Introduction and Advice Needed, for 83 maxim XS400

[Nat X]

Today I got started on stripping down the rear end.

Side profile shot, gotta get the caboose to match the new front end


gotta break the rusty a$$ chain



can't wait to put the new chain on!

then the rear wheel came off nice and easy




dropped the rear swing arm with the mono-shock attached


the main reason to drop the rear end is to clean 30 years of road grime


out came the air-box as well, it needs cleaning as well


pulled the carbs too


the engine will get a deep clean and some paint in the future

 

[xschris]

Remember to replace the sprockets the same time you do the chain. Anytime I change fork oil on a bike I just get I always fully disassemble them. A lot of gunk will settle in the bottoms of them that only taking everything apart can get. If the bike sat for years even more so. Just an oil change will not clean the forks out. It's also a good time to replace seals and o-rings. Great progress on the bike!!

 

[Nat X]

well on to some more cleaning, prep and paint...

First step lets get rid of these chain guard tabs



The angle grinder made quick work of those



Much better in black



Disassembled the sprocket side of the rear wheel for prep and paint




Now on the brake side! The rear brake was fubar'd!!! It tool a long while to sand away all that rust.






More prep and paint pics of the rear wheel and brake cover. No pics of the rear pads installed, but the finished wheel is looking good!

 

[Nat X]

Some fresh paint on the foot pegs, air box and fork brace.








Now back to the bike. After knocking off another decade of road grime more prep and paint! Don't worry those are the old spark plugs.....

 

[Nat X]

Well I wasn't really digging just the top of the motor being painted, so on to more prep and paint




Looks way better. I'm planning on polishing the unpainted covers at some point. Got a good couple of layers of fresh paint on the frame as well.



Got the carbs on, air box installed and wires tucked into place




I know, I know this fuel line set up is ridiculous, I'm working on it, parts are on the way

 

[Nat X]

gunna try out the ole' budget bolt on hardtail mono shock delete.


Made the mistake of measuring only once, this bad dog is gunna be low...


As it sits on the on the ground. It looks rad, but its a little to low, hell the kickstand doesn't even work lol


Got another piece of square tubing coming next week. Then I can level out the rear end. Super pumped on this tho!

 

[Nat X]

Everyone's favorite subject WIRING!

Got this dirty cheap speedo from Amazon. Ya it's in KPH, but who cares. Used the stock wiring harness to get the speedo to work. Everything works perfect.... except the neutral indicator come on when the bike is in 1st gear now, which is super weird lol.



New ignition from TC Bros, super easy to wire up. The only issues is I need to add more wire length so I can relocate the switch to the side of the Air box.


I also added a on/off/on switch for the headlight controls. This was little more tricky to wire up, but after a couple tries I got it!


Found this sweet choke lever online. It's made for go carts, lets hope it works. Also got a new cable on the way.


After all that I ditched the stock left side controls, peace out


Headlight assembly back together and I had to wait till night to show off the work.

 

[markmakeitso]

Looks like excellent progress Nat X.
Little trick I picked up for painting wheels is to buy a stack of 3x5 note cards. My local dollar store has them for...umm...one dollar. Those wedge into the gap between the rim and the tire pretty well, and you can save a bunch of time over the paper and tape method. Same pile of cards is reusable quite a few times also, as long as you let the paint dry each time.

 

[spectra]

Looks good..........what type of paint are you using ?

 

[Nat X]

Looks good..........what type of paint are you using ?

just the cheap flat black stuff from Home Depot on the frame and such, also got high temp paint from there a well.

 

[Nat X]

Some more progress to report. Got me some new TC Bros Mini Ape Hangers, plus some Biltwell grips. Had to remove the tabs off the end of the throttle tube to get the fit just right. Super pumped on how the hand controls are looking and feeling.





Installed the new clutch cable and TC Bros chain. Had to clean another decade of junk off the inside of the cover, but everything turned out nice. plus pics of the painted and wrapped exhaust.








After messing around more with the monoshock delete some more I just decided on re-installing the shock.


Sitting pretty


After everything came together I got this old girl to move on her own!!

 

[Cafe]

Lookin' Good.

 

[Nat X]

Now on to the rear end. Test fit the stock rear end

now we gotta get the seat on there, but I can't ride on that stock seat. It looks terrible! So the first thing I did was strip the seat cover off.

started making a huge mess in my apartment but it turned out nice, way cleaner. I do plan on giving it another go soon after some more seat time.

 

[Nat X]

prepped and painted the rear assembly and fixed the storage under the sissy bar with zip ties. I mean is a project ever complete without zip ties on broken shit?

the rear fender turned out nice!

 

[Nat X]

as it sits now!

I still gotta finish the front brake rebuild and move the ignition to the airbox. Then it'll be ready for the open road. But for now I've been practicing in the alley behind my building!

 

[Cafe]

It lives! Congratulations.

 

[Nat X]

time to tidy up some loose ends.

First thing is the choke lever and cable reroute. I ended up using one of the reflector mounts under the front of the gas tank. Turned out pretty clean!

Now on to the ignition. I ended up extending the wires and the ignition switch to the left side of the airbox.

 

[xschris]

Not sure having an electrical device inside something with potential gas fumes in it.

 

[Nat X]

Not sure having an electrical device inside something with potential gas fumes in it.

Totally!

Motorcycles are super dangerous. The source of the entire electrical system (aka the battery) is located on the air box, inches away from the carburetors and under a metal gas tank all of which are or could be full of highly combustible fluids of vapors.

If I blow my family jewels off you can say I told ya so tho...

 

[Nat X]

Well we went full rigid with a welded in monoshock delete. My buddy taught me to weld and I did it myself! I even had a handful of super clean looking welds. I'm super pumped with how it turned out, plus we added a rad TC Bros sissy bar

We had to shorten the kickstand and kickstand spring as well

And here she is!