New Photos
Here it is after all the work I've done recently:
I really like how the gaiters look.
I got the headlight stone guard for $10 on ebay...It came in a pair, in a dusty package. They were originally NOS 1970s rally car accessories. It was kind of tricky to mount -- they came with mounting clips for car headlight mounting brackets, not for motorcycles. I had to bend the clips to fit, but they were hardened so they would snap before they would deform. After snapping a couple of clips, I ended up heating them up with my MAP gas torch until they were red hot and let them cool slowly. They then bent easily. Then I heated them until they were red hot again and quenched them in water so they were hard enough to hold the stone guard on without deforming.
I think the stone guard and gaiters look pretty cool together.
I really like how the gaiters look.
I got the headlight stone guard for $10 on ebay...It came in a pair, in a dusty package. They were originally NOS 1970s rally car accessories. It was kind of tricky to mount -- they came with mounting clips for car headlight mounting brackets, not for motorcycles. I had to bend the clips to fit, but they were hardened so they would snap before they would deform. After snapping a couple of clips, I ended up heating them up with my MAP gas torch until they were red hot and let them cool slowly. They then bent easily. Then I heated them until they were red hot again and quenched them in water so they were hard enough to hold the stone guard on without deforming.
I think the stone guard and gaiters look pretty cool together.
posted by veloandy at 7:06 PM
44 Comments:
Veloandy,
I got it running. With your experience I thought I'd ask you another
question. My headlight won't switch on, but it will if hooked directly to
the battery. Is it probably the lines from the battery to the lamp or could
Hi, I stumbled upon your blog and thought you would be the person to ask... I have purchased an xs400 (my first bike) and put a lot of new stuff on it so far including tires, rear shocks, new chain, new front and rear sprockets, new handle bars and cables... but it has some problems.
The throttle is very quirky, it has a low idle (and will die if left untouched) and sometimes it will open full throttle with only a very little turn of the throttle, maybe an 1/8 of an inch turn or so... would you happen to have any experience with this?
Thanks so much, And your blog is awesome!
Peter
Go here man, it is a defacto xs400 forum.
http://www.yamahaclub.com/forums/index.php?s=9e25c6cd8492878ff9ec1af290dff511&showforum=33
This blog is nice, but he has not updated in awhile.
Hey Guys,
I haven't had too much to say about the bike lately...It's good. It's fun to ride. I've been opting to ride my bicycle more lately b/c it's the winter and I live in Colorado. I can ride my bicycle in shorts in temperatures that would freeze me even wearing boots and a leather jacket on the XS!
Peter -- with the throttle/idling questions, it sounds a lot like what my bike would do when I first got it running. I got new pilot jets from mike's XS, and they helped a little. I then got a Colortune from ebay and used it to see that the idle mixture was WAY too lean. The colortune allowed me to dial it in exactly, and it has run fantastically ever since.
I don't think I could have gotten it right if I didn't have the Colortune.
JD -- thanks for the link to the forum. It's really great.
Peter -- good luck with yoru bike. Let me know if you need any help...but as JD said, I might be kind of slow to respond.
Later,
-Andy
Velo, I just purchased an 81 special II and it has no air filters in it. I cant find them anywhere. Can you help me locate some? Thanks
John
Do you need the boxes or the filter inserts?
I have an extra set of boxes if you are interested. They also usually show up on Ebay; there are quite a few parts for the xs400 on there.
If you need new filters, check https://www.partsnmore.com/cat_index.php?model=xs400&category=carb
and scroll down.
I have the boxes and the original filters inside. What I meant to say is that the filters are completely gone. I guess over 25 years of use will do that! I'll check out the website - I looked on ebay and didnt see anything. Let me know if you come across anything! Thanks
Johnboy
Hey Johnboy,
The filters are these:
https://www.partsnmore.com/image_sm/15-0120TN.jpg" (from JD's partsnmore link)
They are basically empty metal boxes (that live inside the plastic filter boxes) with nothing inside. The filtration is done by non-removable (i.e. glued-on) fiberous material wrapped around the outside edges.
