XS400SG sitting for 20 years

[Paul57]

Hi all, new to this forum and glad to see it. I have an XS400SG (red) that I purchased new in 1980. Twenty years ago I put it away and never touched it again. Fortunately it was in my machine shed so it's still in good shape appearance wise.

I suspect the inner workings are completely gummed up from old gas. It was running fine when I put it away; it's just suffering from neglect. I figure I'll have to pull the tank and check for rust, and also rebuild the carb. I work on old tractors, but I've never done any motorcycle work.

Any suggestions before I tear into this? I've ordered the Haynes manual.

 

[Lou Ranger]

Welcome to the forum and good luck! Keep us posted, post pics, ask questions.
Here's a good place to start:

http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10595

Do the <$3 in-line fuel filter asap and then the tank, the carbs and some (lots of) lubing.

 

[xschris]

Welcome Agree with the filter. Also lube and change all the fluids in it, just for a start. We need some pics of what you got

 

[Paul57]

Thank you for the welcome. I dug out the cycle today. Lots of accumulated dirt and grime from such a long time in storage. Some rust but for the most part it looks pretty superficial. The tires are, of course, shot. The GOOD news is that the gas tank was empty, so there isn't a spot of rust in it!

Here's what it looked like when I pulled it out:



After a quick wash:


Remarkably, the seat still looks pretty good after all these years, with just a couple of places where it is starting to split. When I took it off, I found the original tool kit still stored under it:

 

[MechNewb]

That looks awesome. Good luck getting it going!