my old '78

[m3ch]

hey guys! its been a while since i have posted or even thought of my old '78. i want to get her running again so i can enjoy her when the summer comes so heres a little backstory.
A few years back (about 3-4ish years ago) i had bought my first motorcycle...this '78 xs400 for 200bucks i enjoyed it so much. When i had gotten it, she was already sitting for about 2 years because the previous owner ended up getting an alcohol violation on it, and it was sitting in his sisters yard and she was moving. she got permission to sell the bike so i bought it and road it for about 2 years and i started to neglect it because of other things. i started to try to work on it last year and wanted to start ordering parts for it to get her road worth again... then i had a house fire and lost everything 3 vehicles, my house and everything in my house luckily my bike was far enough away to not sustain any damage. once again everything got tossed on the back burner....now that I' am partially reestablished i can start buying parts in a few months and hopefully get her going again and pull off a bad ass project. This is where i need some help, i have searched the forums but for some reason i cant really come up with a good solid answer on what parts i exactly need, i know i need the coils but i have no clue what to even look for...
the other stuff i can figure out on my own if not i know i can search and probably find the answer but hopefully i can keep you guys updated on my project as it goes ill be starting small through out this winter time and working my way to where i actually start putting the parts on the bike and hopefully get her running again

 

[motoTrooper]

Best of luck, I hope it's a labor of love. It can be pretty therapeutic to work on bikes for me.

 

[m3ch]

Well, I finally had gotten the drive to order parts and stuff, I removed the engine and dropped it off to get the head tapped/helicoil or whatever to fix the plug hole, like I said I have a few parts on the way! While the engine is off I started to tuck the wires a bit better, find more hiding places for other stuff because well I want a nice clean look, I think I'm going to tackle the carb cleaning tomorrow as well as finish the wiring for switches because I lost my keys when I had a house fire. I need to figure out to to unlock my gas tank as well as clean it out because if rust. The tank needs paint and body work but I am hoping to maybe have it drivable by the end of the month.

 

[kshansen]

I need to figure out to to unlock my gas tank as well as clean it out because if rust. The tank needs paint and body work but I am hoping to maybe have it drivable by the end of the month.

For replacement key I'd try calling some local locksmiths. There should be a number by the key slot on the tank and the lock for the seat and helmet hook. For example my 1978 has the number 3521 at both places. Dang now someone is going to steal it!!! Anyhow some locksmiths can make up new keys from that code number. May pay to check with a Yamaha dealer to see if they have a "guy" who makes keys for them.