Recent content by hellojamin

would running 50w oil make an xs400 nearly impossible to kickstart when the engine is cold or should i be looking somewhere else for the problem? it's 75 degrees out btw.

i think that's it, i fiddled with them and it started and I rode around for a while, now it wont go again, i guess I just need to redo the fuse connections

My 81 special has been running great till i parked it at a coffee shop the other day, now i get nothing when I turn the key. No lights, no spark. I check all my wiring connections and they are good, the bike is hardwired with just headlight, tail light and key ignition. Where should I start...

I've been wondering the same thing, anyone?

how would I go about taking the cam cover off? what should i look for?

here are some pictures, the more i've ridden the less the sound happens but for now ive stopped riding it period.

so I was riding the other day and i started noticing a weird noise coming from my bike. Its like a high pitched wurrrrrring noise that happens every once in a while at random times and random rpms. I stopped the bike and noticed that the tach cable housing had broken off from the piece that...

they are actually way more comfy than I thought they'd be, and fun too.

Tried these bars out today, I think they fit the look of the bike perfect, I'm gonna stick with them.

hi! I posted a while ago about getting my first bike. Now that i've gotten comfortable riding it i've started changing it around. Here are some before and after pics, I went for a stripped down stock look, inspired by early club bikes. Lower shocks, smaller headlamp and speedo, vintage...

so when I bought my 81 xs400 special a month ago it ran perfect, started on the first kick. The other day i was riding around the neighborhood and it started to bog a little bit when i pulled the throttle. it kept doing this until it eventually died in my yard and wouldn't start. Next time i...

thanks everyone! haven't totally decided what I want to do with it yet, right now i'm just trying to get comfortable riding it. I think for now I might just go for a stripped down stock look, ditching the turn signals and dash for single speedo and maybe hardwiring it to kickstart only, to...

Hi my name is Jamin and i just picked up my first motorcycle, a 1981 xs400 special II. It runs great with only 8,000 miles and i'm psyched on learning how to work on it and maintain it. Glad this site is here, here is a picture from when I took it home.