speedfoos
XS400 Member
Howdy. I'm new. Just found this place and like the info I've seen so far. While not old, I have been around the block and am currently in my mid-30s. No stranger to projects that consume petroleum derivatives, rubber and money, I've recently switched to things with two wheels instead of four.
And I haven't had a bonafide project in about two years. Sure I bought the Harley almost two years ago and I tinker with that, but it runs great, looks great and I am loathe to mess with it aside from maintenance and cosmetic upgrades. I've rebuilt the motor on my truck, replaced the transmission and rearend, repainted a bunch of stuff and aside from a VG33ER (supercharged OEM Nissan motor) swap next year, I don't want to mess with it either.
Hmm.....
So bored.
Not supposed to deploy again for a couple years - two in the last two years is enough for a bit - so I've got to have something to keep me busy in the garage. Its too hot to brew beer in there, so I'll keep doing that in the house....
I know!!!
I'll buy another motorcycle as a project! My wife will love it! :3dbiggrin:
I've been combing Craigslist for the last year and finally pulled the trigger on this little "gem" last weekend.
It's a 1980 Yamaha XS400 in its rare and highly sought after 'basket case' configuration. Key notes:
And I dub thee "Project BCC Racer". For those of you without imagination, that stands for Project Basket Case Cafe Racer. More on the next post.
I carted her home in my trusty truck. Its trusty now because I've completely rebuilt the drivetrain.
And when I backed her up to the old garage, Momma was ecstatic with what I had purchased. See?
She should be. Suga Bear brought back a whole truckload of fun!
Time to get everything unloaded, throw the bike on my jack and start taking stock of what's what.
I have metric arse ton of boxes with this thing. I really can't be bothered with going through everything at this point because its a greasy mess and I really just want to play with the engine and the frame. Besides, if worse comes to worse, I will simply sell the frame straight off and look for a better project.
That big ole headlight does give the bike a personality though...
It screams "I'm a blank slate. Foos, attack me with your implements of destruction and turn me into something nice!"
But first things first, baby needs a wash. I'm the third project owner of this mess and its in need of a serious degreasing.
There, all done.
Let's pull a couple things off and see what we see.
Right, so I'm not terribly familiar with all of the stock mounting points and tabs on the frame of a 1980 Yamaha XS400, but I can tell that this one has had a few things removed and a few others clumsily added on. Its nothing I can't deal with but I just hate half-arsed fabricators and mechanics. More pics on that tomorrow.
Moving on to the motor. I knew going into the deal that the lower end 'had one piston stuck', but didn't know exactly what that meant until I bought the bike. Basically, one piston had rusted in the cylinder. OK, I'm not too concerned about the motor just yet, but I'm no slouch around an internal combustion engine A little PB Blaster and a rubber mallet later and that piston is free. And lo and behold, guess what else I discovered?
Did you guess yet?
How about now?
Well, you're right. The bores on this here motor are 70mm and you know what that means right? Exactly, the engine brushes and dingleberry hones I have stockpiled from working on 75mm bore Honda Civic motors are going to come in handy now! The bores have been honed and aside from a few measurements, the bottom end is just about prepped.
The head has a bent intake valve, which is probably why the motor was apart in the first place. Oh well, not the big of a deal. But I had no idea how tough the valve springs were on one of these motors. Three springs later (two-cylinder, two-valve head) and I've bent my valve spring remover and still have an intake valve assembly in the head. Oh well, I probably should get the head blasted and dipped anyway if I want to save this motor so I'll have the machinist deal with that one.
So here's how the bike sits approximately six hours after purchasing it:
My plans are (right now anyway)
- Rebuild it as a cafe racer-style bike.
- This is cheaper than going the chopper route because I don't have to fab up a hardtail for it.
- Just have fun rebuilding it.
- Put no more than the purchase price into it in parts and consumables.
Worked on the frame a bit and ground off all the redneck engineering bullshit on Sunday after I got back from the park with my fam.
Apparently these were welded chain forward controls at one time. I, for one, am glad that they're gone.
