New guy building XS400 Softail Bobbers

[Buddha]

Bit more done on the build today.
Completed paint and clear coat on the rear fender.

Now is it ok if I vent? Ok I'll vent.
I can't believe whoever the PO's was did to butcher this wiring harness, unbelievable. Spent a few hours soldering and shrink sleeving all the cut wiring. Here's an example of the coil wiring. It's a butcher job. People that do this to a wiring harness shouldn't be allowed to own a bike.

Wire's just cut off, twisted splices, incorrect sized crimp connectors. How in the world is this type of workmanship reliable?

Took 1/2 an hour but this part of the harness is now up to my standard, including the correct bullet connectors.

There's still a lot more butchered wiring to repair, but I'll get there by golly.

 

[CaptChrome]

Wiring like what you had is the reason there are really cheap ex-project bikes for sale - they don't run or barely run.

Very nice job at putting things right! It is always a great pleasure to see proper wiring on old vehicles.

 

[xschris]

Those coils in your pick the white ones are for 77 to 79 point bikes . They are 4 ohm coils. The 80-82 sohc tci bikes use a 3 ohm black coil with replaceable wires.

 

[Buddha]

Those coils in your pick the white ones are for 77 to 79 point bikes . They are 4 ohm coils. The 80-82 sohc tci bikes use a 3 ohm black coil with replaceable wires.

Thanks xschris, didn't even dawn on me with this bike using tci ignition. These coils that came with the bike each ohm'd out at 3.8
Aftermarket 3.0 ohm coils on order.

 

[Buddha]

Well my venting is finally over. Today I completed wrapping the wiring harness after it was installed bare on the frame and all wiring wrung out and commissioned. Took me a bit longer on this build because of all the butchering this poor harness received prior to my ownership. A pic

 

[Buddha]

Well today I re-introduced the engine to the frame. It was a good fit

 

[Buddha]

Received my aftermarket 3ohm coils today. In doing research on mounting these coils I see that some owners hang them below the frame coil mounts instead of above the frame coil mounts like the OEM coils are mounted. These coils are a different configuration that the OEM coils, they are larger in diameter and the tower is angled out the side of the coil instead of the end of the coil. This makes it a challenge to mount them but I've been a believer that 'If man built it, man can fix it...'
Without altering the frame coil mounting or the fuel tank it took a bit of fiddle dicking around but I managed to rework the OEM coil br@cketz to accept the aftermarket coils and have them tucked in where they belong so that you can't see green coils hanging under the fuel tank. Next is to glass bead the br@cketz and paint them. Some pics.

Then of course I had to do the obligatory mock up to see how things fit.

Another thing I researched was the TCI ignition module. Some owners had grief with these stating that they found cold solder joints and after re-soldering their grief disappeared. I removed the circuit board and inspected it closely, I must say for it's age it looks to be in great condition, I put it back together.

 

[Buddha]

Went out to the shop this afternoon and scratched a bit, then I scratched a bit more. Then I started cleaning up the information center.
Glass beaded the insides of the speedo and tach buckets, then painted. Buffed the outsides of the buckets with clay. Cleaned up the rubber grommets, washers, and nuts. Cleaned the glass. Tested the speedo and tach with drill- all good. Replaced all bulbs with LED's.

Then I did the most important part on these 2 builds.
I installed the Guardian Bells.
Without these there's no point putting these rides on the road.

 

[CaptChrome]

Love the Guardian bells! I have always used a gauze bag with a few cloves of garlic hung over the carbs as my go to, but the bell is definitely classy and probably smells better in the long run.

Also, thumbs up on the color-matched horn, Nice touch.

 

[Buddha]

Thanks Capt's!, I are Ukrainian so garlic wouldn't last on my rides.

Guardian bells keep away the bad juju cause ain't nobody got time for that.

 

[Buddha]

Out to the shop for a bit today. Managed to put the information center together and mount it on the triple tree.

Unfortunately my build of this second bike will come to a screetching halt, wifey and I are going south to Palm Springs for 5 months.

 

[Spitfire_X24]

Bikes are looking great. Looking forward to your return. Enjoy the warm side of winter.

 

[Buddha]

Bikes are looking great. Looking forward to your return. Enjoy the warm side of winter.

You bet, we'll be back in April

 

[Buddha]

Well........that coffee break I took to go South to Palm Springs in November has come to an end!

Made it out to the shop for a bit today. I changed out the fat o-ring chain to a standard chain.

Up next was to gather everything together for wrapping and installing the pipes and mufflers. Spent a bit of time lookin' and scratchin' trying to remember where I put stuff, but it's slowly coming back to me, lol.

 

[AmbientMoto]

Bike is looking fantastic!

 

[Buddha]

Bike is looking fantastic!

Thanks for the kudos!

 

[Buddha]

Had 2" wet snow here overnight, sucks.
Anyhoo, went to the shop, scratched a bit, and proceeded to wrap some pipes. End of the day results are pipes wrapped and installed, mufflers installed, shifter lever installed, brake lever installed, foot pegs installed with new rubber. Some pics.....

 

[CaptChrome]

Welcome back. That must have been some really special coffee in California to make that kind of commute! I hope you didn't have to wait too long in the drive through line.

I see you have wasted no time getting back in the shop - and we appreciate that!

 

[Buddha]

Welcome back. That must have been some really special coffee in California to make that kind of commute! I hope you didn't have to wait too long in the drive through line.
I see you have wasted no time getting back in the shop - and we appreciate that!

Hey Capt!! Thanks for the welcome back. Like always it's great to get away, but always nice to come back home. We are headed back in late October if all goes well.


Like I said in previous post, it took a bit to shake the cobwebs out and get into the bike build groove again.
Today I mounted the ignitor unit. Then mounted the rectifier and voltage regulator which are under that plate in the second pic..

In the second pic, on the left side, you can see an aluminum plate riveted to the frame, it has the date and milage of when the bike was Bobbed. Both bikes have these plates.

Then I started the relaxing job of rebuilding the carbs, I could do this job day after day, I love it, spank me with a rubber hose and call me crazy.......

EDIT: Just for sh!tz and giggles I sprayed some Quick Start into the carb joints, turned the key on, pressed the kill button to start, hit the starter button, after a couple cranks she fired for a couple of seconds, made my day.....

 

[Spitfire_X24]

Glad to see you made it back safely!