What did you do with your XS today?

[levdir]

Last night I trimmed the unfinished edges off my seatpan and test-fitted it as best I could. It's still a bit wonky but it fits and it's basically square. Not professional work by any stretch but I'm hopeful.

I also installed brand new Volkswagen exhaust studs that are threaded deeper than stock to better accommodate the Suzuki header I'm using.

 

[manuel sena]

Ran wiring thru my 16" ape hangers.was a real pain.but worth it for a clean look.

 

[Johnny3D]

I installed a Battery Tender, cleaned up the battery cables and connections, and continued the work on cleaning up some of the parts on it. I also continued thinking about how I'm going to make a lift system for it so I can get it up off the wheels.

 

[Cornhusker]

Today I got it running!

...and then, after removing my gas tank to adjust the fuel mix (why is that necessary Yamaha?), I started it up and drove it down the block without reconnecting the gas line...



Luckily, it's still alive

 

[uglyduckling]

I am going to do nothing on ugly duckling today. We just got home last night from a 4 day excursion. We drove through sarnia up the interstate 75 to Sault Ste. Marie to visit family. Toured around up there a bit then started the journey home through Canada. Total ride....1566 kms... She ran awesome. Changed the plugs half way. She needs rest today and so do I...

 

[16VGTIDave]

Sounds like quite the trip! Good to hear another person taking their 400 on a long trip.

 

[16VGTIDave]

Met a friend this morning (Brrr! 5C / 41F) and rode with him to Fort Erie / Buffalo as he begins his ride to Costa Rica. 400km (250 mi) round trip for me with high winds the entire way. At times I had to drop to 4th and hold it wide open to maintain 100kph (62mph). I had to run the petcock in the Prime position as there wasn't enough engine vacuum to keep the fuel flowing in the Run position. Every lake had whitecaps on it, and a couple exposed bridges had high wind warnings posted. All flags were either straight out or tearing apart. I think you get the idea.

Not the nicest ride, but at least it was sunny and traffic wasn't that bad.

 

[doodsaibot]

250 miles? Dang, man. I barely rolled a 190 mile last Friday and was totally wiped out when I got home.

So Dave, was the engine vacuum insufficient because of constant higher RPMs?

 

[16VGTIDave]

Wide open throttle and ~7500 RPM for minutes at a time. No engine vacuum to speak of, so the petcock was closing. Doesn't help that the petcock is from a 600 4cyl and probably needs a lighter spring or something...

 

[xschris]

At 7500 rpm that motor should be making tons of vacuum. My guess is there is a issue with the petcock. Or the line has a blockage/leak in it.

 

[16VGTIDave]

Making vacuum at Wide Open Throttle? Not so much. Sure there will be pulses, but no sustained vacuum. Tons of airflow though, as anyone within 500m can tell you. The carbs roar much louder than the exhaust.

The line is good and the petcock was rebuilt 2 years ago. I think that because it was designed for a 600cc 4 cylinder bike, the spring in the petcock is too strong for a 400cc twin being run flat out for minutes at a time. But that is just a guess on my part. I'll live with it for now and tear down the petcock over the winter and see what I find.

 

[xschris]

I have used springs from the xs650 petcocks in the past with no issue. They look and feel the same. A bad sealing intake valve can send reversion pulses back through the carbs stopping vacuum. These petcocks work on only a few psi of vacuum. I do believe there is a check valve in the nipple that attaches to the vacuum line on the petcock. At least the sohc ones do.

 

[doodsaibot]

New O rings showed up today. Will be changing the oil once I get the carbs back on the bike. It'll be interesting to see the results since I slapped a rare earth magnet on the drain plug per Dave's suggestion. Also got new gaskets for my float bowls on the carbs that I am currently cleaning.

 

[levdir]

Today I pulled the wiring harness and started laying out a new one. I've eliminated the starter, the stock battery box, and the stock gauge cluster, so the stock harness is about six or eight inches too long and is getting in the way. Decided to tackle the challenge of starting fresh.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Nothing really, but I did receive some goodies from Eastwood.

 

[BBS360]

Mounted my DIY mufflers. Need some gaps sealed up but they fit nicely on the stock mounts. Very solid.

 

[doodsaibot]

Reassembled my carbs after a thorough cleaning. Put it back onto the bike but couldn't get the air box rubber joints in there. For those of you DOHC guys who have had or still have a stock airbox, you know what I am talking about. Had to use my handy dremel to smooth down the flanges on the rubber joints to insert them into the air box. It worked! (I still think more and more everyday of getting rid of that damned air box!)

After that was completed, synchronizing began. The bike was turning on without choke and idling at 3.5k without the throttle idle screw even turned in. I found the sync screw (in between the carbs) was turned almost all the way in! Silly me. Turned it out and got the bike close to where it needed to be to run. Had the pilot screws set at 2.5 turns out. Rode it around for a bit and got the oil nice and hot before sync time. Hooked up my U shaped manometer and kicked her on. It sucked in a bit of the ATF fluid into the right side carb before I could blink! Note to self, next time have finger on kill switch when doing a "blind" carb sync. Turned the sync screw way out some more and re checked the manometer level. A bit of smoke was coming out of the right exhaust for several seconds, I imagine it was burning up that bit of ATF fluid that had snuck through. Was not much smoke, though, as it quickly subsided.

Rode it around some more to check the different carb circuits. This time I rolled the RPMs high. Coasted up to 8k without any issue. So it seems the mains are doing well and the needles were doing their job. The pilot circuit also seems good.

Drained out my engine oil to check if the magnet I had put on the drain bolt a few months ago had caught anything. There was nothing visible to me except for some gunk which may have actually been a small film of metal. Put the oil back in as it can probably handle another 2000 - 3000 miles.

Also noticed my rear tire has a very slow leak. Checked the psi and it was at 20 . Front tire was perfect.

All in all I put several hours of work on the Maxim today and got it gruntin again! I imagine next weekend I will put several hours of riding on the Maxim!

 

[Scorpio1963]

Got it out of the shed relunctaly and drain the gas out for winter.Started it and ran all the gas out of the carbs,tikered around on the voltage system and that was it,Game over till next spring

 

[Johnny3D]

I opened up the box of parts I ordered and inspected them. I also built a work bench in my heated garage room in preparation for my winter tear-down/paint/rebuild.

Didn't actually work on my XS400 today, but getting ready to do a lot of work on it.

 

[16VGTIDave]

Went for a pleasure ride Friday afternoon. Met with KingJetPack and Lou Ranger and we rode through the Forks of the Credit. It was a beautiful fall day and there were still some leaves left on the trees. When we got back to the coffee shop, we were treated to a display of stupidity - the local police were running a spot check and stopped an idiot cager who was drinking a beer while driving. He will be riding a bicycle or taking public transit this winter.

A few minutes later, while I was proceeding through an intersection, I was treated to the sounds of an ABS panic stop. I looked over my right shoulder to see the front of a car between me and the curb. KingJetPack managed to capture it on video, albeit from a distance. I pulled off the road and took a minute to regain my composure before continuing. The rest of the ride was uneventful. Thankfully!