So I got her started. The only issue is that I don't have any turn signal indicators. They aren't working at all. They don't come on at all. I was troubleshooting what I thought was the electrical demons and I'm wondering if my controls are completely unplugged so I'll have to check that when I get home. Currently at a camp with my kids
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My XS400
- Thread starter SoulMan
- Start date
The indicator controls were hooked up but I swapped the flashers with the second bike and they still didn't work. Then I connected the second indicator controls to my bike and the flashers were kind of working. One side was flashing. The other side wasn't. I tracked the not flashing side down to having a bad bulb once I change that it started working fine. I opened up the indicator controls on my bike and found that it was pretty grimy in there and quite a bit of corrosion and the solder connections for the wires broke from the back of part of the components in there so there was no longer a connection.
I cleaned everything up and re-soldered the three wires to the back piece of the portion that switches back and forth put everything back together. Tested it and it was working this point so we're all good on the indicators
I cleaned everything up and re-soldered the three wires to the back piece of the portion that switches back and forth put everything back together. Tested it and it was working this point so we're all good on the indicators
I fixed a couple other things. I hadn't adjusted the front or rear brakes after getting everything back together. So I was able to get in and get those adjusted. I started another oil change because I think some fuel may be leaked out of the second fuel tank and then the floats are supposed to stop that. It's just more of a precaution and I don't know for sure that there's gas in the oil. The oil was a little bit full. I don't know if it was showing that full previously when I checked the oil level. I don't plan on changing the oil filter since I just changed it.
There's also a bit of an oil leak where the oil filter goes so I ordered a new new o-ring to seal that up. So once I I finish the oil change and close it up hopefully that'll result that
I realized I didn't have the front of the mufflers connected properly. Additionally, I don't have the gasket that is supposed to be between the two exhaust so I ordered that. I'm waiting to receive that and then I'll get them up there and hook back up.
There's also a bit of an oil leak where the oil filter goes so I ordered a new new o-ring to seal that up. So once I I finish the oil change and close it up hopefully that'll result that
I realized I didn't have the front of the mufflers connected properly. Additionally, I don't have the gasket that is supposed to be between the two exhaust so I ordered that. I'm waiting to receive that and then I'll get them up there and hook back up.
Aside from everything so far everything's looking good except I do have one concern about the rear axle. I believe I have all the components in and it's torqued down to spec but then that goes way further onto the rear shaft and so a cotter pin would not do any good putting it in there... Thoughts? What I should do on this shim it out maybe a little bit?
Edit: after checking out the parts diagram on cmsnl it looks like I'm missing a washer actually
Edit: after checking out the parts diagram on cmsnl it looks like I'm missing a washer actually
I purchased a box of parts off of eBay because it had a few things in it that I thought I'd like to have and it actually also had rear shaft the front shafts, the rear adjusters and I'm assuming it also had some washers because I found a couple large washers in that same set of hardware. I put one on the axle but it was still not quite shimmed out enough so I just threw another washer on there. Now it looks good. I just need to get a decent size cotter pin to put in there.
For fairly simple bikes, there are still a thousand details to think about. It looks like you are on top of them though! Keep going, that ride is close at hand.
Based on diagrams online I don't believe this is the stock petcock. I think the petcock in my second bike is the stock petcock although it is missing a part (tube) at the bottom and just has an open screw type thing screwed in there. In any case I ordered a replacement from Amazon that seems like it should work. I will test it before filling it completely with oil just in case it doesn't work.
Definitely not stock.... There are some differences between the bolt holes of older vs. 1980 and later petcocks (older ones are closer together). if the one you order doesn't work out, post about it and I will look up the specific information. I personally dumped the vacuum operated petcock and bought a manual one for simplicity, I should be able to point you to one of those as well if needed.
Well I just found out my brake light isn't working when I turn the ignition to the on position. My left bulb in the brake light lights up the right bulb doesn't and after I start the vehicle it just stays on. So I'm not sure what's going on there yet. When I press the front or rear brake it doesn't change the bulbs at all and the brake light
Just curious if these rear brakes lights are working properly. I adjusted the rear brake sensor and was able to get both bulbs lit. Then if I press slightly on the rear brake pedal the light in one bulb goes off but the second light in the other bulb turns on. Is that normal?
