Steering head swap? swing arm pivot bolt safe?

[aaroncarver]

Hi y'all. I was here for awhile, then I wasn't. Some big life stuff that made me forget motorcycles for awhile. But I am back. Got a 1979 xs400 which I rode to work for two years. I'm a newbie mechanic who is really finding pleasure in learning. I decided to take the bike down to it's bits to learn (and inspect) every piece of my bike. As warned, the project has becoming more expensive than anticipated...

In the process of dismantling the bike I discovered that the swingarm pivot bolt and bush is rusty and pitted. Attached is a picture. Can anyone tell me if it's safe to reinstall or should I replace it? click here for flickr pic

My other question is regarding the forks. I want to dismantle them and replace the springs to increase handling. The oil drain screw on both forks were fairly stripped by previous owner and rusted tight. Tried pb blaster, WD-40, butter and every oil imaginable. Tried heatgun. Nothing works to loosen them. So I put one fork in a vice and drilled the screw out. Now I'm wondering if I drilled with too big of a bit. Is it cool just to use a tap and die set to make a new hole for a bigger screw? Or have I ruined it.

The other question is the top circlip and the bottom hex bolt. I'll be darned if I haven't tried everything to depress that top to loosen the circlip. What's the trick? The bottom hexbolt is tighter than anything too.

So in my dismay I am wondering if I need to buy new forks. I'm not the kind of guy to want to throw money at every problem, but alas my knowledge of bikes is scant. Will any 33 mm forks be suitable--fitting the oem steering head/triple tree? It'll be hard to afford so if anyone provide any tips on Fork refurb I'd be very grateful. I've done some searching but I couldn't find anything comprehensive. Thanks in advance.

 

[aaroncarver]

and in addition to my question, will a steering head (which takes 35 mm fork tubes) from an xs650 fit into the frame of an xs400?

 

[aaroncarver]

and in addition to my question, will a steering head (which takes 35 mm fork tubes) from an xs650 fit into the frame of an xs400?

edit: and the big life stuff? I moved to a new apartment. Got a new job. And found out that my wife and I have another kid on the way. sheeeshh. Life is good but sometimes it makes me neglect my shop. My daughter is already a great helper. She's only three and she can already identify all the electrical components of an xs400! AND hand me the right wrench or tool (60% of the time) My goal is to teach my daughter stuff as I learn it so that she doesn't find herself at 30 years old wondering how to adjust a points-style ignition.

 

[drewpy]

welcome back aaron,

you should have welded a nut over the oil drain screws on the forks, that would have got it off no probs.

try and get the botom hex out first before the top circlp, if it starts spinning that's a whole new ball game. air impact wrench should jolt it free.

for the top of the forks, give the plug a whack to loosen it down, mine had rusted in and had to be reamed out by an engineering firm.

 

[aaroncarver]

Hey drewpy.

thx. that welding trick is a great idea. I'm gunna have to acquire welding materials sooner or later. I'll play whack-a-mole with the top plug and see what happens.

Was it cheaper to have the fork tubes reamed than to get new ones? I guess I'm surprised by that.

 

[drewpy]

Hey drewpy.


Was it cheaper to have the fork tubes reamed than to get new ones? I guess I'm surprised by that.

£20 as opposed to £70, i'd say

 

[HoughMade]

I learned how to adjust points when I was 39.

 

[aaroncarver]

Howdy HoughMade.

I hope that my comment didn't come off as disparaging. I'm 30, and my education and upbringing were completely impractical. Soooo impractical. I was taught how to think, but never was shown how to do a darn thing. I've had to teach myself how to do everything from balance a checkbook to change oil to cook food. So that's what I meant: I hope I can teach my girl some of these things so she doesn't have to start from scratch like I did.