lostlife

Haha.. Yeah, this time... haha Yeah, Key on, got lights front and rear...

Hey guys- I got a finicky 81 XS400- So last time i worked on the bike, I had fiddled enuf with it to finally get a strong spark (this is after I had already had it fired up once, so I know that the possibility is there). Went out today and couldn't get the damn thing to give me spark on either side... Retested the coils, and they used to seem ok - the primarys are almost right on, but the secondary windings (orange to the plug wire, right?) don't give me any reading whatsoever. I pulled the wire off, and tested on the post itself and the orange wire - still nothing. What?!? Here's some other problems that I ran into and tried to bypass- The RH controls are rotten as hell - thinking it might be the three position kill/run/kill switch, i pulled it off to clean it and it literally fell apart. Same with the start button. So these are gone, anyway. I Tied the (2x RED/WHITE )wires from the K/R/K switch together, thinking that should essentially keep it in the RUN position, right? Also - I know(?) my solenoid is bad - the resistance is off by specs by about 25 - 30%. Placing a temporary button between the terminals, i got the starter to turn over and run consistently (same as shorting it with a screwdriver). Should this produce a spark? It worked before a couple times, but it doesn't today... Does this setup truly let the solenoid allow a spark, or just turn the engine? I'm starting to think that its just the button aspect of the solenoid thats bad - i tried to wire a temporary button between the connections and it didn't even click - maybe that part of it is fried? Last thing - Havent ever gotten spark off a kick. I plan to just take the starter and button off anyway, so really what i want is just the kick start. Im worrying about the starting system for now just cuz its easier. If my batt has a good charge (12.3 +), what else could be in line for no spark off a kick? I plan to simplify the wiring anyway, but I'd really like to at least be able to get a consistant spark off it before i do so. This is why I'm hesitant to buy a new solenoid or switches or anything... Necessary parts are different, but parts i am just gonna take off later, I really don't wanna shell out the money for. I got the bike for a song, I'd like to keep it that way, ya know? Thanks guys- justin

Thanks Cy - I guess this is why I should stick to one project at a time - i got two bikes confused! Yes, I do have electronic ignition on this one, so i guess that answered that... Thanks for the reminder before I ordered a bunch of stuff I didn't need! I'll take a better second look at it again tomorrow- its been a few weeks.. After I posted, I looked around to find a number of different ways to simplify the wiring, but am still not sure what kind of battery to replace the stock with... would just a small 12v battery work, regardless of Ah measurement? If it is just for maintainance of the circuit, it should require very little, right? as long as it stays at/above 12v? And Ive also seen (here and other places) a small "battery eliminator", but I havcent found anyone that has used one, or exactly how to wire it. I might just have to get one and try it out. So if i still have to replace the coils (i remember them being way off, but I'll double check everything tomorrow), do those ones from Mikes work? That would be an easy solution... Thanks again! sorry for the brain-fart.. haha

I'd like to first say that I'm new here and this looks like such a great place - i have been reading through the XS400 info on here and there are so many good ideas and answers.. I'm sure I'll be asking you guys a ton of questions in the next week or so... So thanks in advance! Ok- so I have an 81 XS400 I'm fixing up. I got the thing dirt cheap and it seems to be pretty complete and fairly clean. It turns over, and I have had it run for a few seconds before it killed out (no carb adjust, little gas) - I got some weak spark for a while, but it went away... Thanks to the info on here and a little pulling shit apart, I've come down to one problem being both the starter solenoid and a disintegrated starter button... Not really a big deal there. The coils are off on their resistance reading (i forget exactly what they were) but they are in line to be replaced anyway. I dont really need electric start, would actually prefer to just kick it, as I'm slowly going to be morphing it to a custom cafe(ish) bike anyway. Here are my questions: How the hell do I remove the battery from the system completely? YouTube vid here. I read there that they replaced it with a 12v car alarm battery to provide enuf juice for ignition- any thoughts on this? this could be awesome...but it kind of sounds too good to be true. At the same time- I'd like to upgrade the points/cond to the electric Pamco system on MikesXS ( Here ) anyway... from what I've read on here, this will work on the XS400 (instead of the 650), right? How do you think this will work with this crazy battery thing? And last but not least- Any good performance pipes for this thing? I just havent found any... Thanks for your help folks- great forum you have running here.