New to the site, soon to own an xs400

[SilverTalon]

Hi everyone!
I'm new to to the site. I am going to be getting my license soon and I'm picking up an xs400 from one of my buddies. The bike needs a good cleaning, but once I sat on it I knew I'd make it mine. I'm excited enough that I asked him to deliver it early (haven't taken my classes yet) so I can work on it.

I have some concerns though.
There is rust, and I've seen how to take care of it.

I'm a big guy. I sat on the bike and it didn't bottom out, but if I invest the money in some new shocks, is there a pair that could bring the tail end up a little, to prevent a mishap?

My buddy told me the light is extremely dim. I was thinking of hooking a meter up to it to see what voltage it's getting. I've seen some posts (here and on other sites) of putting newer lights into the older fixtures. Is this something that can easily be done?

And yes, I will be posting before and after pictures once I'm done with it. It's an '80 xs400 special

I'm really glad I found this site.

 

[bcware]

Longer shocks should be easy to find; bikebandit has a bunch that fit my 78, but I am sure a lot of other sites stock more. I'd ride the bike a bit before you buy anything though; putting shocks on only takes 5 minutes if you have a center stand.

If the headlight is dim check the voltage across the battery.

Does the bike run? What kind of work does it need? Get some photos when you can.

 

[SilverTalon]

Longer shocks should be easy to find; bikebandit has a bunch that fit my 78, but I am sure a lot of other sites stock more. I'd ride the bike a bit before you buy anything though; putting shocks on only takes 5 minutes if you have a center stand.

If the headlight is dim check the voltage across the battery.

Does the bike run? What kind of work does it need? Get some photos when you can.

The bike does run, its been in storage for a year so he is going to check the battery and make sure it is running beforehand (he is my mechanic too).

Here are some pictures, I was going to take new ones yesterday but it was in storage, couldn't get a good angle.

 

[HoughMade]

I have the original shocks on my '79 and I never bottomed it even on the lowest preload. I weight about 230#. I now run at a higher preload and I don't think I could bottom this thing if I wanted to.

 

[Joel]

I put a new headlight in my bike that has a replaceable bulb. It's H4 and nice and bright. Here's the link, but they appear to be out of stock for now.
http://store.candlepower.com/638inhe.html

 

[SilverTalon]

I have the original shocks on my '79 and I never bottomed it even on the lowest preload. I weight about 230#. I now run at a higher preload and I don't think I could bottom this thing if I wanted to.

Unfortunatley I weigh in around 340

Working on that problem too lol

I put a new headlight in my bike that has a replaceable bulb. It's H4 and nice and bright. Here's the link, but they appear to be out of stock for now.
http://store.candlepower.com/638inhe.html

I'll take a look at this when I get out of the office, thank you!

 

[SilverTalon]

So I just picked up the bike today, will post some newer pictures tomorrow.

My only question right now, when I'm going 45+ and I'm in 6th, what would be considered an RPM level that is too high?

 

[OliverB]

My only question right now, when I'm going 45+ and I'm in 6th, what would be considered an RPM level that is too high?

Not quite certain I understand your question. The top speed for this bike approaches 90 mph and the top, safe, engine rpm is 9,000. Use any gear you wish but stay below 9K rpm and you will be safe. If you are asking when you should shift into 6th gear (or any gear), the engine seems to like anything above 3,000 rpm. Depends on how fast you want to accelerate and if the terrain is hilly or flat, also.

Do a search on how to adjust the "pre-load" on your shocks and see how that works for you.

 

[HoughMade]

With stock gearing, you will be turning around 4500rpm at 45 mph. I raised my gearing a bit, but I run at 60 mph at around 5500 rpm all the time.

 

[SilverTalon]

Sounds good, I'm getting around 4000 at 40mph.

 

[SilverTalon]

Took some pictures, but they are pretty crappy themselves. I didn't do any touch work on it, just gave it a top level cleaning to give it a little life.


Sorry for the quality.