rgrant
XS400 New Member
I'm a newbie to the site and to XS400's purely by chance. A couple of weeks ago I was doing my daily check of Craigslist in my town and saw an add for a free bike with some photos. It is a 79 XS400 Special, a pretty crusty no title non runner, but complete except for the missing left side cover. I snapped it up. I'm an RD350/400 guy and they share a few parts, not many but enough for me. My plan was to take those parts and sell/scrap the rest. At least that's what I told myself at the time, and more importantly my wife (having an RD addiction is a sore spot).
When I picked it up, I noticed a crack in the top of the left side cover between the starter and rotor. I thought " did the starter chain break" and further thought "no way". I was curious so after I took everything else off but left it a roller with the engine still in, I found that the starter cable was disconnected at the starter and then that the chain and starter gear were gone. Flipped the cover over and can clearly see the chain marks in the inside of the case right at the crack, so the chain did break. Why? In the process of getting the rotor off, I noticed that one of the three allen bolts that hold the starter clutch on had backed way out and would touch the gear, enough to wear down the top of the allen bolt a bit. It must have made a hell of a racket when running.
Anyway, I've halfway decided to see if I can get it to run, just cause. I'm going to clean the motor up a bit, check the electric system, clean the carbs, tune it and see what happens. It's only got 12K showing on the clock, seems like not a lot for this engine.
When I picked it up, I noticed a crack in the top of the left side cover between the starter and rotor. I thought " did the starter chain break" and further thought "no way". I was curious so after I took everything else off but left it a roller with the engine still in, I found that the starter cable was disconnected at the starter and then that the chain and starter gear were gone. Flipped the cover over and can clearly see the chain marks in the inside of the case right at the crack, so the chain did break. Why? In the process of getting the rotor off, I noticed that one of the three allen bolts that hold the starter clutch on had backed way out and would touch the gear, enough to wear down the top of the allen bolt a bit. It must have made a hell of a racket when running.
Anyway, I've halfway decided to see if I can get it to run, just cause. I'm going to clean the motor up a bit, check the electric system, clean the carbs, tune it and see what happens. It's only got 12K showing on the clock, seems like not a lot for this engine.