If you have the empty metal box (that the snorkel from the carb attaches to), but the fiber is gone, you might be able to glue some foam rubber or something on there instead. If the whole metal portion is missing (the carbs' snorkels almost touch the empty plastic airfilter boxes, but aren't clamped to anything in the air filter boxes), you might be able to get by with some cheap motorcycle foam air filter socks...but it might be hard to get the constriction just right not to mess up your carb jetting, though.
If your bike is mostly stock and you have an extra $40 you'd want to throw at it, the factory air filters from JD's link would probably be easiest to set up.
Hope this helps!
-Andy
hey guys, i've been riding my 81 xs 400 and when i got on it on the highway I noticed some black smoke out the back. got it back to my place and checked the air filters - gone! they must have been the original air filter and have never been changed. the foam was completely removed. anyways, after that I noticed I had a lot of oil coming through the carbs and into the air filters. Any suggestions on what to do here? Thanks
John
Well, the filters shouldn't have foam. It may work, but its not ideal.
You need new filters which are in the link above.
As far as burning black smoke - its ok if it is just a bit; the bike is old and there may be a little oil getting in the combustion chambers.
As far as oil coming into the air filters, I am not so sure. Gas would be understandable, but not air filters.
If it is just gas, it may be backfiring through the carbs. This can be caused by improper valve clearences but more than likley it is from the engine running lean because of the absence of air filters - get replacements and see if it goes away. You said you have only the boxes connected and no elements inside, so that is where I would start.
Also, check out and maybe make a post on this forum as there are quite a few knowledable riders on there that know more than I do - http://www.yamahaclub.com/forums/index.php?s=9e25c6cd8492878ff9ec1af290dff511&showforum=33
er, I meant to say getting gas in the air filter box is understandable but not oil. I have no way of understanding how oil could be getting there unless it was pouring into the combustion chamber and then also back through the carbs. I would imagine the engine would not run with oil making it all the way there.
As I said, get new air filter elements and check on the forum I posted above.
As far as the oil in the air filters goes, check to make sure that your oil level isn't way too high...There is a crankcase breather tube that feeds into the intakes upstream from the carbs. A high oil level, and/or a ton of blow-by from the rings could cause oil to be splattered into the intake tract.
I have to 2nd JD's suggestion of getting proper air filters, seeing if that makes a difference, and checking out forums.
Good Luck,
-Andy
Ah, you are right. I never really thought about oil making it up that tube. I guess it is completly possible.
When I first got the bike, I had some problems with gas coming out of the carbs and getting into the crankcase from the tube (turned out to be from debris in the float bowls). I never really thought about oil getting up the other way.
nice advice guys - I did actually add some oil the other day before riding. I couldnt tell if it had enough or not b/c there is no dipstick on the oil cap. The filters should be here tomorrow (Tuesday), and I will change the oil and filter tomorrow as well and get the right amount in there. I'll let you know how it runs. Also, I read up and thought that the oil getting into the air filters was blowby caused from bad piston rings. I would much rather change the oil and air filters than replace piston rings.
Thanks,
Johnboy
Also, can you help me locate the crankcase breather tube so I can take a look and see if its getting oil in there.
thanks
You should have a oil sight glass on the side of the crank case. Look about half way down the kick-start lever and you should see a little glass window with lines showing you the min and max oil.
The tube is attached to the air filter boots and attaches to the crank case right behind the starter motor housing. Just look at your air filter boots and look for a little rubber tube going from them to the crankcase. It attaches on a little raised box.
Also, if its bad piston rings you should be burning lots and lots of oil. I Hope that is not the case as I pretty much can't find piston rings for standard size pistons. The best I could find was oversized pistons and rings - in which case you would have to take the cylinder head off and have it re-bored.
