New Northern VA XS400 Owner

[XSrocker]

Hey all, I have just recently acquired an XS400 from my dad (used to be his). It has been sitting for over 20 years so it will need some work. I have kicked it once and the motor turned over so I dont think it is seized. I am not sure whether I will do a bobber build, a cafe racer build or a little of both but just cant wait to get it at least running. Any help is appreciated and will probably be looking for parts and tips! I will post pics when I return home to get some. Thanks guys!

 

[drewpy]

welcome XSrocker, you've come to the right place

 

[AMR-XS400]

Welcome mate, it's always a hard choice. I know it took me a while to decide to go a cafe racer. In the end It came down to what I would get more use out of. Best of luck and look forward to seeing pics

 

[Travis]

Welcome to the site!

 

[CadXS]

Cool, more new members...we want pictures...oh, and welcome to the site

 

[ivor]

Hi, and yes, lets see how she looks ....

 

[uglyduckling]

ok so here is a stupid 'girl' question..... what is the difference between a cafe racer and a bobber??

 

[gentlemanjim]

ok so here is a stupid 'girl' question..... what is the difference between a cafe racer and a bobber??

Just look at any thread with the words bobber (high bars laid back style) and cafe (clip on bars butt stop seat, rear sets foot controls) in the title and the pics will make it abundantly clear the difference.

 

[hardtailed77]

Welcome to the site! You should find plenty of info here!

 

[hammerlo]

Welcome

 

[drewpy]

ok so here is a stupid 'girl' question..... what is the difference between a cafe racer and a bobber??

cafe racer

bobber

there's also Brat style which is Japanese based

 

[ivor]

The phrase comes from the word 'bobtail', when in the fourties and fifties riders used to cut down, and also remove, much of the tin ware on their Harleys and Indians to lose weight. The Brit bikes which had smaller engines, but were much lighter and sportier, were faster than the American bikes, and the US riders did this to increase the performance. This evolved in the sixties to Choppers.
The word Bobber has made a revival in the last 5 or 6 years, when I started riding bikes in the late '70's and '80's, cut down Brit and Jap bikes that weren't out and out chops, were just referred to as custom bikes. Trouble is the word bobber is so 'in vogue', many newcomers to the scene use it to describe just about anything. A chop forum I frequent had a new member recently, who proudly showed us a picture of his fully chopped GS Suzuki, complete with raked frame and extended forks, he described it as his 'Bobber'.

Sorry, history lesson over

Does this qualify as a thread hijack ?

 

[HoughMade]

Welcome. A bit of unsolicited advice, get the thing mechanically sorted and running well, before you dive into a lot of mods. I resurrected an XS400 that had been sitting since 1994 last year. If you have any mechanical inclination, they are easy to work on and pretty simple to get running as long as nothing is deathly wrong. You will need to clean those carbs though. Take it from a guy who had the carbs on and off 5 times before he could get them to run right. Strip them down, clean them as best you can with carb cleaner, brushes, etc., the boil them in 1/4 vinegar water for a couple of hours, turning them into a difference position every 20 minutes or so. You won't be sorry that you don't have to try cleaning them 5 times.

 

[hardtailed77]

Welcome. A bit of unsolicited advice, get the thing mechanically sorted and running well, before you dive into a lot of mods. I resurrected an XS400 that had been sitting since 1994 last year. If you have any mechanical inclination, they are easy to work on and pretty simple to get running as long as nothing is deathly wrong. You will need to clean those carbs though. Take it from a guy who had the carbs on and off 5 times before he could get them to run right. Strip them down, clean them as best you can with carb cleaner, brushes, etc., the boil them in 1/4 vinegar water for a couple of hours, turning them into a difference position every 20 minutes or so. You won't be sorry that you don't have to try cleaning them 5 times.

^ sound advice!

 

[drewpy]

Welcome. A bit of unsolicited advice, get the thing mechanically sorted and running well, before you dive into a lot of mods. I resurrected an XS400 that had been sitting since 1994 last year. If you have any mechanical inclination, they are easy to work on and pretty simple to get running as long as nothing is deathly wrong. You will need to clean those carbs though. Take it from a guy who had the carbs on and off 5 times before he could get them to run right. Strip them down, clean them as best you can with carb cleaner, brushes, etc., the boil them in 1/4 vinegar water for a couple of hours, turning them into a difference position every 20 minutes or so. You won't be sorry that you don't have to try cleaning them 5 times.

ultrasonics is your friend (well for the carbs!)

 

[HoughMade]

ultrasonics is your friend (well for the carbs!)

Absolutely...but my way works very well and costs whatever the vinegar costs. Some people like lemon juice, but it darkens the aluminum a bit.

 

[XSrocker]

Thanks for the advice all! I will need every bit of it since this is my first build (I have some mechanical experience building Jeeps and installing things on my other bikes).

Anyway here are some pics!

I do plan on getting it running and in riding shape before I mod it... I am actually kinda interested in how it rides stock.

 

[XSrocker]

Oh and when I was home, I got the original owners manual with it (which I think will help with some parts of the build) and the registration. Its a 1978 XS400 2E.

 

[uglyduckling]

It looks cool. A diamond in the rust...... Love the bitch bar!!!

 

[XSrocker]

Ok first update...well not much but I am going to try and pick it up from my parents tomorrow. I have a shop right down the road that I talked to and they were extremely helpful! They do some sweet cafes and bobbers as well as restoring old classics and working on and repairing newer bikes. Any way they said to bring it by if I needed help getting it running. I might do that seeing that I am not to bright when it come to points and all this carb stuff.