Spad
XS400 Addict
Mtbike, Excellent pictures and report..."Jim" is priceless!!!!!
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New to the forum with an intro and the start of a 81 Special project-ish
- Thread starter mtnbikecrazy55
- Start date
Coming along nice
mtnbikecrazy55
XS400 Addict
Thanks!! 
Just a couple pics from yesterday, then I'm heading to the post office to hopefully pick up the caliper seal/rebuild kit, then to the shop to wrap it up and ride it home to surprise my dad with tonight!!
Threw the oil filter housing and bolt in the ultrasonic just for kicks, cleaned up nicely-
Filter/Housing back on, Fram CH6003 Filter
I decided to use Castrol 4T 20w-50, it's what I use in my XJ's and had treated me well, and it also goes on sale a few times a year for 2.99/qt at various auto parts stores(advance, autozone, O'Reilly's) so I wait until the sales, buy a few cases, and then it usually lasts me until the next sale. Unfortunately I was out of what I had from the last sale, but at least it was still "on sale" for 4.99/qt rather than the usual 5.99 price tag.
Also forgot to post this picture, had my seat guy whip me up a new seat cover, Mike's a great guy who does great work, if anyone needs a seat redone, I can hook you up with his contact info and tell him I sent ya He's made seat covers for both of my XJ's as well.
And lastly for now, I finally decided on where to mount the Formotion clock.
I like its placement but today if I have enough time I'm going to pull it back off and paint the now chrome mounting tab/piece black to better blend in and hide with the cluster area.
Should be able to do the final(for now) update tonight!
Thanks for following along guys!
Just a couple pics from yesterday, then I'm heading to the post office to hopefully pick up the caliper seal/rebuild kit, then to the shop to wrap it up and ride it home to surprise my dad with tonight!!
Threw the oil filter housing and bolt in the ultrasonic just for kicks, cleaned up nicely-
Filter/Housing back on, Fram CH6003 Filter
I decided to use Castrol 4T 20w-50, it's what I use in my XJ's and had treated me well, and it also goes on sale a few times a year for 2.99/qt at various auto parts stores(advance, autozone, O'Reilly's) so I wait until the sales, buy a few cases, and then it usually lasts me until the next sale. Unfortunately I was out of what I had from the last sale, but at least it was still "on sale" for 4.99/qt rather than the usual 5.99 price tag.
Also forgot to post this picture, had my seat guy whip me up a new seat cover, Mike's a great guy who does great work, if anyone needs a seat redone, I can hook you up with his contact info and tell him I sent ya
He's made seat covers for both of my XJ's as well. 
And lastly for now, I finally decided on where to mount the Formotion clock.
I like its placement but today if I have enough time I'm going to pull it back off and paint the now chrome mounting tab/piece black to better blend in and hide with the cluster area.
Should be able to do the final(for now) update tonight!
Thanks for following along guys!
mtnbikecrazy55
XS400 Addict
Alright, so here's the last bit!
There's still things that I want to do to it, but for now it's rideable, reliable, and safe, so that's what's most important
OH! Does anyone have the connecting rod/latches for the seat?? It was driving me NUTS trying to figure out how the seat latched. Well turns out after finding a picture of what it's supposed to look like with a google image search, it turns out I'm missing the entire latching part! Doh! 8O Still looking for a clean front chrome front fender too!
I'm still waiting to come across a clean chrome front fender, and I did not have the time to get the remainder of the dent in the top of the tank pulled. Hopefully next winter I will be able to get that popped, strip the tank, and then bodyfill and sand out the remaining imperfections, and finish it off with some new paint on the tank and side covers.
I want to put in new fork springs and replace the rear shocks with some nice progressives.
I also have to tap the other mirror threads, It had one mirror on it when I bought it and just a plug in the other, but when I tried swapping the matching set of mirrors over from the parts bike, the clutch perch was the wrong thread/too small of a hole. Not quite sure what's up with that but I did not have the correct tap in our metric set at work so I had to leave it with one mirror for the time being.
I still have yet to wash it lol. By the time I finished bleeding the brakes it was about an hour from sundown and I wanted to hit the road so I wouldn't freeze - well I froze anyways haha. Plus to me a good detail job is 10hrs+ and that time was non-existent, and I figured my dad would rather have his son home and a dirty bike than a clean bike and son not home I'll go home this summer once life settles down and I can spend a weekend with my dad detailing our bikes, I want to polish the cases as well.
