What did you do with your XS today?

Not that it will matter at this point but.....a top-end rebuild is not such a big task...just sayin...get the reliable fuel injected pretty face but keep the 400 as a Tinker toy...
Just throwing this at you...
Agreed. I got the head and barrel's off the old engine last night. Took some swearing and beating with a large mallet as the head studs were corroded into the barrel's. The YICS chambers were full of sludge, but otherwise the engine looked rather good for having 100K km on it. I did find the remnants of a chain guide. Probably the generator drive chain guide, as it was nowhere to be seen. This would explain some of the noises the engine was making when I retired it. The local bike wreckers don't have any engines, so a rebuild is in order. I'm going to strip and clean the head before I remove the engine from the bike and tear into it. Been trying to find a gasket kit but nothing local or even on eBay in North America that ships to Canada.

Time and parts availability may force my decision.
 
Disaster motors out of BC is where I got my gaskets and seals...they are aftermarket but perform well as of now
 
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I had the same thing happen. I guess if I would have done a reset on the cam chain tensioner, it might have saved me some damage. but that is just hypothetical. My bike is running, with a new tensioner, and new guides. One had broken in half, the other had a 90 degree bend to it.
 
(Technically not today but since I last posted) rebuilt and cleaned the carbs, rewired ignition controls and lights and new instruments, pulled down the motor and gearbox , sent the pots off for rebore (they are back now), cleaned and painted the crank case cover and breather cover. ordered new custom headers.
cleaned head, cover etc
two days of cleaning the remaining engine casings then lap the new valves and it is time to put the motor back together and drop it back in.
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At the weekend 5-6th Aug I went to Donington circuit to marshal the Yamaha classic weekend.
Sat I went on the RD250e and on Sun I went on the XS4002e both very different but great fun.
I only live round the corner but went across country no fun on the motorway.
 
For the first time ever, I changed the oil and filter on a motorcycle and didn't spill a single (not one) drop of old oil, anywhere.
Every single drop went into the catchment tray, and none of the bolts or washers went keplunk.
:smoke:
 
Discovered PO felt the need to torque the oil filter cover on with he-man strength and cracked it.

Took it off and it fell apart in 3 pieces....

Time to hunt for that or a Kawasaki replacement.
 
Gave her a good clean, have to go get a new oil filter and fresh Rotella oil as I am up to the 1000km mark since my engine rebuild.
 
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Got it out for the first run last night........ran it about 10 mins on a 2 mile or so run and seemed to go alright. Re adjusted the valves this morning and now it sounds like crap......going to do it again in a few......I hate adjusting the valves in these things its a PITA.....I remember the days of owning VWs and they were easy to deal with.....
 
Hey guys, just picked up this 77 xs400 today! Happy to be back on a small japanese bike again. Has an idle issue and sounds like its running very rich, so I'll have to figure all that out
That's a 78 2-E model. Those are also aftermarket mufflers. Keep that in mind when you address the jetting. Looks like a nice bike. I would be a good candidate for a factory restoration. These early bikes are getting very hard to find.
 
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