wester Build Story - 1980 XS400

[wester]

Hi all. Thank you for the warm welcome to the world of motos over the past couple of weeks!
I was advised by drewpy to start a build thread to keep all up to speed on what I'm working on so that the jokes and sarcasm could be appropriately accurate throughout my first build.

And let the story begin...
Picked up the bike below... the addiction set in moments after...

At the moment, I have to give a huge shout out to drewpy. When i saw the ad for the bike it was his bike that got me ridiculously excited about the potential for this build. drewpy - hats off to you mate.
Upon finding this site after the purchase - I realized that many of you have awesome bikes! ...all in their own right. So I'm excited to be a part of the group!

Over the past few weeks I've pulled as much weight as I could. Including mirrors, turn signals, mud guards, chain guard, etc.

From here the fun begins. REMINDER... I'm learning from scratch. no shop experience. no welding. no ... um... whatever else would be helpful...

So what's the goal? Simple. Clean. Efficient. With a hint of wicked awesomeness.

A fun place to start? The cutting of metal. Having only the slightest idea of what i'm doing. I cut the backend off.

no going back now!!
However, to ride and practice (oh yeah.. sidenote.. last bike i rode was in college and, hmmm, how to say this.. i totaled it. aaaaaaaaaaand it was my roomate's. Sorry Butch
Anyway... i need it street legal - so the custom taillight mount...

And that's how she stands today.

Welcome to the story.
More to come...

 

[frwinks]

good start wester and welcome aboard keep choppin' and posting pics

 

[wester]

took her for a ride today. painted the exhaust last night.

first time riding her though. wonderful!
still lots of work to do.
next:
-painting the wheels
-seat mod?

 

[wester]

Alright gang. In the midst of a chaotic end of a summer. Baby on the way. 2 year old causing havoc - i have no idea where she gets it from .. I have been horrible in not posting pics..

Most of this step is a strip down, so i'll spare the nitty gritty.
Lets take a look at before. Go easy on the tape comments.

The Eve of Work to come.

In the meantime, i pulled out the starter to go kick only. Used a Freeze Plug to fill the hole. Haven't decided how to re-mount the cap yet though. There are a couple creative types on this site though that have been most helpful

The morning after.. and a few in between.

Still some work to do on the strip. Plan on bobbing all extra weight. trimming tabs. repainting frame, swingarm. I have a line on an 18" rear disc wheel to be picked up this week.

 

[drewpy]

cool, don't forget the hydraulic system for the rear

 

[bentwrench]

took her for a ride today. painted the exhaust last night.

first time riding her though. wonderful!
still lots of work to do.
next:
-painting the wheels
-seat mod?

The, ah... bottom... ah... rear... of your bike. It's prodigious. I mean, I like big butts, and I can't deny, but ah... yeah.

It's probably not the first thing to do, but it should definitely be on your list. Unless you, too, like big butts...

 

[shamus]

Looks good man. Off to a great start. I know you want to strip off the bulk, but I would highly recommend putting at least a fork brace in place of the mudguard. It will do wonders for stability.

 

[wester]

Looks good man. Off to a great start. I know you want to strip off the bulk, but I would highly recommend putting at least a fork brace in place of the mudguard. It will do wonders for stability.

thanks for the thought. since this build will be bred for handling/performance thats a very valid concern. cheers.

 

[Geologic]

The front fender served as a "fork brace" and without it, the bike won't feel so tight when taking corners. Fork braces serve as a steering stabilizer. Without fork braces, you can have a "tank slapper" and lose control of your bike.

an example of a tank slapper.

 

[Scorpio1963]

That looked kinda scary the rider is lucky he didnt lose total control or he`d be toast.

 

[Telecasterjoey]

Hey, I just removed my starter and I was thinking bout using a freeze plug too! What size did you use? im thinkng a small block chev would be close.

 

[GrimReaper]

Great bike! Hoping to make mine look something like yours. Ever think about wrapping the exposed exhaust parts with some black wrap?

 

[GrimReaper]

Oh and what kind of handle bars are those? Sorry for the double post.

 

[wester]

Tele - the freeze plug was an all metal (as opposed to the rubber types 1 and 13/16 plug. Didn't go in easy, but enough fiddling and swearing seemed to do the trick.
Grim - thank you! Fun to ride too! From the pic it was just a chopped back end, impromptu tail light mount, no turn signals, no extra metal (Fenders, chain guard, side covers, grab bar, etc). Looked cool though just as that imo.

