corruptmind
XS400 Addict
Back in '08 I bought my first XS400. Was an 81' with drum brakes and spoked wheels. Ive shown it here before on this -> http://www.xs400.com/forum/showpost.php?p=64871&postcount=6 <- post.
Was on my way to get some new rubber and had a guy start pulling out infront of me, some poor acceleration and rear braking lead to a low side slide into a ditch. Broke the clutch lever and scraped the engine a small bit. Nothing majorly.
Decided I wanted to do a bobber build, tore the bike down and was mocking about with the frame to get an idea of how I wanted to slam it and such. Had all the parts nicely organized on a nearby piece of plywood (no garage) and left for a weekend. Was living with my parents at the time and they decided it was a good day to clean the yard... threw everything into a pile behind the shed. Project went no where from there.
In '11 we bought my wife her first bike which was also an '81 XS400 with cast rims and front disc brake. Bit of work and some customizing we got it running and looking cool. Still more work to do with it but its been put on the back burner as my wife now rides an SV650 daily.
While we were working on her XS400 though I thought long and hard about revamping mine and fiddled here and there with it. The biggest wall I kept running into was I lack ALL of the electronics now. All I have is frame and engine. Everyone agrees biggest draw back with these bikes is the lack of power with the engine. Dont get me wrong they're fun bikes and can scoot but 75+ isnt the most comfortable feeling with them.
Was given a wrecked EX500 in '11. It had been laying on its side in the mud for 5 years. Got it running that same weekend. Less than a month later tornado hit the house and destroyed the plastics. Decided instead of a street fighter I wanted to build a rat rod dual sport. Had a bit of fun modding it but after a while got tired of looking at it. Didnt have what was really needed to make it a fun dual sport without a bunch more money (or title).
Month or two ago I had an idea... crazy idea... almost an insult really... I have a perfectly good running engine (ex500) and a perfectly good potential cafe racer frame with title.... They weigh the same... theyre damn close to the same dimensions... but the EX has few miles, new engine, liquid cooled, has twice as much power and I have everything for it!
Took alot of coin tosses and pondering and dreaming but I finally decided to go for it. At first I was going to try to cram the engine into the frame and fab up some mounts... but im lazy...
Really lazy....
Also i want to keep the swingarm and mono shock.... and rims...
So the easiest thing to do... keep the lower and rear portion of the frame of the ex....
Like I said... lazy...
Onto the pictures.
Engine
Pulling it apart
XS400 frame
Chop chop
Prefitting the frames
Ah... to dream... my VFR400 SS swingarm for my CR500 supermoto possibility for the future if I pick up another one
Progress will be slow... and ugly... but hopes and dreams are there. I hate the idea of a kawi engine in a yami frame but its what I have and it is a good engine.
Was on my way to get some new rubber and had a guy start pulling out infront of me, some poor acceleration and rear braking lead to a low side slide into a ditch. Broke the clutch lever and scraped the engine a small bit. Nothing majorly.
Decided I wanted to do a bobber build, tore the bike down and was mocking about with the frame to get an idea of how I wanted to slam it and such. Had all the parts nicely organized on a nearby piece of plywood (no garage) and left for a weekend. Was living with my parents at the time and they decided it was a good day to clean the yard... threw everything into a pile behind the shed. Project went no where from there.
In '11 we bought my wife her first bike which was also an '81 XS400 with cast rims and front disc brake. Bit of work and some customizing we got it running and looking cool. Still more work to do with it but its been put on the back burner as my wife now rides an SV650 daily.
While we were working on her XS400 though I thought long and hard about revamping mine and fiddled here and there with it. The biggest wall I kept running into was I lack ALL of the electronics now. All I have is frame and engine. Everyone agrees biggest draw back with these bikes is the lack of power with the engine. Dont get me wrong they're fun bikes and can scoot but 75+ isnt the most comfortable feeling with them.
Was given a wrecked EX500 in '11. It had been laying on its side in the mud for 5 years. Got it running that same weekend. Less than a month later tornado hit the house and destroyed the plastics. Decided instead of a street fighter I wanted to build a rat rod dual sport. Had a bit of fun modding it but after a while got tired of looking at it. Didnt have what was really needed to make it a fun dual sport without a bunch more money (or title).
Month or two ago I had an idea... crazy idea... almost an insult really... I have a perfectly good running engine (ex500) and a perfectly good potential cafe racer frame with title.... They weigh the same... theyre damn close to the same dimensions... but the EX has few miles, new engine, liquid cooled, has twice as much power and I have everything for it!
Took alot of coin tosses and pondering and dreaming but I finally decided to go for it. At first I was going to try to cram the engine into the frame and fab up some mounts... but im lazy...
Really lazy....
Also i want to keep the swingarm and mono shock.... and rims...
So the easiest thing to do... keep the lower and rear portion of the frame of the ex....
Like I said... lazy...
Onto the pictures.
Engine
Pulling it apart
XS400 frame
Chop chop
Prefitting the frames
Ah... to dream... my VFR400 SS swingarm for my CR500 supermoto possibility for the future if I pick up another one
Progress will be slow... and ugly... but hopes and dreams are there. I hate the idea of a kawi engine in a yami frame but its what I have and it is a good engine.
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