What did you do with your XS today?

The CB750 runner went to the shop Thuesday, so yesterday I picked up where I left the XS400 project.
The goal now is to clean up the handlebars, mostly from some earlier customizations from previous owner but I'm grabbing some more stuff when I'm there. Yesterday I got to the point of cutting cords inside the headlight. A bit scary, but I got rid of most of the non-OEM stuff and everything is labeled so it should go back togheter agian. Need to make a temporary controlpanel to test function while I'm moving along...
 
Pulled the '79 out of storage after 5 years of no action. New battery & fiddling for 20 minutes with the janky oem fuse box (glass tube fuses) and it fired up on the third revolution... on 5 year old gas! I did give the tank the 'ol smell test, and it smelled fresh, to my surprise. But, I was rather chuffed that it just ran without any drama after so long...

Now, to fix the blown out muffler.
 
I went for a ride to meet a fried at his place so we could go for a cruise together. I got there just fine but as i pull my clutch lever in to shift int 1st .......snap goes the cable. Well i learned something today if you are going to resurrect a basket case you are best off changing the important cables such as clutch throttle and break cable(if so equipt) Oh well no harm done just have to wait for a clutch cable I should have it next week.
 
Put 'er on the road for real for the 1st time in 20+ years.. front brake needs some more bleeding but its getting there. Meantime its a sweetheart of a bike, easy shifting and quite maneuverable- better than I was expecting. Not a lot of top end, I found I had to keep the rpms up and expect to gain speed at a more reasonable pace than my 1000cc suzuki does lol. Suspension is very comfy, mirrors good.

The big variable is how the tank comes out- POR15 liner curing till the weekend then I'll give that a try before sanding and painting. Its funky riding around without a proper tank just a little minibike tank hanging from the handlebars and a screw plugging the vacuum port lol- but I'm on a bike and anyone laughing is in a cage so I win anyway :)
 
View attachment 32636 Installed a toggle switch under the tank in order to eliminate the key switch. Pretty happy with how this turned out. I had to gut the ignition switch when I first got the bike because it came with no keys. No more pulling keys, knives or screwdrivers out of my pocket to turn off the bike!
My bike came without keys. I took it to a locksmith and he picked the lock and made a key.
 
Rather than just riding aimlessly, I have taken to navigating to points of interest to me using routes off of the beaten path. Lately those places seem to be historic ones. So, here is a pic of Trusty Rusty at the Revolutionary War monument to the Battle of Chestnut Neck near Port Republic NJ.
Chestnut.jpeg


Perfect fall days are such a great time to be out riding.
 
My bike has been without a seat/helmet lock since I bought it. I finally found one from an XS650 that works with my key blank and after some cleaning, rust removal and painting it was put on the bike today.
Seat Lock.JPG


The best part - it is keyed to match my main switch and gas cap. I learned a lot about Yamaha keys and locks when working on this thing. I suppose that will have to be another post - eventually.
 
Just uncovered my 78 and fired it up. It was a little grumpy but it coughed to life and seems to be running well. I fired it up last back in January on a 20 deg F day and it was missing. Guess it was just too cold. About to taker it out for lunch for a pre-season shake down. And I don't want to jinx myself, but this is year 3.5 for the battery and it seems fine. I'll have to take note of the brand as it came with the bike, and I'd gladly get another as a replacement.
 
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