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In general, if you own an old Japanese bike, JIS screwdrivers are a godsend. You probably already have some buggered screws from someone who didn't know about it. The seals quite likely have never been replaced, making them a 40 year old piece of rubber. These bikes are getting to an age where...

Personally, not where I would start. That just sounds like good way to make sure you buy a new caliper. Especially when you are a guy with not a lot of experience, which the OP seems to be. I have seen the master cylinder be the problem at least as often, if not more often, as the caliper...

There are several different models of the 80s XS. Do you have a drum or a disk brake? When a front wheel won't turn, brakes are the problem 90% of the time. It will not move when you start it.

Something is still clogged. Does the carb get fuel in the bowl? You can check by opening the drain on the bottom.

"straight/flat cafe style seat" and "comfortable" are a contradiction. Cafe seats are not meant for comfort. There is no ready-made part that will fit. You have to get a generic one and build the mounting. The older models came with a bench seat, but even that would not fit without modification.

Greetings, silly English kanigit. :D You can still buy the seals new from Yamaha. I always get OEM ones. Part number 256-14997-00-00. Yamaha does not list them for this bike, but this it the correct number. Two things you need to know: The screws that hold the butterflies are peened...

Spring, then ball. Just need to be careful not to launch the ball when you install it.

There you go. High-tension wires do go bad, and it's a cheap fix.

Not necessarily a good assumption. I would look at coils, wiring, and TCI first Test power at coils. Test coils for resistance. Clean grounds. Make sure your fuses are good and the fuse box isn't broken. TCI stands for Transistor Controlled Ignition. They are also called ignitors or...

Kinda hard to say. I would suggest going back to basics: How is your compression? Do you have spark? Is fuel actually making it into the cylinder? Beyond that, I'd maybe check valve clearances.

Airflow is different somehow. I had this on a transverse four, inner two cylinders were different from outer. Parts fiche. That's what factory specifies for them.

Nice. Make sure you slide the fork legs up to match. If you only do the front or the back, it changes geometry, which affects how it steers.

What you are looking for is a JASO-MA or JASO-MA2 certification. Many diesel oils have it. It is usually on the back of the bottle in small print.

I think you are talking about carbs from a DOHC model. It isn't so much that they are newer, they are from a completely different engine. SOHC and DOHC XS400 are different bikes with the same name, and have almost no parts in common. DOHC and SOHC carbs do not interchange directly. I am not...

Never heard of that, but I suppose anything is possible if you are a good welder.

This is part 12R-14453-00-00, officially called "air cleaner joint". Yamaha has discontinued it. Your best bet is eBay, or the classifieds here. I don't know if anyone makes reproductions.

There is a difference in left and right main jets. Pilot and air jets should be the same. The stock jetting for the 1982 Yamaha XS400J should be this: Jet, Pilot 42.5 (4G0-14142-42-A0) Jet, Main Left #125 (620-14231-25-A0) Jet, Main Right #115 (620-14231-23-A0) Jet, Pilot Air #170...

I don't really remember where I got mine. eBay, probably. The only problem there is that it is full of cheap Chinese ones. Some of them work fine, but they don't last as long, and you can't trust their listings. They just dump every bike name into them, regardless if the shock fits or not. You...

I've done this for my wife. I would say to limit the actual lowering to 1 inch. You can do this by installing shorter shocks in the rear and sliding the forks up in the triple trees. Lower more than that, and you might start having some issues. Also, a 1 inch drop lets you use the kickstand...

Classic symptom of plugged pilot circuit. You got some cleaning to do. You are on the right track. There is a big bundle of wires going from the tank to the headlight bucket. I would start by pulling the headlight and checking connections in there. Look for loose plugs and corrosion. Also...