If you addded too much oil and it was going up the airfilter boot and mixed with yoru gas it may give you the black smoke - burnt oil as opposed to burning oil which is more grey.
well guys, I changed the oil and filter and added new spark plugs and took it out. It definately had more horsepower and the gears shifted a lot better. Funny thing is, the chain fell off while I was riding- so I loaded into the back of a pickup to take home and when we lifted it up the chain went back on. Looks like it needs to be tightend. I'll be looking that up tonight and doing it tomorrow. Any suggestions on how to go about tightening it? New air filters come in tomorrow - im hoping that adds more horsepower too.
John
It isn't to back. Just pop it up on the center stand, and on each side of the rear wheel are the chain tensioners. Do each side evenly with each other.
There is a little nut to loosen and then you can twist out the bolt that pulls the rear wheel back. As I said, just make sure you do both sides evenly.
You have to loosen the axle bolt (and therefore remove its cotter pin) to move the wheel back to adjust chain tension.
Make sure that you only adjust the chain tightly enough so it has 1 inch of up-and-down movement in the middle of the bottom run. (like 1/2 inch up and 1/2 inch down).
If you adjust the chain so it is actually tight, you risk bending the drive output shaft of the engine as the suspension moves up in its travel (this is REALLY bad), and your chain won't last long at all.
It also might be good to pop off the front sprocket cover and look at the condition of the front sprocket...if the previous owner beat on the bike with a loose chain, the teeth on the front sprocket could be worn to nubs like on my thrashed 550 Seca.
Also, make sure you get the axle bolt really tight after you adjust the tension -- I think the torque spec is 60 or 75 foot-pounds (double check that number, but it is TIGHT). It's always a good idea to use a new cotter pin.
Despite all this advice, adjusting chain tension really isn't a big deal. I bet you won't run into any big issues.
hey guys, got the chain adjusted and the air filters came in today. Blue Betty (her new name) is running really strong! Next thing up is new handle bars. The factory ones make my right wrist hurt from the slight bend outwards. Any suggestions on bars? Im looking for a more sporty look - maybe some clubmans?
John
*I* like the factory euro XS650 bars.
They're lower, sportier, and feel good to me (the stock xs400 custom semi-ape hangers hurt my wrists too).
I was thinking some full-on clubmans would put me too far forward, would dent the tank if I turned too sharply, and would be uncomfortable with the relatively forward foot controls. They might not be too bad if you have some rearsets and do a lot of high-speed riding though.
To each his own. www.mikesxs.com has a great selection of bars, each pictured on an XS650 so you can get an idea of what they'd look like on an xs400. That's where I got my factory euro bars.
Vel - With those euro bars, did you have to get new cables or did the stock ones work out?
Hey JD...the stock cables were a little long with the euro bars, but they still worked.
After I first got them installed, the front brake cable kind of obscured the tach (you can see it here).
I ended up routing it to the left of the idiot light cluster, and now it looks much cleaner.
I've heard of guys routing too-long cables into the headlight bucket, forming the cable into a loop inside, and routing it back out again to its destination. Luckily I didn't have to mess with anything like that.
clubmans come in tomorrow. I'll see if I cant get a picture on here for you guys
hey guys, my rear turnlights are falling off b/c the rubber housing is worn out on both of them. Do you know where I can locate some?
John
hey guys, if you wanna see what I have recently done to my bike. check it out here @ http://1981xs400.blogspot.com/
Hey there,
I just purchased my first bike. Yep, you guessed it, an XS400. Didn't know if you had an e-mail address where I could send you questions from time to time?
Thanks!
Jason
> Didn't know if you had an e-mail address where I could send you questions from time to time?
Hi Jason,
I don't have a good way to post my email address without having it wide-open to spammers. If you know of a good way to do this via blogger.com, let me know! ;-)
If you have any questions, post a comment to one of the entries on this blog. I'll get an email, and get back to you.
Thanks!
-Andy
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hey,
I'm posting a comment so you get my e-mail address.
Thanks,
Jason
Hey Jason,
I got an email that you left a post with a link to your blogger profile (http://www.blogger.com/profile/05969340065350675379), but it looks like you don't have your profile configured so I can see it.
If you enable me to access to your profile (http://www.blogger.com/edit-profile.g) and leave a comment, I'll send you an email.