I originally had planned on bringing it home on thursday, but the caliper rebuild kit's tracking said it would not arrive until friday. Well friday comes and I wait and wait and wait but no rebuild kit. I was really bummed. But since I had to get it home that night there was nothing I could do other than clean up the old seal best I could and re-use them and run them that way until I have the time to pull it all apart again and rebuild the caliper with the new seal. Really hate having to do something twice that is completely unesassary if the package would have showed up on the date they promised, but my only other option was to drop 57$ for an OEM set from the local yammie shop.
I also borrowed a tach cable from another parts bike at the shop as the new motion pro cable I had ordered failed to show up in time as well.
So those two things kinda sucked but it mostly worked out so on to the good things!
It was a frenzy on friday so I diddnt really do as well at taking pictures, but I did grab a few. I ended up just picking up and throwing in a new cheap wet cell, it'll be okay for a season or two at least. I also picked him up a batt. tender so it can sleep happily in the garage and get the most out of it as well.
New SS brake line -
Going back together:
Ready to go -
So me in all my wisdom, when I glued that collar, I failed to even think about positioning it correctly. So I had to hit it with the grinder to make it work. I have a replacement now and next time I'm home I'll throw it on no problem.
About to make the maiden voyage home!
And yes that's a pan of cookies that my gf made for my dad too
And so I rode it home! Ran like a top, really had a blast riding it home, I had never ridden it other than riding it home from buying it and that was with bad tires, borderline brakes, ridiculously loose chain, etc etc etc. So this was the first time I really could ride it. These 400's are fun little bikes no doubt and someday if another were to come under my nose for a decent price, I'd have a hard time passing it up for a nice townie bike, fun little scoot thats super nimble compared to my 750. But that'll be after the 550 project's done
Ended up pulling into town around 9:30 and parked it in a friends driveway as I told my dad I would be getting a ride home with a friend to keep from arousing suspicion of being home without my car. I came into the house an ice cube and tried talking normally as possible trying to hide the fact I was shivering uncontrollably lol.
I had originally planned on getting home sooner and hiding the bike in the garage while my dad was still at work, but since I waited so long in hopes that the caliper rebuild kit would arrive I got home much later than planned and my dad was already home, so I had to come up with a plan B as I was too excited to wait until morning.
So after a bit I convinced my family that it would be nice to take a walk around the block. So around the block we went and when we passed my buddies driveway my dad commented on how Seth(my buddy) must have gotten a bike! I couldn't have planned it any better, I said well lets go take a look at it, and then after a bit of waiting I told him it was actually his. He really diddnt have any words and was just completely shocked and blown away. Mission successful
So I had him climb on and I gave him a ride around the block and then home as it was cold and also pretty late at that point.
Page/post break for picture suspense - jk, post was too long and had to break it up
There's still things that I want to do to it, but for now it's rideable, reliable, and safe, so that's what's most important
OH! Does anyone have the connecting rod/latches for the seat?? It was driving me NUTS trying to figure out how the seat latched. Well turns out after finding a picture of what it's supposed to look like with a google image search, it turns out I'm missing the entire latching part! Doh! 8O Still looking for a clean front chrome front fender too!
I'm still waiting to come across a clean chrome front fender, and I did not have the time to get the remainder of the dent in the top of the tank pulled. Hopefully next winter I will be able to get that popped, strip the tank, and then bodyfill and sand out the remaining imperfections, and finish it off with some new paint on the tank and side covers.
I want to put in new fork springs and replace the rear shocks with some nice progressives.
I also have to tap the other mirror threads, It had one mirror on it when I bought it and just a plug in the other, but when I tried swapping the matching set of mirrors over from the parts bike, the clutch perch was the wrong thread/too small of a hole. Not quite sure what's up with that but I did not have the correct tap in our metric set at work so I had to leave it with one mirror for the time being.
I still have yet to wash it lol. By the time I finished bleeding the brakes it was about an hour from sundown and I wanted to hit the road so I wouldn't freeze - well I froze anyways haha. Plus to me a good detail job is 10hrs+ and that time was non-existent, and I figured my dad would rather have his son home and a dirty bike than a clean bike and son not home
I'll go home this summer once life settles down and I can spend a weekend with my dad detailing our bikes, I want to polish the cases as well. I originally had planned on bringing it home on thursday, but the caliper rebuild kit's tracking said it would not arrive until friday. Well friday comes and I wait and wait and wait but no rebuild kit. I was really bummed. But since I had to get it home that night there was nothing I could do other than clean up the old seal best I could and re-use them and run them that way until I have the time to pull it all apart again and rebuild the caliper with the new seal. Really hate having to do something twice that is completely unesassary if the package would have showed up on the date they promised, but my only other option was to drop 57$ for an OEM set from the local yammie shop.
