Tell-On-Yourself Thread

[Anthonyvan]

I installed a new head gasket and didn't compress the timing chain tensioner correctly.... Which resulted in too much tension on the timing chain.

10 minutes of riding resulted in an exploding cam sprocket >_<

After that I had to split the transfer case to pick apart the pieces. New rings. Full motor am gasket rebuilt. New timing. New tensioner, sprocket, slider guides, and chain. After cleaning every knook and cranny of the motor I got it back together and now it runs like a raped ape!

 

[Jso123]

I've had this intermittent problem since getting the bike about a year ago: after starting the bike it would stall as soon as I kicked it into first gear. It would stall even if the clutch was all the way in..

What a Bozo I am! Didn't realize the kickstand has an auto kill switch if its still down. I guess there ain't no cure for stupidity... LOL!

 

[BBS360]

Started to drill out a broken exhaust stud on my cylinder head.
Drilled off to the side by accident.
Apparently too far to helicoil.

The machinist suggested buying a new head...

 

[MrStubb]

After adjusting the needles and carbs I put her back together and take it out for a ride. Get about 1/2 mile and it's weak near stalling on the throttle. I switch to reserve & get her back home. Found my vacuum line came off the petcock. Loosen the tank and worm my big hands in there to re attach it. Tighten the tank back down & go for another ride. Again it's Spittin & sputterin on the throttle. I look down and notice I've got the fuel line pinched off!!! Sittin on the road in front of the house loosen the tank and untangle the gas line with the one neighbor laughing so hard he almost fell off his deck. At least I can make someone laugh

 

[levdir]

Adjusted my valves and failed to tighten the right side intake locknut enough; vibrated itself loose and fell into the oil gallery. Unscrewed the valve cover to try to get at it and convinced myself that the timing chain was somehow attached to it because it wouldn't come off. Of course, it was just that a couple of the bolts were still a couple of threads screwed in. Found the locknut next to the valve spring, thank god.

 

[arfstrom]

Good Job, This is what could have happen, if you didn't know it came off... Sorry its monster size!

You don't want to be this guy

 

[Sesty]

sucks but not a hard fix! take the whole cover off heart up the surrounding metal a bit and stick in open needle nose players and turn!

had a few break on my roommates CB550!

 

[arfstrom]

That is a dated last year pic, I have the replacements from Xchris, and I have had the new stuff powdercoated black. should be running inside a month, I hope!
Tobie
PS Okay the pic was dated sometime in the future. Some people drive a DeLorean, some can make do on a XS400 Special. Now we know why this is special! You thought that headlight bucket was just to hide the wires, that other thing is the Flux Capacitor! It is hard to get the bike to go 88 miles per hour, but we can get there, down hill, wind at our back, we can do it!

 

[Sesty]

not mine but i saw this looking at #xs400 hashtags on Instagram.... wonder if it worked, this guy has built himself a sweet cafe/tracker tho

 

[JARichmond]

Took the sprocket cover off a few days ago to get access to the alternator wires (didn't know that you didn't have to do that). Did a bunch of cleaning off gunk and managed to crack an old peice of shrink tube to expose a worn-down alternator wire. Without realizing it, I shorted the wire on the engine when I put the cover back on.

Went to start the bike the next day and had power for all of .25 seconds before the fuse blew.
Dang.
I don't have a spare.
Double dang.
So I hit the auto parts store and the only fuse I can buy comes in an assortment of 1A-30A for something like 8 bucks. I wasn't pleased to shell out 8 bucks for 5 fuses I'll never need and one I did.

So I get home and instinctively plug the fuse in and start the bike. In my defense, it looked like an old fuse was in there and may have, for all I know, just popped because it was old. NOPE. Fuse blows in a mind-blowing .25 seconds in front of my eyes. The neighbourhood found out just how foul my mouth was, that afternoon.

Cue me being in a foul mood. It took me about an hour to bicycle down to the store to pick up the fuses the first time, and the store is a half-hour from closing. I'm pretty sure my roommates could smell the frustration and self-hate coming from my room, so they wisely let me sulk for the night with a beer. Thankfully, I remembered a friend of mine that works at a marina in the parts department. Apparently they sell 5-packs of fuses (all the same ones) for under 3 bucks (JACKPOT). She brought me over a pack of 20s and a pack of 10s and saved my sorry arse (and it probably won't be the last time either).

