New member introduction XS400R Seca

[carreragt7]

Hi all!

Just picked up my first motorcycle this week. It is a 1982 XS400R Seca. Runs pretty well for it's age and neglect, and I'm excited to get it back to tip top shape.

I'm a college student and I have been wanting to get into motorcycles for a long time, and finally found this bike for a good enough deal that I couldn't pass it up. It is really going to help me cut down on time spent looking for parking on my campus. Finding car parking on campus can be a nightmare during the regular semesters, but there are usually a ton of the allotted motorcycle spots available.

I've noticed on my online searching that this bike wasn't very popular in the States, and thus finding certain parts can be a pain. Luckily most of my parts are in decent shape, and I plan on taking some time during the upcoming winter to rebuild the bike.

I like to be a pretty active forum member and contribute as much as possible, and as I learn this stuff I hope to better contribute to this one.

Here are the only pics I have so far:

In the pics you can see the strip of JB Weld on the lower part of the tank (middle-ish area).

Thanks for any help you all are able to provide me with this new project! I hope to be able to learn a lot. I will continue to search through the forums and gain the knowledge necessary. I don't like being a noob and having to be spoonfed, so I hope to not be a bother.

 

[carreragt7]

I say something wrong? LOL...

Started taking the bike apart the past few days. Removed all panels, sanded and prepped for a temporary paint job until I set my mind on what the bike will become. Removed the tank and stripped it down to bare metal. The previous owner's JB weld job had me worried about how much damage was on the tank, but it actually was hardly any, just a couple pinhole sized spots. Repaired and will be cleaning up the few minor dings to it before priming and painting.

Is there any individual or shop on here that does custom fabrication for tail setups? I don't personally weld and figured I'd just ask, since I'd be willing to contribute to someone that fabbed one up that I could just take to a local shop and have them weld onto my frame. If not, I'm sure one of my local buddies might be willing to help.

I'm going for a cafe/streetfighter mix at this point.

 

[carreragt7]

A few updated pics of the bike, in the process of a facelift that will do until the winter when I can tear the bike apart for a full rebuild.

I've ordered the new tail light and signals, gaitors, etc.

I've chopped off the rear of the bike to better fit my updated seat idea.

Getting the measurements taken to build my custom CF tail bubble that will also have the taillight molded into it.

Still shopping around for the best clip on bars and a good headlight setup. Something about the dual dominator round headlights bugs me, can't figure out what it is yet. Probably going to go with a classic round headlight for now.

 

[HoughMade]

Looks like a solid bike. Looking forward to seeing where this build goes.

 

[XS400D]

The white tank on that bike actually looks pretty nice imo

 

[carreragt7]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, I have really always liked the look of satin white and wanted to do it on my car, but it was too expensive. But much less to do it on my bike. For now it is a decent rattle can paint job, but in the winter it will be powder coated a satin white, or whatever color I settle on. Only issue I'm running into is even the clearest non-yellowing rattle can paints still aren't clear and in fact do make the satin white appear to be more of a cream color in person.

I've talked to a few professional auto painters and got suggestions but I don't want to spend much more money on paint. The PC shop quoted me $60 for a tank PC, which really isn't that bad. I've also got a buddy with a cheap powder coater and I've got access to a big autoclave (oven) so I could do it myself to save a little money.

 

[Joshwuh]

Bike looks good. I'm also looking forward to seeing where you go with this bike because I also have been thinking about a cafe/streetfighter build haha... must be a college student thing.

 

[carreragt7]

Thanks Joshwuh!

So, I went a little crazy today and removed the airbox. Didn't realize it was such a PITA to get the box itself out. Wanted it out so I could see what space I really had to work with for relocating the fuse box and battery setup without getting in the way of my new seat idea.

Carbs look pretty clean to me, what do you guys think?

I'm looking into what needs to be done for pods and rejetting my bike, if anyone knows of a good thread or tutorial for a DOHC it'd be nice to reference: I can't seem to find any threads that actually explain how to do it, or at least that I can understand.

Gave the swing arm and monoshock a could degreasing/cleaning off of all the gunk on it. Defintely going to get the frame and other tid bits powder coated this winter, but for how old the bike is it is pretty clean.

 

[DCopp]

Run UNI foam pods. PK-52 I think. I ran one size larger pilot jet, and both main's 122.5's, I shimmed the needle with a small washer on both sides too and she ran like a top. Re-locate the battery to the swingarm plate in front of the two small bars and bolt a fuse box onto the battery box that you make...pics of mine

The 2nd pic I cut the airbox in half and used the stock battery tray on this bike. This is the one that I ran the UNI pods on. I have had 4 of these bikes now and know them inside and out.

 

[carreragt7]

Nice info! Thanks a ton for that!

 

[carreragt7]

So, it's been a while since I've been on here. Haven't had a ton of free time the past year so the bike has been sitting unfinished. My girlfriend just moved out of state for a new job so my old girlfriends (car and motorcycle) will hopefully be less neglected.

I had bought a nice Honda CX500 deluxe that was already mostly cafe'd out but I ended up selling it as I really like the looks of the XS400R and I'd like to finish the build.

I'm hoping to be on here more and will post up pictures of the progress. I had designed a carbon fiber seat pan but have decided to go a different direction with the seat.

Besides starting over on seat design all I need to do for the soft rebuild is get my new headlight, taillight, and gauges installed.

The bike ran amazingly well before the rebuild and I had gentlemanjim rebuild my carbs for me a while back, so I'm hoping I won't run into any hiccups.

 

[JARichmond]

Glad to see you're back! If you think the carbs are still going to be fine, run some seafoam through your tank (along with an inline fuel filter) just to clear up the gunk that may have settled over the year. If it doesn't run as well as before, you may have to clean 'em out again.
Very excited to see how this bad boy turns out!

 

[Martis]

Can't wait for more updates on this project

 

[bentwrench]

Welcome back. DOHC projects are great fun to watch - trying to figure out batteries and wiring with the monoshock is always a treat.

 

[carreragt7]

Welcome back. DOHC projects are great fun to watch - trying to figure out batteries and wiring with the monoshock is always a treat.

Yeah. I ended up picking up a pretty sweet battery, the Ballistic Evo2 8 cell. It's a lot lighter and smaller than the stock size battery and being a "dry" battery can be mounted in a lot more places without any issues.

I also got a sweet LED headlight that I've confirmed is plug and play with the stock wiring harness, which is awesome. I was worried I might have to do some rewiring to get it to work but it worked great.

I was planning on fabbing up a mold for some custom body work (seat and other bits) this weekend but my family is in town so I'm going to be doing family stuff instead. Oh well.

 

[Tj Gonz]

Sounds like its gonna be pretty cool man!
Looks like we started with the exact same bike lol,
Check out my build & great job!

http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7997

 

[bentwrench]

Tj, do you mean "check out my build & (my) great job," or "check out my build & (you have done a) great job"?

 

[Lou Ranger]

Tj, do you mean "check out my build & (my) great job," or "check out my build & (you have done a) great job"?

If these 2 come to blows, it will be on you B-W. Looks like they are both doing nice jobs.
More and harder stuff than I would ever try...