What did you do with your XS today?

Hishman Isnt that Normal??? I just got mine to run yesterday after fighting these crappy carbs off & on starting in about april. The frustration would hit me and I'd let it sit & drive my little bike. Now that I had it running and drove it about a mile last night I thought I'd finish putting it back together. Started the first spin so feeling confident I reinstalled all of the lights and rechecked the wiring. Feeling proud of my accomplishment I went to start it and go for another little spin. CRAPPY thing is down to a thumper again. Runs on 1 hole pretty good but still just 1 friggen hole. Most likely preachin to the choir but get your self a gunk bucket (gallon bucket with carb cleaner & a small basket). And Proceed to poke prod blow scrub suck and a few other unnatural acts to get those carbs clean. One thing I did find out is those pilot jets seem to have been neglected on my carbs. It was almost like epoxy stuck in them. Good luck :doh::banghead::bike:
 
Check for air leaks, I had taped up my carb boots with electrical tape. Then I found vinyl tape that can handle 500 degrees heat, 10 feet for about $7 bucks. I fell in love with tape! I always forget to put the petcock vacuum hose onto the one boot nipple. Cause backfiring due to major air leak.

Otherwise, I have gotten that output seal, again.
 
Yep that will be my first look next week. My boots are in rough but serviceable condition but I did try to fill them with copper sillycone when I had them off. I might still have goop in the one carb too. On another thread recently there was a spark issue where I think you suggested to reset the plug wires and boots to get a better connection. Think I'll do that as well. Any thought on using new silicone wires? with a carbon conductor? I have a set from a car project long ago that are just looking for a home. On a personal note. Now that I've red a few things about your Marines history. THANK YOU!!! So many don't seem to appreciate the Military. Now to sleep got called for overtime tomorrow starting at 5:00 Gotta get up before God & small animals to get there. Wish there was a Smiley with a Salute!!!:bike:
 
Took off the chain and gave it a good cleaning in the parts washer before letting it soak in the ultrasonic cleaner for a few hours. Blew off all the solvent and now have it back in the ultrasonic cleaner with synthetic oil to give it a good lubing.

Took apart the speedo to get it un-stuck and ordered a new speedo cable. Using a drill right now to get the odometer up to the correct reading. It is going to take a while to put 438km on it when the drill can only turn 1300 RPM which equates to 60 kph... :(
 
Alrighty, late night at work but here are some pictures of the spacers and brackets from my bike:
First is the finished spacer. Second is the spacer installed. Third is a closer picture of the caliper bracket.
 

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I went for a last ride before I leave for vacation tomorrow.. Going by car, from the Netherlands through Germany, Austria, Slovenia to Croatia. Maybe next year I'll go by XS400..?

see you all in a week or two :)
 
willem said:
aaron we wanna see! pics!
Click to expand...

Pics I didnt take any before or after<So there would be nothing to compare the after from the before.To me its nothing to be all that impressed about cause I didnt get it to shine like chrome.I have to say it does shine and looks much better than the dull aluminum it once looked like.:)

Have a safe trip Willem.
 
Well I tackled the two of the most common xs400 problems last night. Headlight upgrade and the stupid vacuum petcock.

After looking at my stock headlight i realized that the lamp is metal back, and the bulb was just held in by some tabs. After removing the original bulb, I just had to trim the bulb bracket to accept a new H4 bulb. Works and looks awesome now!

As for my petcock, I was missing that all important plastic spacer for the back and reallly didn't want to mess with a vacuum setup anymore. So it was time to modify...
I plugged all the vacuum ports with some Quicksteel, Ground a new channel in the lever for the fuel to travel a new route. I now have a operational manual petcock with OFF/ON/RES.

If the demand is there I can do a write up on both of these mods.:thumbsup:
 
Relied on the 750 for a couple hundred mile trip. Highway and Minneapolis traffic. Was doing very well until I heard a ping and my clutch went limp. Had to limp it like ten miles with no clutch lol
 
Lupe said:
Hope you got some AC in your car, tomorrow will be really hot here in Germany.
Click to expand...

nope, it was like riding in a bathtub of pure sweat. Not so nice, temps in the 90's F (35+ C) and being in the car all day

It's nice here though, in Slovenia now and wish I took the XS... man how good it would be to ride around here through the mountains.

Thanks guys :)
 
This ethanol free premium,Like the old premium back in the day we used to be able to get at the gas stations.I bought mine from a local marina @$4.75 x 4 gallons.

I also ordered high torgue baffles and did some polishing on my lower forks which pitted pretty bad.
So alot of acomplishment done today since I finaly had the time.
 

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