N8's '81 XS400 Special Build

[N8Bishop]

I've been lurking fora bit and thought I say "Thank you!" for all of the help so far, and start a build thread for my current project. Bought and fixed up a '96 Katana on '07 but it has been broken for a couple of years now (broke down shortly after I met my wife, and Finishing up college, wedding, & 2 Kids left little room to work on it). My kid brother asked me if he could fix it up for me... then once it was in his possession asked if i'd sell it to him (knew that was coming ). I told him that if he found a cool project bike we could customize, I'd trade him for it... I found this XS400 Special for $250 a week later:

Doesn't run, but is complete, and seems to be in fair condition other than cosmetics... We've done quite a bit of tear down & brainstorming so far (while borrowing and modding lots of ideas I've seen here). Thanks for all the tech & design advice, and wanted to send a special thanks to Drewpy whose tracker convinced me to go for the XS400 . Beautiful bike, among amazing bikes!

I'll post the rest of what I've done soon...

-N8

 

[drewpy]

welcome to the forum N8

look forward to your build

 

[eric123]

Good looking bike for $250...

 

[xschris]

Welcome to the forum. It will be nice to see what you come up with.

 

[N8Bishop]

thanks fellas. here are some more pics of what we're thinking so far Just Ideas, but I'm pretty serious about modding the tank drastically:

Option A:

Option B (dotted lines are the stock Shape... this one may be a little tough):

Option C:

Option D:

Whadaya think?

 

[N8Bishop]

Kid brother got it running today too... Carbs were totaly seized a week ago but friday they looked like this:

...Love that kid!

 

[drewpy]

cool, i like the tank but would be better to flow into side covers rather than leave them open?

carbs came out great, hope they are as clean inside

 

[N8Bishop]

Could be... i think it'll flow a little better with carbs & pods though. Don't really like the rounded edges if the side panels either. If i use anything they'd need some harder edges...

 

[N8Bishop]

most recent chop, repurposed the stock bars:

 

[N8Bishop]

So it's been quite a while since I started this project, and a lot has been done... I'm about 200 miles away from the bike and my brother has been doing most of the work, so I'm missing much of the fun. I'll be making a trip in a couple of weeks to reassemble, ride, and plan. Then it's a disassemble in the fall for more winter mods! I'll post some pics in a few...

 

[N8Bishop]

in no particular order. decided to dent the tank instead of going drastic. after looking at many examples on here I figured out that I really want an earlier XS ('76- '78) style tank, not the drawings above, but a knee dent tanks works for now... go figure
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[Scorpio1963]

I started making a knee dent tank and had it just like the shape yours is in.Then I found a crack in the top right where the curve is by the kneck.So for now its my carb tune tank.
Also is the frame power coated or is it paint?
I have had the notion about changing my frame to another color.

 

[N8Bishop]

The tank looks to be in surprisingly good shape (no rust at all that I can see on the inside, and very minor rust/corosion underneath), so I hope we don't run into cracks!

The frame is high temp paint. I was planning for gloss, but it got lost in translation to my kid brother, so it's matte ... anyway I dig the color and testing the durability is one of the reasons I want to get it on the road this season

we're using matte black high temp on the engine (duplicolor i think).

 

[ksqrly]

cool build I like the direction this is going

 

[LuckyEight]

Nice dents mate! I don't have a balls big enough to do this with my tank

 

[MrYeats]

I love the projected view of where this is going.
My dad, rest his soul, always told me as a child,"Cant never could!"

 

[N8Bishop]

Thanks guys!!!
Can't really remember where i heard it first, but i give credit to my grandmother. I say it to my employees and they roll thier eyes just like i used to... my boys are little, so they just kinda stare blankly... lol

as for the dents, I'm pretty cavalier about mods. I figure that nothing turns out exactly how i plan (at the very least i change my mind about what i want), and mistakes often mean you get to be even more creative with the fix! The first swing is the toughest, then you HAVE to go on. (Besides my brother did this one, so i just had to instigate )

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[N8Bishop]

Shaved and polished controls!

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[N8Bishop]

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[N8Bishop]

After a bit of discussion, Greg decided the matte red wouldn't do, so... he repainted it

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