My xs400 adventure begins!!!

[Pmcbee]

Hello, I recently got a 1982 xs400 and looking for a manual online i found you all. I would like to share my story and adventure of finishing/ customizing this bike. it's going to need some pretty major stuff redone as I go from what I can see electrical from battery to main fuse wiring for sure has been chopped up and put back together. getting the battery out to charge it today the terminal loop on the wire broke off so i dont want to speculate how well it runs yet but i can do this im sure. So first thing is the exciting stuff about the bike I want to say upper and lower engine have been re done potentially. the guy i got the bike from got it as a (almost done) project from a guy in utah aha. He had a local shop do the carbs, boots and exaust last season drove it around the block and it has sat since ( lucky me) I will start by cleaning fuel and ignition system up, charge battery up a bit, check oil and try to turn it over and keep everyone posted as I go. First thing is inspecting and replacing battery to starter and solenoid cables for sure they were re done pretty poorly little dinky connectors crimped on the ends snapped right off I'll dig into it more and post pics and what I need to do in a few days.

 

[CaptChrome]

Welcome to the forum!

Gotta love getting those bikes in the "almost done" project stage, which seems to be another term for "just needs a carb clean" - hopefully things are pretty straight-forward to getting it sorted out, but this forum is here regardless. Thanks for the pics, and we look forward to seeing how you make out.

 

[GuyS]

Welcome to the forum. I too just bought one just like yours. I am presently restoring it. Front brake system is totally gummed up, the carbs are too. I’ll be interested in following your progress. I will be posting lots about my restoration. Interestingly, the bike has left me a record of it’s history. Perhaps some of why it has such low mileage (13,500 miles or 21,650 Km), is related to a poorly repaired intake boot. The picture kind of shows a divit on the carb intake manifold. That defect would have made it impossible to synchronize the carbs due to the poor carb/manifold seal. Luckily I found a good replacement.

 

[GuyS]

BTW Your bike looks like a XS400J. There are quite a few differences between this model and a XS400 (I know, it confusing why Yamaha did this!). There is a Seca manual for this model with more model specific information to our “J” bikes. Mine has a 12R designation that differentiates part numbers etc. from the straight XS400.