phanowel
XS400 Enthusiast
Well, I had some real success tonight. And so I'll start to document the build a bit.
Back story: I'm going to try and see what I can do with this xs400 (purchased for $70). I'm going to try and involve Sam, my 13yo, whenever possible.
He is out of town this weekend, so I wanted to try and get a sense of whether or not we should move forward with this particular bike. I didn't know if the motor was seized, and so on.
So I took everything apart, removed the motor, etc. Now I have the frame, the motor, and a pile of ugly parts. On the plus side, I figured out where the electric starter is (since I don't have a kick start lever) and bumped it over a few times with an extra battery I had. It fought to turn things a couple of times, but then started rolling over, so the motor isn't frozen. I thought that was a real good sign. I could see the intake and exhaust valves moving up and down on both sides. I had earlier taken both plugs out and sprayed a crap load of PB Blaster in the holes.
Anyway, some pictures...
And finally, my other bike for grins...
I've got forks and a rear wheel (with rotor, caliper).
Needs:
Kick start lever (coming, purchase in process from another member here)
Front wheel w/brake setup and axle
Hardtail stuff (I haven't decided if I want to go with a kit or try and piece something together with DOM tubing, sand, and a bender...)
Bars, controls
Minimal wiring
Carb (I'd really like to go with a single carb and fab up an intake)
Exhaust
I've found a couple of xs650s nearby for cheap, and I am sorely tempted to try and convince my wife that I should buy them to try and scavenge parts. I'm not sure what would come straight over to a 400 though... Thoughts?
Thanks! -Peter
Back story: I'm going to try and see what I can do with this xs400 (purchased for $70). I'm going to try and involve Sam, my 13yo, whenever possible.
He is out of town this weekend, so I wanted to try and get a sense of whether or not we should move forward with this particular bike. I didn't know if the motor was seized, and so on.
So I took everything apart, removed the motor, etc. Now I have the frame, the motor, and a pile of ugly parts. On the plus side, I figured out where the electric starter is (since I don't have a kick start lever) and bumped it over a few times with an extra battery I had. It fought to turn things a couple of times, but then started rolling over, so the motor isn't frozen. I thought that was a real good sign. I could see the intake and exhaust valves moving up and down on both sides. I had earlier taken both plugs out and sprayed a crap load of PB Blaster in the holes.
Anyway, some pictures...
And finally, my other bike for grins...
I've got forks and a rear wheel (with rotor, caliper).
Needs:
Kick start lever (coming, purchase in process from another member here)
Front wheel w/brake setup and axle
Hardtail stuff (I haven't decided if I want to go with a kit or try and piece something together with DOM tubing, sand, and a bender...)
Bars, controls
Minimal wiring
Carb (I'd really like to go with a single carb and fab up an intake)
Exhaust
I've found a couple of xs650s nearby for cheap, and I am sorely tempted to try and convince my wife that I should buy them to try and scavenge parts. I'm not sure what would come straight over to a 400 though... Thoughts?
Thanks! -Peter