Stories
This is where I will post your stories
of how you came across your bike, or special memories about your bike, or any
other related stories. Please send your stories so they can be posted
here. Thanks for your support.
Hi!found your page,at last...here in germany,there are quite a
lot of xs left,but those nowadays considered to be "lightweight" low
performance bikes are not very popular with riders.but i've got a '81
XS400,2a2 type and i like its classic look,its sound and the
performance,too.in germany the XS400and360 were equiped with different
camshafts,for a better low-rpm-torque but less horse- powers(about27hp).as i
bought my xs it had a really poor look,but the engine was in good condition.i
had it completely dismanteled, frame and reservoir sandblasted,new chromed
mudgeards,a giuilari racing-style seat,new exhaust pipes and a silver/blue
paint for the res. ,frame is black.i rode it for a year,then(about 18000KM)I
had a a bit of engine tuning(hi lee!)as I 've had the joy to try a french
38hp-version,Iknew that i didn't like its revvy power,i was looking for more
torque.had the head polished and did a little work on gas flow-that's 32hp now
and exellent torque from abowe 3200rpm up to 7000.now it's great
performance,as i've got spots tyres mounted as well as a wider handlebar for
better leverage on the small countryroads here,where i do most of
travelling.today the machine has done 67000km and i think there'll be another
40000,at last... my gilfriend has got a xs360,wich is optically in superb
original(!)finish,though the engine is tuned ,too. sorry that I haven't got
any photo digitalised yet...so,hey enjoy riding and take care of your old
hogs! if anybody needs some tech tips ...ect.-please e-mail to me(add.-see
above),i'd really like to help anyone who's taking care of some nice old
machine.
Submitted September 08, 2000 by
Darren
I think this is a great site. I bought a 77 xs
400 for $50.00 at an impound lot. It was illegally parked and the owner
did not want to pay the $50.00 storage fee to get it out. I gladly took it
home. I did not have a clue but I put a battery on it, cleaned the carbs
and it ran like a dream. Since then I've only had to replace the rear
tire(the old one was dry rotted) and replace the throttle cable. I
recently was given an 81 maxim 550 and a kawasaki 440. They all live in
the comfort of my garage and the Explorer stays outdoors.
Submitted September 04, 2000 by Jason
L.
First thing I wanted to say was that I am very glad
to see a sight dedicated to the Motorcycle that I own. I would be lost
without it. I am a student at a local Automotive Tech school. I am
in my second year of the program and during that time my instructor had a 1980
XS400G Special II sitting in the back of the transition room. I had my eye
on that bike ever since the beginning of class. I asked him how long he
had it and where did he get it. He told me that he did some work on a car
for a guy and he gave him the bike for payment. My
instructor rode it a
couple of times and let it set since 1992. After a year of bugging him
about it, he finally sold it to me for $50.00 (it did not run). I got it
home and looked over it. This is what I found.
1. Every wire was
shorted together. Major electrical problem!
2. Gas tank was stored
under the brake fluid shelf, some dripped onto the tank,no paint!
3. Engine
frozen solid!
4. I put gas in the tank to see if it would run, MISTAKE,
Petcock leaking, and Carburetor leaking onto shorted wires. (i.e. fire,
big fire.) Got it out though.
5. Bent handle bar on the left side.
(Ouch)
That is about all I found wrong with it. I am going to work
on it for a while and get it running some time or another. I cannot
complain since I only paid $50 for it.
