KFunk

I thought base model XS400s had front drums? I just bought a set of front forks for my 81 XS400, and they didn't have caliper mounting ears (so I assume the front forks were from a base model with front drum).

You need to remove the plastic cap, and push down the metal button while removing the circlip with a couple screwdrivers. It takes a lot of force to push it down. I wedge in a 3/8" drive ratchet with 1/4" adapter and tiny metric socket between the handlebar and the button, and it'll sit there solid while you work around it:

See if you can find my old thread where I was asking about tires. I ended up paying about $100 total for both from americanmototire.com and having them shipped to me, then having a friend's shop install them for $20 each (I just took them wheels, it might cost more if they have to take the wheels of your bike.) I did tubeless since the original tires on my '81 xs400 were tubeless (cast wheels, not wire wheels).

Yeah, that doesn't work so well either..... occasionally it'll kick off, but not that often. At least its better than hand signals, which I've been using since I bought it.

My friends' '79 KZ650 has the indicators on all the time, so apparently other companies have done it for a while. If it requires a full rewiring, then I'm not gonna worry about it. As for the push-button turn signal off, I dunno what the problem is. The switch is greased up inside and it slides around fine.

Well, I'd kinda like to have the running lights if its not too hard to get them working. As it is with just the headlight, at night my bike could be confused with a car with one headlight out (a common sight here in Appalachia...)

I've noticed on other bikes the turn signals stay on all the time solid during just normal riding, kinda like 'running lights.' I figure its a good safety feature. Is my xs400 supposed to do that? Right now they only blink when I flip the switch. By the way, I just got a new left control assembly on ebay and hooked it up, and its the first time I've used the signals. Is pushing in on the switch supposed to turn the blinker off? Mine doesn't seem to want to do that. I just have to lightly push it the opposite direction to get it to turn off.

It's easy as can be to replace the bulbs, like 5 minutes or less. A couple nuts on the back and the big nut on the speedo cable, and the guage slides out and you can pull out the bulb. It's a standard shaped bulb you can get for a couple bucks at any auto parts store. The same bulbs are used for the neutral/oil lights, license plate lights, high beam indicator, etc.

We have no idea where you're located... so we have no idea about your registration laws..

Very nice, I'm probably going to do the same thing soon. I've polished valve covers and such on my cars in a similar way. I prefer to use some 0000 super fine grade steel wool for most stuff. It's more flexible than sandpaper for getting in the nooks and is extremely fine. For some very nice final polishing, try to see if you can find someone with a DA air sander and put a polishing pad on it along with some of the polish. It works surprisingly quick to get the nice mirror finish.

OK, I just bought this book at the local bookstore. Time to get reading and planning the next journey.

Yeah, I used to work on 374 a lot... but I've never been on it with anything but a company truck. I don't remember anything all that wonderful about the road, but I mostly drove it slow looking for vent pipes to paint....I do need to get researching those roads some more. The guys want to go again somewhere, and I could probably get some more people this time.

I didn't get the chance to take very many pics, but here we are at the Big Muskie bucket: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21506247@N02/

It was my first time arranging something like this or making a long haul out these twisty roads on the bike, and everything went great. There was my beat-up old xs400, a buddy on a '79 KZ650, a 97 BMW R1100, and a local cop on a Vulcan 800. Here's the route we took: http://tinyurl.com/olq8d2 Yup, we went down one of the twistiest parts of SR 555, aka "the Triple-Nickel". If you google that, you'll find lots of stories on that road. It's about as challenging as the Tail of the Dragon of NC, except there's no traffic. My main focus was on SR78 though. It's much smoother and you could hold some speed thru the corners with confidence. 555 is a bit twistier, but its really sketchy. There can be gravel or horsepoop or Amish buggies around the next corner. As for my bike, she did great. It helps that I'm crazy, though. We kept a pretty quick pace thru all the corners, and it held right up with the others. For a while we let the R1100 out front so he could run fairly aggressive. I could keep up with him if I wanted, but it was a struggle. I finally decided "screw it, thats a bike that's light years beyond mine in suspension technology and engine power, its supposed to go faster than mine." We had no real problems, great weather, and we're lucky to have some of the best roads in the country right here in Southeast Ohio. Thanks for all the help in getting my bike to the point where I can trust it for such a trip.

Hooray! I have charging voltage! I found a couple pinched/broken wires under the front sprocket cover and patched them up. Seems to run fine now and gets like 14.8V easy.