I also borrowed a tach cable from another parts bike at the shop as the new motion pro cable I had ordered failed to show up in time as well.
So those two things kinda sucked but it mostly worked out so on to the good things!
It was a frenzy on friday so I diddnt really do as well at taking pictures, but I did grab a few. I ended up just picking up and throwing in a new cheap wet cell, it'll be okay for a season or two at least. I also picked him up a batt. tender so it can sleep happily in the garage and get the most out of it as well.
New SS brake line -
Going back together:
Ready to go -
So me in all my wisdom, when I glued that collar, I failed to even think about positioning it correctly. So I had to hit it with the grinder to make it work. I have a replacement now and next time I'm home I'll throw it on no problem.
About to make the maiden voyage home!
And yes that's a pan of cookies that my gf made for my dad too
And so I rode it home! Ran like a top, really had a blast riding it home, I had never ridden it other than riding it home from buying it and that was with bad tires, borderline brakes, ridiculously loose chain, etc etc etc. So this was the first time I really could ride it. These 400's are fun little bikes no doubt and someday if another were to come under my nose for a decent price, I'd have a hard time passing it up for a nice townie bike, fun little scoot thats super nimble compared to my 750. But that'll be after the 550 project's done
Ended up pulling into town around 9:30 and parked it in a friends driveway as I told my dad I would be getting a ride home with a friend to keep from arousing suspicion of being home without my car. I came into the house an ice cube and tried talking normally as possible trying to hide the fact I was shivering uncontrollably lol.
I had originally planned on getting home sooner and hiding the bike in the garage while my dad was still at work, but since I waited so long in hopes that the caliper rebuild kit would arrive I got home much later than planned and my dad was already home, so I had to come up with a plan B as I was too excited to wait until morning.
So after a bit I convinced my family that it would be nice to take a walk around the block. So around the block we went and when we passed my buddies driveway my dad commented on how Seth(my buddy) must have gotten a bike! I couldn't have planned it any better, I said well lets go take a look at it, and then after a bit of waiting I told him it was actually his. He really diddnt have any words and was just completely shocked and blown away. Mission successful
So I had him climb on and I gave him a ride around the block and then home as it was cold and also pretty late at that point.
Page/post break for picture suspense - jk, post was too long and had to break it up
mtnbikecrazy55
XS400 Addict
So here she is it all her current glory!
And here are some pictures I took of my dad the next day when the sun was out
And he did take it for a ride around the block at least!!
The last temp he had gotten have now expired so he has to go over to the dmv and get another and then this summer we're going to take a trip up to Michigan together for a MSF course for a little father/son bonding trip, plus in Wisconsin its ~300$ for the class and in MI it's 25$!!
I was planning on buying a new helmet this season as well so now I'll have my eyes out for a buy one get one 50% off deal or something as he wants to get a new helmet and proper gear as well. He does have a helmet to wear in the meantime, but It's past 5 years old so a new helmet will be in store.
So yeah! That's all she wrote for now, I will update this thread in the future as little things are done to it, but for the most part it's another project in the books and I'm really happy with how it turned out and even happier with how much my dad loves it. It gives me the goosebumps and a big ol grin just sitting here thinking about it
My grandpa's house already sold and since closing is on the 16th of this month he's been a pretty busy guy, but once that passes and life settles back down for both of us there will absolutely be some rides together in the future
Plan was to take them to the Badlands in South Dakota, that will be a fun trip
I also want to take a second to thank this forum and all of the people whom contribute to it, I have learned so much from it and you and the bike's end result is absolutely proof of that! Everyone is incredibly helpful and I will still be stopping by to say hi and read through threads learning and admiring all that is posted
Also thanks following along on with this adventure, I sure had a blast myself and sharing it with you!
Thank you all so much again and happy spring, rubber side down!
And here are some pictures I took of my dad the next day when the sun was out
And he did take it for a ride around the block at least!!
