New xs400 problems.

[bcware]

The side garnish plates protect well enough if you're wearing jeans. My friend has been riding his without the vanity covers on and has acquired a few tattoos. If you can cut and weld you might be able to make it work, but I'd be hesitant to shell out money without a test fitting.

My mufflers were junk too and they had to be cut off as well. I bought some emgo shorty pipes for $50 and made them work with beastly Cobra clamps and ultra copper silicone. Any universal pipe will work for you if you can weld.

I will attach a photo with the mufflers I put on and photoshop black paint.

 

[Onetype]

Those arent bad at all. Im not a fan of the exhaust on both sides, im not quite sure what im going to do yet but both pipes will end up on the same side for sure.

 

[lhaolpa]

I got a EMGO switch,new for about $30+shipping,of course,about$6.00,and all checks say good.It even locks well!!I got it on ebay. A 2 into 1 is a good alternative,but I like the side for side like it came out with.I had a 305 scrambler in the early '70s,a real fun bike for street and woods. lha

 

[Onetype]

Got quite a bit done today. Found a spot for my battery, put the harness back in and did quite a bit of splicing and re-wiring. Still waiting on my shorty levers to come in as well as the oil filter then I will be able to attempt to start this thing up. I am having a problem with oil leaking from the oil screen cover ever since I took it off. It seems like its coming out between one of the bolts but im not sure.

Still need to get a new + terminal wire and then I will hook everything up and clean it up some more. Alot of my connectors are falling apart so thats something I will be looking into once I get it running as well.

 

[drewpy]

Got quite a bit done today. I am having a problem with oil leaking from the oil screen cover ever since I took it off. It seems like its coming out between one of the bolts but im not sure.

carefull you don't overtighten those little bolts only 10 nm, tighten evenly and gradualy or the plate may twist. Make sure the faces are spotless and new gasket. I wouldn't use goo as thats where the oil pump suction is at its greatest!

 

[Onetype]

Any tips or tricks before I start it for the first time? I have turned it over so I know its not seized or anything, should I still pour a bit of oil into the cylinders? Also what are the wires hooked up to the clutch lever? I've looked over all my wiring diagrams and cant find what they do.The reason I ask is because I ordered shorty levers and they dont have the holes drilled for those wires or the other side.

 

[drewpy]

the clutch wires are there to stop you starting the bike if its in gear!!

before starting, i'd take out the spark plugs and trun the engine over in short 5 sec burts on the starter or kick for a bit of excercise. this will prime the oil pump and get oil flowing upstairs for the cam.

I have an oil pressure gauge fitted and it took 10 mins of kicking to get decent pressure.

 

[Onetype]

Cool thanks for the reply. Ill have to be super careful when I shut it off to make sure its in neutral.

 

[Onetype]

Its alive! Electric start wont work now for some reason I dont know whats going on with it. We tried jumping the solenoid and nothing either, everything was fine when I had the wiring harness out. Went over everything I changed and cant seem to figure out whats up. Im getting power to the start button and from it but thats it. Looks like the pushrod seal is leaking as well. I started it a few times and let it run for a bit but everytime I took off the choke it would die. Anyway It felt good to hear it run but im far from riding it.

 

[bcware]

Is it that clutch safety sensor preventing you from using the electric start? If it isn't sensing the clutch in it probably won't start electrically. At least that is my understanding.

 

[Onetype]

Well from looking at it, it seems to work just by letting the pin go in and out which closes/opens the circuit.I tried pushing the pin and didnt make a difference. I may swap in my old lever on that side and see if it makes a difference. I did have to shorten a few wires and lengthen some but I took my time and soldered everything with shrink wrap. Looks like I may be pulling all the wires out again. As for the rectifier and the regulator do they need to be grounded or are they already grounded via ground wires?

 

[lhaolpa]

If your bike is like mine,[an '82 rj seca DOHC],it also must have the kickstand up to start on the starter.I discovered this only on the second time starting mine,as it started earlier and I didn't notice if I had all of the "buttons" pushed,and it ran only as long as the fuel I had put in the carbs lasted. lha

 

[Onetype]

Damn I feel dumb now. I saw this yesterday and totally over looked it because I didnt understand how the starter button worked yet. It must have fell out at some point and I didnt notice it.

 

[Onetype]

Im down to the final few things on my list to get this thing road worthy and i've got to wire up the headlight now that I've gotten rid of the gauges and dimmer switch. Ideally I would like to put the headlight on a switch so its not on when it doesnt need to be. I will only be running the low beam so I wont need to mess with the yellow wire im assuming. If I do decide to wire it in to turn on when the bike is running im assuming I can just hook up the low beam side to the black/blue wire coming off the headlight relay?

can anyone draw me a simple schematic to wire in a switch for the headlight?

 

[drewpy]

you need to get a decent amperage switch if its inline. 20 amp should do it, just wire it in series so it cuts off the flow.

push/pull one would be good!

 

[Onetype]

Thankyou that clears it up for me.

Well I couldnt decide where to mount my neutral/oil lights so the leftside switch assembly went back on, I wanted a horn anyway so it was a good idea. I was day dreaming about how awesome it would be if I could fit the 20a switch in here..So after getting it all back together the horn doesnt work. Just to clear things up it only works when the bike is running correct? I may not have put it all back together correctly in the housing, im going to double check tomorrow.

 

[bcware]

My horn works when the ignition is "on;" the bike does not need to be running. 1978 by the way. Some old guy from a vintage salvage yard told me the horns tend not to go bad. They usually just need cleaning or tweaking.

 

[Onetype]

Ya thats what I was thinking, it doesnt help that I removed alot of things I didnt think I would want/need.

My understanding is that it seems to work like the start button circuit where it has constant power when the ign is on and when it grounds out it sounds the horn. Looking at the wiring diagram it looks like the horn gets power from the brown wire and transfers it to the pink to the horn button which then grounds out the circuit. Is this correct? This is the main diagram i have been using while building this bike.

 

[Onetype]

Can anyone tell me whats up with the second fuel line coming off the petcock? Is that supposed to connect somewhere?

Edit: I see it now.

Im still trying to get this thing to run right. It starts up pretty easy idles fine but dies once I turn the choke off or give it gas. So far i've got the emgo filters and open exhaust, is this typical when re-jetting is needed? I wasnt expecting it to run great but I was hoping I could at least put it in gear and move it around a little.

 

[XSLeo]

If it runs ok with the enrichener but dies without then the carbs need cleaning, your idle circuits are plugged up.
Up at the top of the page click on XS400 TECH, read all the carb stuff. This was written with the XS650 in mind but the XS400 carbs are simular. www.amckayltd.com/carbguide.pdf
Leo