Baller67
XS400 Member
Lurking on here for awhile, but forgot to introduce myself.
My wife got a ready-for-scrap 79 XS400 back in the early 1990's, and her brother helped get it running, and she kept it running for a solid decade.
When I first met her, she had the carbs out on a kitchen table where she lived with roommates, and had them apart and was cleaning them.
It was love at first sight!
I had a 74 RD200.
We rode together, until our kid arrived about 6 years ago, and the bikes got sold.
The chick we sold her bike to used it as a learner, so it was dropped a lot!
She eventually bought a Sportster, and offered the bike back to us, cheaper than we sold it to her. She had a soft spot for it, and liked how we helped her get her first bike.
It sat a lot last year, as neither of us had a lot of free time to do the maintenance to keep it riding.
So this spring it had all the classic XS400 hiccups: dirty carbs, dirty carbs, dirty carbs!
A rusty tank interior (the PO had removed the external fuel filter, and we neglected to get one on again) was the culprit.
And the intake manifold boots were cracked and causing idle issues.
The seat was a soggy mess.
Here is what the bike looked like when we got it back from the PO
And here it is today
The kid loves it
After attacking all the carb issues, and getting rid of some bulk, it's time to ride it often during our amazing fall.
I thoroughly enjoy seeing what everyone is doing to these bikes, and have a lot of plans for this winter!
Thanks for all the knowledge and insight, this forum is amazing.
My wife got a ready-for-scrap 79 XS400 back in the early 1990's, and her brother helped get it running, and she kept it running for a solid decade.
When I first met her, she had the carbs out on a kitchen table where she lived with roommates, and had them apart and was cleaning them.
It was love at first sight!
I had a 74 RD200.
We rode together, until our kid arrived about 6 years ago, and the bikes got sold.
The chick we sold her bike to used it as a learner, so it was dropped a lot!
She eventually bought a Sportster, and offered the bike back to us, cheaper than we sold it to her. She had a soft spot for it, and liked how we helped her get her first bike.
It sat a lot last year, as neither of us had a lot of free time to do the maintenance to keep it riding.
So this spring it had all the classic XS400 hiccups: dirty carbs, dirty carbs, dirty carbs!
A rusty tank interior (the PO had removed the external fuel filter, and we neglected to get one on again) was the culprit.
And the intake manifold boots were cracked and causing idle issues.
The seat was a soggy mess.
Here is what the bike looked like when we got it back from the PO
And here it is today
The kid loves it
After attacking all the carb issues, and getting rid of some bulk, it's time to ride it often during our amazing fall.
I thoroughly enjoy seeing what everyone is doing to these bikes, and have a lot of plans for this winter!
Thanks for all the knowledge and insight, this forum is amazing.
Looks good.