Moral of the story: If a fuse blows, don't be an idiot and just pop a new one in. You've probably eff'd it up somewhere.

 

[Lou Ranger]

... She brought me over a pack of 20s and a pack of 10s and saved my sorry arse (and it probably won't be the last time either).

You better quick, marry that girl!

My mechanic friend soldered and shrink-tubed one of these into each of my 4 lines. Under $3 at CT.
I have had much more peace of mind since - fuses that seldom are damaged, are readily available and easy to store.

 

[smurfy71]

My Seca sat unused and partially disassembled for several years in a barn. Once I got it to the point where I was ready to start the engine, I changed the oil. Following the instructions in the service manual, I located the "oil gallery bolt" to ensure oil was getting to the top of the engine. I didn't read closely enough, I removed the bolt rather than just loosening it. I determined that oil is getting to the top, and 1/2 a liter on the floor. Luckily, I was standing on the other side of the bike when I started it.......

 

[levdir]

I'm not sure how it happened, but I rode to work earlier this week and had to stop at the mall on the way home. When I came out I discovered the bolt for the left-side chain tensioner had vanished. It must have just happened because the ride to work and the ride back to the mall was uneventful, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Rode (slowly) to my friend's place and fortunately he had another bolt just the right size lying around. Check your chain tension, friends :O

 

[XS400NJ]

The bike I got was in garage for years, but I am still using battery that came with it. I can kick-start with it but it would not turn the starter.
Yesterday I took bike to work, parked, and decided to put key in "lock" position. When it was time to go home I discovered that "park" position is next to "lock" and that is where I left it. So I got battery completely dead, could not kick-start it.

One of the coworkers happened to walk buy, she did some magic with her I-phone and in few minutes whole office was looking for someone with jump cables. In another few minutes cars and folks started to come with help offers.

I kept it cool, got jump cables, pressed the button - bike started right up. So I let it run for few min... show is over... Thankful I get out of parking lot with a long line of cars behind me, next traffic light is red... So I stop.

Green turns on - I casually hit turn signal while still holding the brakes... the lights on the instrument cluster go black and bike dies... I had to push bike back along the line of cars and get it jumpstarted again..., this time I let it run longer and made home keeping revs high

 

[xschris]

Time for a new battery

 

[XS400NJ]

May-be, I want to fully charge it first. It may be still good... but LED lamps first, even new battery will not survive all day in "park"... not to mention cute girls offering help, I may want to use "park" trick one more time

 

[Iamtimtipton]

After taking my ny motorcycle cycle safety course in order to get my license, I was taught to Always turn the bike off using the safety switch (kill switch). After completing g the course and getting my license I took my 78 xs on a ride to my In laws for a cookout. My battery hasn't been working greAt so I have had to either use a jump pack or pop start it, so I figured after getting gas o. The wAy home I would just pop start it and then ride the 8 miles or so home.
So after fueling up (50 mpg) I proceed to take the bike in the back of the station to try to run and pop start it.... 1/10 of a mile into the process, pouring in sweat on a 90 degree day while wearing my leather riding jacket I realize that my kill switch was still engaged.

Wow. I felt like a idiot, so far that's the highlight of my "tell on yourself" experience....

Sure there is more to come though....

 

[levdir]

Interesting, I was taught the opposite. I've only used my kill switch the odd time I've pulled my keys out of the ignition and forgot to put them back.

 

[smurfy71]

Last night I rode to a meeting I had to go to. I was in the meeting for about 2 hours. When I came out it was just getting dark and as I approached the bike I could see the taillight was on. I thought "oh crap, I left the switch in park!" Thankfully I got the charging issue sorted out, otherwise I would have been bump starting it in the parking lot.

On the way home, something odd happened though. I was winding through the gears, I took second almost to the redline, wanting to push the bike a little, when everything went dead. Imagine, flying down a dark road and everything shuts down! Coasted to the side, thinking I blew the main fuse. I found the key switch in the off position? Turned it back, started back up and drove home.

 

[levdir]

No chance the ignition vibrated itself to the offposition? My switch is pretty loose and sometimes I'll have to nudge the key back to the right when I roll to a corner and find myself without signal lights.