Submitted August 22, 2000 by Mark
Largent
I just found your site and am very happy to find that there are
other xs400 owners out there riding, fixing, and enjoying their bikes. I
just bought a 1981 XS400 Special II and spent the last week making it road
worthy. I bought it from a local seller for $300, but it needed some
TLC. Both carbs were gunked up, the entire bike was greasy and dirty, and
the gas in the tank was about 3 years old. Once I got it cleaned up, new
oil, filters, plugs, and gas in it, it runs nicely. No major damage or
missing parts, just a couple of small scratches and some general wear. The
bike is a blast to ride. The only significant problem is that one of the
carbs is running too rich - as far as I can tell there is no way to adjust the
richness of the mix. After about an hour of driving the left plug is cover
in carbon and the bike begins to misfires. Hopefully someone out there knows
what the problem is and can email me with a good solution. (Please Post
Suggestions on Message Board)
Submitted August 11, 2000 by
Anne
Hi Greg, I like your site concept -- of course because I
have an '81 XS400 myself. I've only had a it a couple months and it's my
first bike. I bought it from someone I know for only $200 and that should
give some indication of the condition that it was in... although it did
run. I spent a few hundred more getting it into shape and most of the time
it does just fine.
Submitted July 18, 2000 by Greg (Website
Author)
I guess the best place to start is with my
own 1980 XS400SG Special. I bought this bike used in the spring of 2000. I was
in the market for a motorcycle for several months, but I was waiting for the
right one to show up. I was a new rider and wanted a smaller motorcycle, but I
also need something inexpensive. I have always liked the looks of the late '70s
and early '80s motorcycles. I saw this one listed in the local newspaper and it
seemed to fit what I needed. Below is the newspaper clipping:
YAMAHA 400 SPECIAL 1980. Nice, good runner,
new tires. 231-263-xxxx
I called
the guy up and didn't get an answer the first try, so I called back an hour
later and left a message on the machine. He called me back about an hour after
that and we discussed the condition of the bike and so forth. I went over to his
house and picked her up. The condition was reasonable for the price, I felt.
There were some cosmetic problems: The tank had a few scratches and 2 small
dents, and most of the crome had some minor surface rust. One mechanical problem
caught my eye right away, the petcock was leaking fuel from the diaphragm. I
knew this was not a deal-ender, just needed to rebuild the petcock. (by the way,
I enjoy working on bikes as much as riding, probably picked a good one for
that!) The tires were new and in good shape. The seat was perfect, surprisingly.
She ran like a dream, nice and smooth, and started quite easily. The electric
starter itself sounded like a basket-case, but I understand that this is a
common problem for these bikes. Besides, it was still kicking it over alright,
and it started very easily with the kick starter. I ordered a
petcock repair kit and when it arrived and I put it all together, it turns out
that the kit didn't work all that well in controlling the fuel flow, although it
did stop the leak. Then I bought an old gastank on eBay that had a working
petcock on it and replaced it. All is well now.
While I was waiting for the petcock
repair kit, I decided it would probably be a good idea to make sure there was no
gas that had leaked into the oil from the leaking petcock. I decided I had
better just go ahead and change the oil. Well, I drained the oil from the
drain plug. Amazingly, this doesn't drail all that much of the oil.
So I pulled off the filter cover and got the rest. When I went to
see what shape the filter was in, I decided to go ahead and change it. I
went to get a new one the next morning and took care of it. Upon
inspection of the oil, it didn't appear to have any gasoline in it. Do
these carbs have an overflow? I didn't think so, but what do I know, thats
why I made this page. I'll check on that and let you know. I also
took a close look into the fuel tank when I removed it to fix the petcock.
There seed to be a bit of rust inside of it. It did not look like it has
ever been lined, so I just cleaned it out with some muriatic acid and put in a
KREEM liner. Pretty minor, but could cause some carb problems if not taken
care of. After it was all cleaned up I cleaned the carbs to take
care of any particles that may have already gotten in there.
I did
have a little identity problem with my bike at first. It appears that the
side covers were replaced at one time. The side covers that were on it
said it was a Heritage Special. But that would not be consistent with the
serial numbers on the bike, or the year of manufacture. After some
research and some help from Jean , it was determined to be an XS400SG, rather than
the XS400SJ. The sticker inside one of the sidepanels has the year 1982,
when the XS400SJ would have been built.