XS400 Bobber build/first post

FR- its my dads house. so i gotta keep it clean. shoulda seen my old place before we moved. concrete floors with a 55 chevy up agianst the wall, the engine in the corner, tranny under the trunk, compressor and parts washer shoved somewhere. it was a mess. lol. i cannot even begin to say how awesome that garage floor is. it was there when we got the house, and the u-coat-it stuff is like a 1/4 inch thick. so easy to clean.

fubar - i could be wrong, but i believe the drums in the back for mags only came in 16's. and that is wierd that they would go disc to drum. maybe to clean up the back or somethin. i want spoked drums really bad. if i come across some, your the first one one in line for my mags, master cylinders, calipers, discs and lines. comes with a fresh coat of rustoleum gloss and some clear! lol

trav- thanks man. we worked for like 6 hours straight on it. it came out pretty good for my first time, i would change things next time around, like my spring perches, gussets and seat mount. i would also use a jig. because getting all the shit on the back is a pain. gotta widen it a little bit before i can get everything to fit, then ram the axle through. :bed: lol

and drewpy - i fixed all my problems. the kickstart wasnt turning anything over, so i took it out and looked at it and the U shaped c-clip thing was not where it was supposed to be, thus not allowing the gear to spwing back. i fixed it and now she turns over and everything ;) thanks for the help man

pictures 2morro possibily with my new painted case covers and other odds and ends.
 
also, how much spring tension should there be on the kickstart spring? i have one full rotation on the spring so far, and that seems to be enough. idk if im supposed to have two, or what? just wondering.
 
its not mega spring tension, i just hooked mine up, its just to return the kick not smash your calves in two!:laugh:
 
lol. well it all works now, but wont return to the spot without me first helping it, and it doesnt always want to go far enough out to be able to kick it. i have to slowly rotate it, then find a spot, get it to set, then kick it. im probably losing respect right now, and i feel like a tard, but this is uncharted territory for me. (kickstarts) lol
 
Just finished reading through all 12 pages. Nice build man. It brings a lot of inspiration to the build I'm going try on my 400.

I just need to somehow get a welder and then hope Travis is still making his hardtail kits if that's the way I end up going.
 
I thought I read somewhere that using flux core for a bike frame is a bad idea? Could be mistaken. And where are you seeing these prices. I've gone onto the miller and lincoln websites and can't find a welder for less thatn $900 and that's a 110V welder. I will never buy another 110V welder after the nightmares I've had trying to weld stuff with my dads old stick welder. Ran like shit till we converted it to 220V and we could weld all day with it.
 
yeah i would never weld a frame with flux core. i just hate i. its ugly and a bitch to tune (for me). just hook up the gas to the machine. i was just pointing out that there flux core/gas machines, so either or. and HF sells a miller one i believe. my boss's bro got one. he loves it.
 
no picture update. not till it runs. ;) me and my dad are sorting out the wiring right now, and running everything in the frame, covering it in cloth where it pops out. as for my kickstart woes, it was all derived form the casting on the shaft not being where it needed to be, against the casting in the block. my dad fixed it, then F'd with it so i could figure it out myself. lol. he told me like 3 days ago.
"hey dad, i figured out the kickstart thing."
"yeah me too. like 3 weeks ago lol"

and i have everything painted, that needs to be, engine is completly assembled and ready to run as soon as wiring is done. i just need a couple misc bolts to make it road worthy. i set up the clutch and throttle cables, but i need one of those adjusters for the clutch one. and my slide on the right side carb doesnt want to go town and up very easily. it goes up with my finger easy enough, but it takes a LONG time for it to come doen. any ideas? BCware, im lookin at you mr tuning expert. lol

and i modded the exhaust a bit, but youll have to wait to see that. progress is moving quickly because my oil pump shit out in my taurus, causing no oil pressure and the end result is rod knock and spun bearings and now i have no ride to work. cool.

i drained all the old black fork oil, and when i pulled out the springs to inspect them, around the sprin on the bottom, there was part of a plastic piece the looked kinda like a big-toe nail after it gets really long and you finally cut it. im assuming the was the fork seal, am i right? wrong? if im correct, where do i get new ones? if im wrong, WTF was it?
sorry for the UBER long post. its been awile since i updated this
 
So this plastic piece was white? Even if it was black I doubt it was the fork seal or your forks would be probably be leaking. Why not take forks apart and see what it is?
 
Got fork seals off of ebay. Unfortunately at that point this site didnt exist and parts seemed real hard to come by, so ebay was my biggest resource. Might as well replace them when you remove the lowers to inspect.
Assume youre running the 34s? Have you replaced the diaphragms? Slide and carb body were clean and no corrosion??

Craig
 
did not replace the diaphrams, and the slides arent corroded at all. ill see how it runs, maybe it just needs so be lubed up with some fuel. ill spray come carb cleaned in it and see what happens.

i would love to not have to take apart the forks, because thats just a ton of work and would set me back a lot. looks like om gonna have to. is there a write-up on it? or should i do one? i would assume the one on the 650 site is basically the same. but ill do one anyway if the allen sizes are different and such.
 
It's not all that hard.. Should only take a couple hours. Read a couple of fork how-to's before you start and you'll get the general idea. All these old damper rod forks are pretty much the same. Buuuut.. since you're going to be in there.. and have prior experience in writing how-to articles, you might as well snap a few pictures and do the write-up! :D
 
well, tore apart my forks today, just so i can see wat was wrong, then put them together till my parts come in. taking these apart are one of the easiest things to on the bike. its NOTHING like the xs650. ill do a write up after i get a good camera.

this is what i need to replace. along with seals and covers. anybody know where to get one quickly? its called a piston ring. so that makes me think i cant use an O-ring because there are probably special clearances for it. but here is a pic with the shitty ass camera.
PICT3077.jpg
 

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