have,on my Dt400 dirt bike[redid it first] Kendra rear tire and Shenko front.They are almost the same tread pattern,and look good together.They are dual-purpose tires,as I will ride it on dirt and street,for a while. lha

 

[drewpy]

can you not get the rear set peg to fold?

 

[ahale2772]

I dont know what im going to do yet, my feet feel comfortable back on the swingarm, but then id have a shifter linkage thats 8 miles long and floats whenever the suspention travels.
also, welding to the swing arm is a crappy concept because its filled with foam....

im thinking I may just have to weld a frame extension on each side, just like the passenger peg setup on a stock bike

folding would be nice but im determined to make SOMETHING of this expensive rear set kit work....

just ordered from bike bandit...
shinko raven's
120/60/17 front
190/50/17 rear

and a standard RK 530 chain, bought a 120 link because idk how long its going to be

hopefully the guy making my sprocket has started to make my sprocket......I need the bike in 2 weeks......

 

[cafedan]

dude.... that thing is so rad. love love love it!!

 

[Ace4569]

NICE! good luck with your problem man.

 

[lhaolpa]

Bike Bandit is a pretty good site,I've bought several orders there,battery,tires,etc.Almost through with my dirt bike project and will start on xs400 rj seca DOHC soon.I'll be consulting with your brains soon.The thing I like about Bike Bandit,is that once you have your bike in their"my garage",you just have to click on the bike,and OEM or aftermarket,and you can see a parts breakdown,or list of parts. lha

 

[ahale2772]

Thanks guys (and gal)!

Iha, yeah bikebandit is ok, can't say im a huge fan of their site but it gets the job done. Their shipping kinda blows, but their prices are hard to beat.

Im major stumped on this rear sets thing, seems like there is no way to do it.

Took a break from that project (rainy day anyways) and now im gona try to get my tank sanded/bono'd and primed, should have a finished produck in a few hours

 

[skillzman1]

I welded in the solid plate in the bracket for the rear peg mount...after I shortened the rear peg mount hoop ....then I mounted a set of GSXR-1100 rearsets from ebay....you may be able to do something similar there at the base of your frame...I havent used the kickstarter...it will be a heel kicker I think...havent got that far yet...maybe the shorter kick starter is an option.

 

[ahale2772]

yeah skillz, i think ill end up making somthing like that, still havnt really addressed it.

finished the tank today

3 layers of bondo, one layer of top coat puddy, 8hrs of sanding one layer of self etching primer (the green stuff)

came out pretty good for my fist time spreading bondo on my own.

few more coats of high build primer then more sanding. then im gona spray it with some red rustoleum and paint the knee dent white...then some gas resistant clear

 

[skillzman1]

looking good...getting it identical..or close.. side to side was the only issue I had the first time...easily corrected,I just had to think a bit more about what I was doing and make some reference measurements.

 

[ahale2772]

Yeah skillz, I got them visually close, and they look identicle from the back, but the depth os a bit different from side to side

Im gona paint the dents white, im hoping it will hide some sins (just the depth) I spent soooooooooo long getting them smooth

Im happy with it