TechieTopher

Alright not completely sure what went wrong here. My clutch in my 82' xs400 Special has been slipping at high rpms so I recently purchased new friction plates and springs. So I take the cover off, take the springs off, remove the plates, replace the friction plates with the new ones after soaking them(reused the steel plates), and replaced the springs with the new ones. I tightened the retention bolts down until they seated and replaced the cover using a new gasket. Simple right???????? Now I have no tension in my clutch cable ... nada ... nothing. What the heck am I missing here? I should note that I checked the clutch cable and it is connected. I also adjusted throught the range of adjustment. Nothing. I'm thinking something moved but I don't know what.

Here's a couple of places I've used very recently on an 82 xs400 heritage special: www.mikesxs.com (mainly for the xs650) www.partsnmore.com (limited on what they have for xs400) www.crc2onlinecatelog.com (out of Indianapolis really make the extra effort to get what you need) www.bikebandit.com (oem parts) www.oldbikebarn.com (limited on xs400 as well) Cycle Recycle (3rd one down) is by far my favorite. Hope this helps.

It depends on a lot of things. Mine were a pain in the butt because the dust covers over the seals were dry rotted and the seals themselves had literally "fused" themselves to the lower fork legs through corrosion. I ended up scarring the side walls a little where the seal sits in the lower fork leg and had to repair that first (thank you mr. JB WELD). The seal basically keeps the fork oil from pushing out of the lower fork leg by sealing (ok no brainer there) around the inner rim of the lower fork leg and then "squeegeeing" the oil off of the upper fork tube as it travels back up when rebounding. I think if your mechanically inclined, have a good repair manual, the right tools, and are generally patient, you can do this job. Certainly the best way for you to learn about your bike is by doing it yourself. Incidentally this job doesn't vary much from bike to bike so you might be able to find someone close by that can help you the first time out. Someone who has had some experience with this job even if on a different bike. Hope that helps.

Actually I haven't cleaned them up yet Just gave them a quick wash to get the visible crud off. However, Maguire's (sp?) metal polish is in their future. I'll probably hit the spokes with some very fine steel wool (careful with that stuff. It'll ruin your chrome if you apply too much pressure) then polish with maguire's.

Charging problem = LOOSE FRIGGIN GROUND system charges just fine. Oh and here's a couple of pics of the "poor man's restoration" effort:

Now to tackle the charging system ....................

My problem has been resolved. It was a combination of my new clutch cable not being adjusted correctly and the worm gear engaging the rod slightly as a result. That's why I had no compression when I kicked her. After setting this correctly. Everything is working now

Are you talking about the cover that the clutch cable goes into? The front sprocket engages another gear that the kickstart is connected to? I just changed out my clutch cable and now I've got nothing in the way of kick. There's no pressure there and it was fine before. Sorry for hijacking this post but I think I've got the same problem.