What did you do with your XS today?

Dave- That make sense. It doesn't look like the clutchrod is leaking anymore, I guess. Perhaps I have a loose bolt somewhere. I have been lubing the chain weekly with wd-40. It seems like I am tighten the chain more frequently. I guess I can spend $10. For chain wax, spray on. I think I seen that recently.

MPG results, day one 73.9 Miles/2.018gallons=36.62MPG with 2ppl on it, pushing 440lbs, I will add-on tomorrows results (pilot screw was turned down to 1.5 turns.) previous mpg was 42mpg at 3.0turns.) my brakes took a beating yesterday.
 
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Fixed my wiring F-ups and started her up after nearly a month torn apart. Thanks to cleaning her nasty carbs, she fired right up!
 
Pork chop. He's in Pennsylvania. I grew up there. If he's in a small town, the police will follow any motorcycle around. They've got nothing better to do! :laugh:
 
arfstrom said:
Dave- That make sense. It doesn't look like the clutchrod is leaking anymore, I guess. Perhaps I have a loose bolt somewhere. I have been lubing the chain weekly with wd-40. It seems like I am tighten the chain more frequently. I guess I can spend $10. For chain wax, spray on. I think I seen that recently.

MPG results, day one 73.9 Miles/2.018gallons=36.62MPG with 2ppl on it, pushing 410lbs, I will add-on tomorrows results (pilot screw was turned down to 1.5 turns.) previous mpg was 42mpg at 3.0turns.) my brakes took a beating yesterday.
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Okay, yesterday I drove 60.2 miles, for 39.68 MPG, with me weighing in at 220# Also noted that the speed was limitted. in 5th gear, I could bearly push 80mph 8100rpm, in 6 gear 71mph RPM 6800. So I am going to attemp the same tomorrow at 2.0 turns. (somewhere is the magic spot for better gas mileage.)
 
I took off my carb holders and filled the cracks with sillycone. I know the misspelling is on purpose. The holders are SHOT but not split thru yet. Re installed the original carbs and tried to start it. It did run Not well and throttle response was bog wheeze & die. But it ran on both holes with no leaking from the carbs. Now time to remove the carbs, completely disassemble, soak, blow out & change jets. While that's going on I'm going to drain, flush, then change oil to 15 w 40 Rotella. Also look for and retighten all possible leaking bolts nuts strainer screen etc I can find.
 
I realize that this is a forum for all things XS400 and we have 30+year old bikes. But to me it seems there is a whole lot of wrenching goin on and about 1/2 as much riding. Sure hope these bikes were more reliable when they were new. OK that's my rant for the day. Sorry you all had to witness such an uncharacteristic show of aggression. Just getting tired of fixin and not playin. Same go's for my little bike. Went for about a 20 mile ride yesterday and it nearly left me. Seems the battery isn't getting much charge and nearly lost spark. Noticed when I turned around. Nearly died when I hit the brakes but came to life when I let off. So I turned off the headlight & prayed I'd get home with out the local cops hounding me. Has anyone had luck using a 12v alarm battery in your bike??
 
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Installed the stock Maxim spring on my Ninja shock. The Maxim spring is longer and has a higher rate. The rear suspension no longer settles from the weight of the bike, and with me on it it only settles about an inch!

Took it for a ride on roads I'm familiar with and and what can I say? It is a different bike! Tight, firm, well damped, yet still compliant. Much more stable on the rough pavement without the bottoming out it did before... I'm having trouble getting the grin off my face! :)
 
MrStubb said:
I realize that this is a forum for all things XS400 and we have 30+year old bikes. But to me it seems there is a whole lot of wrenching goin on and about 1/2 as much riding. Sure hope these bikes were more reliable when they were new. OK that's my rant for the day. Sorry you all had to witness such an uncharacteristic show of aggression. Just getting tired of fixin and not playin. Same go's for my little bike. Went for about a 20 mile ride yesterday and it nearly left me. Seems the battery isn't getting much charge and nearly lost spark. Noticed when I turned around. Nearly died when I hit the brakes but came to life when I let off. So I turned off the headlight & prayed I'd get home with out the local cops hounding me. Has anyone had luck using a 12v alarm battery in your bike??
Click to expand...

A friend of mine suggested I take my bike to a mechanic, I replied, where is the fun in that.

Posted via Mobile
 
MrStubb said:
I realize that this is a forum for all things XS400 and we have 30+year old bikes. But to me it seems there is a whole lot of wrenching goin on and about 1/2 as much riding.
Click to expand...

I ride about 500km (310 miles) a week. Sometimes double that. That has me doing a lot of regular maintenance. And I keep tweaking and modifying my bike as a hobby, especially when I should be doing chores around the house. The heck with mowing the lawn! :laugh:

As far as reliability goes, the only time I have been left stranded is when I ran out of gas. I knew I was pushing the limits of reserve, and was less than 5km from the gas station when the tank was dry. Completely my fault, I was trying to make it to the station 24km away where I get a $0.01/L discount rather than going to the station that was 8km away.

I've only had a few rides that were troublesome. Last fall, corrosion in the ignition switch was causing the power to cut out. And this spring some poor solder joints in the TCI module had the ignition randomly cutting out. That is it.

I should add that other than opening the engine, I've touched everything else on my bike, and replaced a lot of it. Especially the electrical system, which appears to be a close #2 to the #1 cause of problems on our bikes - dirty carbs!

Don't give up, you are probably closer than you realize to having a reliable bike!
 
After driving my wife and I, chain was loose, Brakes seemed to be shot. Spent an hour with the manual, double checked our brake shoes, and went to work. ;(

Oh, and I have ordered a mirror,petcock kit, LFS1 flashers, with MDK-1 from superbrightleds.com.
Should be here for when I get back from my week with the Air Force!
 
But to me it seems there is a whole lot of wrenching goin on and about 1/2 as much riding. Sure hope these bikes were more reliable when they were new. OK that's my rant for the day. Sorry you all had to witness such an uncharacteristic show of aggression. Just getting tired of fixin and not playin.
Click to expand...
There couldnt be an ounce more truth here than what you stated.
Its always something wearing out or breaking.I get sick and tired of always having to turn a wrench and keep threatening to sell it.The bike has fairly low miles but the PO must have been hard on it.Somethings I caused by making mods but the maintance is killing me:banghead:
 
I spend very little time wrenching on the 400 these days. Runs great. Never experienced these electrical issues really. Beyond slight charging annoyances. Motor blew last year but that was my fault.
 
After 15yrs of owning a xs400 all I really do is ride. When I got my 80 xs that had sat for 10yrs I got all the issues sorted over the winter so I could ride it in the summer:wink2: My only issue is having the time to ride:banghead: Having to watch my kid all the time I can't wait till he goes to school this fall.
 

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