The last temp he had gotten have now expired so he has to go over to the dmv and get another and then this summer we're going to take a trip up to Michigan together for a MSF course for a little father/son bonding trip, plus in Wisconsin its ~300$ for the class and in MI it's 25$!!
I was planning on buying a new helmet this season as well so now I'll have my eyes out for a buy one get one 50% off deal or something as he wants to get a new helmet and proper gear as well. He does have a helmet to wear in the meantime, but It's past 5 years old so a new helmet will be in store.
So yeah! That's all she wrote for now, I will update this thread in the future as little things are done to it, but for the most part it's another project in the books and I'm really happy with how it turned out and even happier with how much my dad loves it. It gives me the goosebumps and a big ol grin just sitting here thinking about it
My grandpa's house already sold and since closing is on the 16th of this month he's been a pretty busy guy, but once that passes and life settles back down for both of us there will absolutely be some rides together in the future
Plan was to take them to the Badlands in South Dakota, that will be a fun trip
I also want to take a second to thank this forum and all of the people whom contribute to it, I have learned so much from it and you and the bike's end result is absolutely proof of that! Everyone is incredibly helpful and I will still be stopping by to say hi and read through threads learning and admiring all that is posted
Also thanks following along on with this adventure, I sure had a blast myself and sharing it with you!
Thank you all so much again and happy spring, rubber side down!
DARKMIDKNIGHTWARRIOR
XS400 Addict
Looks good! Glad you got it together and he likes it!
Requiem
XS400 Addict
The bike looks great!
Good job
awesome! Thanks for sharing your story and keep us posted
iamunique127
XS360C Owner
Excellent story with 2 happy endings:
1) a great looking bike on the road
2) the smile on your Dad's face
Thanks for posting it all
1) a great looking bike on the road
2) the smile on your Dad's face
Thanks for posting it all
JARichmond
XSively Addicted
This has been an incredible story full of amazing adventures! Congrats on being able to accomplish all of it and I'm glad you've been able to share your experiences with us. I'm so glad the community has been able to help you out and I can't imagine how different everything would have been if you had just skipped over that picture on Facebook.
PS. Your dad's new bike is gorgeous
PS. Your dad's new bike is gorgeous
mtnbikecrazy55
XS400 Addict
Thanks so much everyone!!
I couldn't be happier myself
Have a few things to do to the girl, been ordering a few thing sand planning to take a trip home to spend a weekend with my folks and dad especially. My grandpas birthday was August 17th and want to spend time with my dad.
Finally found a seat latch on eBay for a decent price so that will be there by then, I have a new tach cable, have some new progressive fork springs and will pick up some 15w oil to go along, thinking about seals but I think they were good.
It killed the first battery and second too, seems like its not charging, but last time I went home I fired it up and it was charging, so I'm not sure. Regulator maybe?
That and I guess the start button is sometimes intermittent? Is that a switch contact issue?
But it obviously kicks just fine so that's why he's just been doing. It would be nice to sort out the electrical though.
In other news though, I bought another project
1976 Aermacchi built Harley Davidson SX 125
Maybe I'll post a thread here even though its a Harley
I couldn't be happier myself
Have a few things to do to the girl, been ordering a few thing sand planning to take a trip home to spend a weekend with my folks and dad especially. My grandpas birthday was August 17th and want to spend time with my dad.
Finally found a seat latch on eBay for a decent price so that will be there by then, I have a new tach cable, have some new progressive fork springs and will pick up some 15w oil to go along, thinking about seals but I think they were good.
It killed the first battery and second too, seems like its not charging, but last time I went home I fired it up and it was charging, so I'm not sure. Regulator maybe?
That and I guess the start button is sometimes intermittent? Is that a switch contact issue?
But it obviously kicks just fine so that's why he's just been doing. It would be nice to sort out the electrical though.
In other news though, I bought another project
1976 Aermacchi built Harley Davidson SX 125
Maybe I'll post a thread here even though its a Harley
mtnbikecrazy55
XS400 Addict
levdir
Rounded bolt brigade
Coooool. What's it need done?
I have seen a few of them come up for sale in my area but they never have titles for them
perronand
XS400 New Member
I realize your posts are a few years old but the picture showing the black XS 400 Special (with a broom and a dust pan hanging over the seat) is of real interest to me. Can you give status on it.
mtnbikecrazy55
XS400 Addict
Welcome to the forum!
I pulled what I had needed from it for my dad's and the rest has been parted out, sorry man