Rear brakes not pressed
Rear brake pressed
Also, it seems like my front brake switch is broken because it's always closed or on when I do my multimeter test. Subsequently, I broke the other brake switch from the second bike, so I'm definitely going to need to purchase a aftermarket brake light switch for the lever or I'm going to try to fix it. I don't know.
Rear brakes not pressed
Rear brake pressed
Also, it seems like my front brake switch is broken because it's always closed or on when I do my multimeter test. Subsequently, I broke the other brake switch from the second bike, so I'm definitely going to need to purchase a aftermarket brake light switch for the lever or I'm going to try to fix it. I don't know.
I think I'm just not getting great connections. I sprayed one of the sides of the connection with automotive electrical contact cleaner and that seemed to help quite a bit. I'll probably spray the other side too. I'm mostly getting the proper brightness on both bulbs now when the brake lever or pedal is pushed
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That is probably your best option. I had to do this on Trusty Rusty's clutch switch during the resurrection. The switch is most likely good, so some careful soldering of the wires followed by some layers of shrink tubing will look pretty original and last a long time.
While debugging the brake light issue that plagues me, it turns out last night I might have broken a bullet terminal crimp behind the terminal plug close to the brake light. I didnt even notice them back there but pulling on the connector to try to get it disconnected may have put too much strain on the wire. I used the other brake light I had, and it works much better now although it's still a bit finicky about position of the actual connector which will eventually be replaced. I purchased a carb cleaner kit with small nylon brushes that I used with the contact cleaner to clean inside the female connector terminals so the connection works a little bit better but not good enough for my taste. I plan to replace the stop light connector with one from MikesXS. But for now while I wait for some of the other stuff I ordered I have a brake light that works again and better than before as long as the cable doesnt get into a bad spot which could happen while riding a vibrating motorcycle 
Additionally I am adding some components into the wiring harness and I am using the quality Japanese bullet connections and such directly from Japan so I plan to actually upgrade all the current bullet connections on the bike with these. I feel like its the best thing to do because of the age and these new tinned connections are much more resistant to corrosion so hopefully that will keep future electrical gremlins at bay at least for the rest of my life.
Additionally I am adding some components into the wiring harness and I am using the quality Japanese bullet connections and such directly from Japan so I plan to actually upgrade all the current bullet connections on the bike with these. I feel like its the best thing to do because of the age and these new tinned connections are much more resistant to corrosion so hopefully that will keep future electrical gremlins at bay at least for the rest of my life.
I end up taking the first brake switch apart completely even at the all the way down to the switch level. And bent some of the terminals closer to each other so that it would work properly and even now that one's good.
There are a couple little clips on the side. You should be able to see them in the picture where they basically come apart. You just pry those open to get the little switch portion out to address it. I sprayed some some contact cleaner in there. Met the terminals in a little bit closer so they'd make a good contact for the switch portion of the cable.
There are a couple little clips on the side. You should be able to see them in the picture where they basically come apart. You just pry those open to get the little switch portion out to address it. I sprayed some some contact cleaner in there. Met the terminals in a little bit closer so they'd make a good contact for the switch portion of the cable.
So I pulled the pins on the bike side of my brake light connector. If you take a close up picture you will find two locking tabs on the side of the connector such as these.
I found that the barrel with a bit too much gap. I know that the manufacturer of the pins touts their connectors as being more tightly formed so I crimped the barrels down a bit more and put them back into the terminal plug. Now my brake lights work perfectly. I can wiggle the connector, and the lights no longer change how they light up nor do they lose the ability to light because of bad connections.
I found that the barrel with a bit too much gap. I know that the manufacturer of the pins touts their connectors as being more tightly formed so I crimped the barrels down a bit more and put them back into the terminal plug. Now my brake lights work perfectly. I can wiggle the connector, and the lights no longer change how they light up nor do they lose the ability to light because of bad connections.
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I know there's probably dislike for the vacuum base petcocks but I did buy one off of Amazon and it seems it'll be pretty well done and looks very similar to the original. It even has the same bottom bolt that I need for the original petcock it fits as well so I might buy a second one and use that bottom bolt on the original petcock and buy a rebuild kit. Everybody wants like 30 bucks for OE bolt that goes in the bottom of the original petcock
I did have to unscrew the vacuum nozzle and rotate it. 90° clockwise to get it in the same position as the original petcock but I mean they look very similar
I did have to unscrew the vacuum nozzle and rotate it. 90° clockwise to get it in the same position as the original petcock but I mean they look very similar