Dunno what all this other crap was but its all ground off now. I left a little bit on the tubes since i don't have any flapwheel discs right now and don't want to get into the frame itself as I will have to fix it later anyway.
Yes that's a washer welded to a factory bushing.
More garbage.
You know what? I really dig fixing up something that's all jacked up like this. I wish I had a sand blaster so I quickly strip this frame down and really start in on it. I have noticed a couple more problems though. Shit, forgot. Drinkin. Need to think for a spell.
.
.
.
.
.
Ah, that was it. Cletus ground off the fork stops and it looks like the steering neck bearing is the wrong size as about 6mm of it sticks out of the bottom of the neck. Hmm. Well, the fork stops are an easy fix and I'll worry about the lower neck bearing later on in life.
I think there was something else, but I'll just let it come to me later.
Oh! Only one side of the tank was beat in. I like the look but have never done anything like this before. I mean, I think I can guess at the basics - fill the tank with sand, work it over with a hammer and voila, its a concave tank that looks all magical and retro. Guess I'll have to start reviewing some Youtube videos and practicing on metal trash cans until I feel comfortable taking a hammer to this tank.
I threw the roller back to together and starting looking at it and thinking. I really like the look of this bike so I'm going to keep it, at least until its finished. Making the cafe seat section looks pretty easy, relatively speaking. A little work with some fiberglass, a 1/2" (maybe 3/4") hoop for the tail section welded in and then its on to the sparky and oily bits. Its only steel tubing and a little sheet metal right?
Out of curiosity, I threw the stock seat from my Dyna on the bike.
NOTE: I will never attempt to put this seat on the BCC Racer.
But, if you look at the rear of the seat, it kind of follows the cafe rear section lines. Ignore the front and the wide ass platter, this is just working with what I have to visualize the lines of this thing as a cafe racer style scoot.
And yes I flipped the handlebars over to see if I want to use them or get some strap....errr....clip-ons.
That's it for Sunday folks.
And I haven't had a bonafide project in about two years. Sure I bought the Harley almost two years ago and I tinker with that, but it runs great, looks great and I am loathe to mess with it aside from maintenance and cosmetic upgrades. I've rebuilt the motor on my truck, replaced the transmission and rearend, repainted a bunch of stuff and aside from a VG33ER (supercharged OEM Nissan motor) swap next year, I don't want to mess with it either.
Hmm.....
So bored.
Not supposed to deploy again for a couple years - two in the last two years is enough for a bit - so I've got to have something to keep me busy in the garage. Its too hot to brew beer in there, so I'll keep doing that in the house....
I know!!!
I'll buy another motorcycle as a project! My wife will love it! :3dbiggrin:
I've been combing Craigslist for the last year and finally pulled the trigger on this little "gem" last weekend.
It's a 1980 Yamaha XS400 in its rare and highly sought after 'basket case' configuration. Key notes:
- I paid $280 for it.
- It has a clear title.
- The frame is 'mostly' unmolested.
- Everything except the carb(s) 'should' be there.
And I dub thee "Project BCC Racer". For those of you without imagination, that stands for Project Basket Case Cafe Racer. More on the next post.
I carted her home in my trusty truck. Its trusty now because I've completely rebuilt the drivetrain.
And when I backed her up to the old garage, Momma was ecstatic with what I had purchased. See?
She should be. Suga Bear brought back a whole truckload of fun!
Time to get everything unloaded, throw the bike on my jack and start taking stock of what's what.
I have metric arse ton of boxes with this thing. I really can't be bothered with going through everything at this point because its a greasy mess and I really just want to play with the engine and the frame. Besides, if worse comes to worse, I will simply sell the frame straight off and look for a better project.
That big ole headlight does give the bike a personality though...
It screams "I'm a blank slate. Foos, attack me with your implements of destruction and turn me into something nice!"
But first things first, baby needs a wash. I'm the third project owner of this mess and its in need of a serious degreasing.
There, all done.
Let's pull a couple things off and see what we see.
