Newb's first bike

[the_guerrero]

Hey everyone! A good friend of mine was given an xs400 from his uncle. He didn't want it and gave it to me free of charge. From what he told me its a 79 xs400 special? Going to check the numbers to make sure. It doesn't have a battery, the electrical connections looks pretty bad, over all needs a good cleaning, kickstarter is either broken or needs to be adjusted, most of the rubber bushings/washers are dried and cracking off, missing a rear left turn signal, and the clutch cable seem to be shot. I also assume that the carb needs cleaning/re jetting?
So what should be my first plan of action? I was planning on cleaning dirt/grime and writing down all visible problems all day today. I figured I would get a battery this weekend and see what other problems I may have. This is my first motorcycle and though I'm somewhat mechanically inclined with cars/trucks, i'm kinda new to motorcycles. More pictures and info to come. All help is greatly appreciated and I hope this will be a fun summer project

 

[regvenne]

Nice toy, Welcome.

There's nothing like giving some TLC to your favorite toys.
It would be the same as anything else, test compression, clean carb's and filter, new oil and filter.

Once you have that engine purring, the rest of it makes it much more enjoyable.

Good luck, and keep us posted, and pics.

 

[Scorpio1963]

You got a nice project bike whats even cooler is it came with Mac 2 N 1 exhaust thats almost $300 in itself.You probaly spend a couple hundred more $ and end up with decent nice looking bike.

 

[xs400neophite]

Here is the service manuals from this site...great resource. Welcome BTW and good luck with the bike! Tons of info on this forum. Check the brakes, tires, gas tank. Carbs are probably going to need some love. Get familiar with them. Great that you are a DIY'er hands on type guy, this will be fun for you!

http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4503

Get at it!

 

[63-Coupe]

Nice score.

Looks like it is all there so like your biggest investment will probably be time, but if it doesn't work out I will give you double what you paid for it!

I suggest that once the carb cleaning is done you install an in line fuel filter so that you don't undo the work you already did. They are cheap and easy to do. It sounds like the bike has been sitting for quite a while so you never know what horrors may be hiding in the fuel tank, even if you think it is clean.

 

[drewpy]

I'd look at that kicker first, it could mean the internal crank support has broken, and this has never been properly repaired yet and requires a replacement crankcase.