xs400 cafe

[Jakele]

Hey everyone first let me say thanks I have spent a lot of time reading though this forum. I can't over state how much help everyone has provided for me on this build.

 

[Jakele]

Here is the bike when I piked it up. Very much a stock bike, didn't start.

 

[Jakele]

Week two
Started striping down the bike. I didn't take many photos this was a picture my friend took but shows some progression on the build. I had change the spark plugs, new battery.

 

[Jakele]

Bike now starts in a few kicks, I did an hr soak in pine-sol still needs more carb work. in the down time started working on knee dents on the tank.

 

[Jakele]

A couple more shots of the knee dents.

 

[Jakele]

More photo's of the knee dents. I started body filler work to smooth out the dents.

 

[Jakele]

CHANGES SO FAR:
Cleaned the carbs.......It kick starts no problem(sort of)
New air intake filters.
Rearranged components to fit under the seat.

 

[Requiem]

Welcome to the forum! good luck with the build

 

[Jakele]

Lots of time off my bike project. Buying a home getting engaged and starting a new job took up all of my summer. Never even got to ride the bike this year. (I'm in Minnesota so not much winter ridding) I started back on building out the bike. I'll be posting pictures and hope to add to the tutorial section of the site sometime in the near future.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Get rid of the seat, but the tank looks great!

 

[Jakele]

Pulled all the electrical out. And rewired it to fit aa card board mock up under the seat. I don't have a ton of time instead of doing a full re-wire I thought I would start out slow and only make changes if I had to. No battery yet. I'm planning on going with an Anti gravity 4 cell and sticking to the kick start. I'm not entierly sure yet.

 

[Jakele]

Seat came into today. Very happy with the look. Ended up going more brat style than cafe. Lots of work to-do. Bike is still filthy. I had tried to get a customer seat done this summer but the guy was flaky so the bikes in worse shape than when I bought it. It appears to have been left outside all summer unprotected. Carbs need to be cleaned again. Lots more rust and it was dropped at some point so the front brake is broken and the front right blinker....

 

[Jakele]

@jim
I had always planned to change the seat. Just stuck on the old one to test my carb adjustments. Would love to hear your opinion on the new seat. I'll get a better shot of the bike soon.

 

[JimVonBaden]

@jim
I had always planned to change the seat. Just stuck on the old one to test my carb adjustments. Would love to hear your opinion on the new seat. I'll get a better shot of the bike soon.

WAY better. What color were you thinking for paint?

Also, is that a 16" rear? I have a 16" and tire selection is limited.

 

[Jakele]

@jim
Thanks! I am thinking a perl white/silver. The rest of the bike black. I am planing to finish it off in black white wall tires and brown and brass components as things need to be replaced. Topping it off with white wall tires.

I am not sure on the tire size. I have had to learn so much for the build I'm only figuring out what I am doing as I go. I would assume it's the stock wheel size though.

I dont think I need new tires quite yet. I'm up in Minnesota and things are about to get cold. PM me with the selection I might be interested.

 

[Jakele]

Almost done.
Waiting to paint till the rest of the work is done.

Work completed:

• Fork seals and oil change
• Fork gators
• Front breaks
• Rear breaks
• Pipe wraps
• Led turn signal conversion
• Petcock rebuild
• Inline fuel filter.
• Oil change
• Painted frame & carbs