Right, so I'm not terribly familiar with all of the stock mounting points and tabs on the frame of a 1980 Yamaha XS400, but I can tell that this one has had a few things removed and a few others clumsily added on. Its nothing I can't deal with but I just hate half-arsed fabricators and mechanics. More pics on that tomorrow.
Moving on to the motor. I knew going into the deal that the lower end 'had one piston stuck', but didn't know exactly what that meant until I bought the bike. Basically, one piston had rusted in the cylinder. OK, I'm not too concerned about the motor just yet, but I'm no slouch around an internal combustion engine A little PB Blaster and a rubber mallet later and that piston is free. And lo and behold, guess what else I discovered?
Did you guess yet?
How about now?
Well, you're right. The bores on this here motor are 70mm and you know what that means right? Exactly, the engine brushes and dingleberry hones I have stockpiled from working on 75mm bore Honda Civic motors are going to come in handy now! The bores have been honed and aside from a few measurements, the bottom end is just about prepped.
The head has a bent intake valve, which is probably why the motor was apart in the first place. Oh well, not the big of a deal. But I had no idea how tough the valve springs were on one of these motors. Three springs later (two-cylinder, two-valve head) and I've bent my valve spring remover and still have an intake valve assembly in the head. Oh well, I probably should get the head blasted and dipped anyway if I want to save this motor so I'll have the machinist deal with that one.
So here's how the bike sits approximately six hours after purchasing it:
My plans are (right now anyway)
- Rebuild it as a cafe racer-style bike.
- This is cheaper than going the chopper route because I don't have to fab up a hardtail for it.
- Just have fun rebuilding it.
- Put no more than the purchase price into it in parts and consumables.
Worked on the frame a bit and ground off all the redneck engineering bullshit on Sunday after I got back from the park with my fam.
Apparently these were welded chain forward controls at one time. I, for one, am glad that they're gone.
Dunno what all this other crap was but its all ground off now. I left a little bit on the tubes since i don't have any flapwheel discs right now and don't want to get into the frame itself as I will have to fix it later anyway.
Yes that's a washer welded to a factory bushing.
More garbage.
You know what? I really dig fixing up something that's all jacked up like this. I wish I had a sand blaster so I quickly strip this frame down and really start in on it. I have noticed a couple more problems though. Shit, forgot. Drinkin. Need to think for a spell.
.
.
.
.
.
Ah, that was it. Cletus ground off the fork stops and it looks like the steering neck bearing is the wrong size as about 6mm of it sticks out of the bottom of the neck. Hmm. Well, the fork stops are an easy fix and I'll worry about the lower neck bearing later on in life.
I think there was something else, but I'll just let it come to me later.
Oh! Only one side of the tank was beat in. I like the look but have never done anything like this before. I mean, I think I can guess at the basics - fill the tank with sand, work it over with a hammer and voila, its a concave tank that looks all magical and retro. Guess I'll have to start reviewing some Youtube videos and practicing on metal trash cans until I feel comfortable taking a hammer to this tank.
I threw the roller back to together and starting looking at it and thinking. I really like the look of this bike so I'm going to keep it, at least until its finished. Making the cafe seat section looks pretty easy, relatively speaking. A little work with some fiberglass, a 1/2" (maybe 3/4") hoop for the tail section welded in and then its on to the sparky and oily bits. Its only steel tubing and a little sheet metal right?
Out of curiosity, I threw the stock seat from my Dyna on the bike.
NOTE: I will never attempt to put this seat on the BCC Racer.
But, if you look at the rear of the seat, it kind of follows the cafe rear section lines. Ignore the front and the wide ass platter, this is just working with what I have to visualize the lines of this thing as a cafe racer style scoot.
And yes I flipped the handlebars over to see if I want to use them or get some strap....errr....clip-ons.
That's it for Sunday folks.
Just a few things I see right off, front end and wheel are not the stock ones. The swing arm is off another bike also, the mounting bolts for the foot pegs have been chopped off. Looks like you got a lot of work on your hands good luck. It will be nice to see what you come up with
You electrocuted your chain!