If you ask an xs400 question in the comments, I'll post a response.
Thanks!
-Andy
peter,
when I got my xs400 I had a similar problem with idle and throttle issues. I tinkered with a lot of things to no real avail and then I realized that my rubber boots (mikesxs.com calls the "carb holders") between the head and the carbs had cracks in them. As soon as I replaced them the thing ran like a champ.
Note: From the outside they didn't seem like they were in too bad of shape but as soon as I removed them they all but crumbled into pieces. 2 of my friends have had the exact same issues with bikes over 25 years old. It's worth checking into.
I have a 79 XS400 and am interested in installing oversized pistons and possibly cam. Any Ideas where I could buy something like this. I am having trouble finding anything high performance for a 400.
Thanks
ebay has oversized pistons and rings. May have to search express.
Cam 0 http://www.megacyclecams.com/catalog/page57.pdf
Johnboy,
OEM P/N 1U4-83321-00-00 is what you're looking for. I ordered mine from boats.net for 14 dollars each, but with that number you should be able to take it to the dealer.
I never thought to check out a boat motor website for xs400 part references. That's cool! I guess a motor is a motor regardless of what it's moving.
I recently got a new headlight for my 1981 xs400h, it cost me close to 70 bucks on ebay. I'm not sure but after a few hours of riding, the headlight starts to dim and the bike ends up dying. I have to let it sit for a while before it'll start again. It sometimes has trouble staying in gear too at this point. I think it's all related somehow but I'm not sure how to diagnose such a strange problem... is it electrical? is it my alternator? is it something in the gearbox? I have no idea.... it's sorta disconcerting to ride it out at night knowing that it might end up dying.
Any ideas are appreciated.
Thanks!
Peter
I would start with your regulator and rectifier. After that, it would be the field coil. There isn't a proper alternator on these bikes. It's a stator and field coil which requires battery power to generate current. Your problem is th same I had on my bike and the regulator was bad which caused the stator to not work properly.
thanks!
so is the regulator and recifier one component or two? also, is the field coil located inside the gearbox?
Thanks again,
Peter
It was originally two components but you can buy aftermarket ones that is a single unit
Oops. The field coil and stator is located on the side of the crankcase. Not being near the bike, It should be the side where the clutch cable enters. You can access it via a small round plate or by pulling off the whole side. It shouldn't leak oil as it's not actually opening the crank case.
I imagine it will be the regulator or rectifier though.
Charge your battery and turn on the bike. Do you have a multimeter? Check for ~14v across the battery terminals with the bike running.
The regulator is mounted on the back of the battery box while the rectifier is on the bottom I think.
Thanks, I'll take a look at it and see what I can find :) It's getting warm again where I live (VT) and I'm itching to get back on it as soon as possible!
Thank you again for the help!
-Peter
What size tires did you use on your XS 400? I have some rare tire sizes, and figured 90/90 18" for the front and 120/90 16 for the rear. I'm also having tuning issues with the fuel air mixture. Everyone is telling me to re-jet, but it looks like you tuned yours with those specialty plugs. Which ones exactly were they? I am in Penrose, Colorado and commute up to Colorado Springs ranging from 5500 to 6500 feet.
Andy
Hi Disavowed!
I used a Colortune to set the mixture. I found a used one for like $30 on ebay. They are kind of expensive, but even a new color tune is way easier to use and much cheaper than a complete jet kit. Just make sure the one you get uses the same spark plug threads as the xs400.
I got a slightly larger than stock front tire...The stock one is equivalent to 90/90-18 and looked bicycle-like to me. I ordered the following from tiresunlimited.com:
Item: KENDA K-657 SPORT CHALLENGER BW - 100/90H18 FRONT
Quantity: 1
Price: $35.83
Item: KENDA K-657 SPORT CHALLENGER BW - 120/90H16 REAR
Quantity: 1
Price: $42.47
(It was a couple of years ago so the prices may have changed). The larger front tire cleared the front fender with no problems, and the combination handles MUCH better than the dried out stock tires, and looks much less lame in my opinion.
Good Luck!
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