The handlebars are drag style.
And pipe wrap... Absolutely. I'm going to finish where the pipes are going to land and thinking about a 2 into 1.... So I think wrap will come after that. I have a nice ding in the pipe I have to hide anyway
So you think black huh? Was debating between that and white or natural...

 

[wester]

As she stands today.
Was planning on selling the rear wheel in efforts to go to disc brakes.... I have a rear disc wheel... But then a guy wanted the swing arm, the whole deal, I heard of something called monoshock, so i thought, what the h*, deal. Sold. Three bolts later... Back end gone.

So I think I'm going monoshock... That will be an interesting twist in events won't it... here goes nothing I suppose.. Any insight or ideas are very welcome. I promise I won't lag another 6 mos. Ranger (the new baby boy is 6 months this week and I think we're finding a routine - one that might involve more moto and posting...

 

[16VGTIDave]

The evolution continues!

I hope you have welding skills. Converting to a monoshock will require some welding. I'd suggest making some detailed drawings with accurate measurements. In particular the current swingarm mounting points. Then head to local motorcycle wrecking yards and find frames with the rear suspension still in them. Find a frame that has a suspension you are interested in and measure it carefully. I'd suggest limiting your search to suspensions around 5" of travel or things will get complicated dealing with sag and chain routing. A linkage suspension will require more welding than a direct acting shock, but will put the shock lower in the frame for a lower center of gravity. I found that the swingarm from a Ninja 250 is a near perfect fit for the DOHC frames.

Once you have found a suitable setup, purchase the frame with rear suspension. Also try to get the rear axle hardware as chances are that the swingarm will be wider and you will need the spacers and axle bolt.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[wester]

I hope you have welding skills.

I have a welder... does that count?

Thank you for the input. I was thinking finding an old YZ backend and was wondering about cross brandinig (so your ninja idea is very interesting.) I'm sure I will have to do the measuring, but are the compatabilities "similar" across other swing arms/rear setups?

Also - monoshock question. The newer ones have linkages and such - thinking to stay away from those and stick with the older-school of monoshock? Is that what you meant by too much change I'd be looking at chain movement, etc?

Thank you all!

 

[wester]

ps. I laughed at the photo above and thought I'd share.

Looks like I do all my work with a standard screw driver, vise grips, and two sets of pliers. Thought I'd point out how real sophisticated I am to the forum world.


oh and bentwrench - after reading through comments. I just about died - yes... the big booty is a must go! hahahaha

 

[16VGTIDave]

I have a welder... does that count?

Thank you for the input. I was thinking finding an old YZ backend and was wondering about cross brandinig (so your ninja idea is very interesting.) I'm sure I will have to do the measuring, but are the compatabilities "similar" across other swing arms/rear setups?

Also - monoshock question. The newer ones have linkages and such - thinking to stay away from those and stick with the older-school of monoshock? Is that what you meant by too much change I'd be looking at chain movement, etc?

Thank you all!

Having a welder is a start. Being able to use it is the important thing though!

Parts is parts. If they fit, or can be made to fit, use them! The Ninja 250 uses the same sized bolt for the swingarm pivot as the Maxim. I just had to make 2 washers to center the swingarm in the frame. Then I cut the upper shock mount out if the ninja frame, as well as the lower linkage bracket. It took a bit of trial and error to get the brackets mocked-up in my frame before welding everything in. A direct acting mono-shock would only require the upper shock mount to be welded in.

Again, you will probably want to avoid a suspension that has more than 5" of travel. Otherwise the chain will most likely rub on the swingarm pivot when the suspension is at full extension and even with you seated. I'm considering using a longer, higher travel shock with my setup, but I'll have to add "lowering links" to avoid the chain rubbing excessively, even factoring in the anticipated sag from the bags and top box I plan to install. Not decided yet, but that would be a winter project anyways. Take a look at some MX bikes and see what they have to do with the chain. I appreciate the complexity, but prefer simplicity for reliability. I won't be needing 8" of rear suspension travel. Especially since the front forks are still stock (with additional preload spacers), with 5" of travel.

 

[wester]

She's down to her essence. Tab shaving on the docket. Pointers?

Also note the second pic. I blame it on the sawsall. But pointers on this as well (preferably not saying I need a new frame.)

Tab advise?

Frame integrity?