[Xs400 Exhaust Help]

cafe racer is from the UK perchant in the 60's to ride bikes fast (100mph) most guys hung out at cafes which were along the main roads where they raced!

xs400 cafe

Bobbers were from the US where the GI's back from the war "Bobbed" their bikes by shorteneing the rear fenders and lightening the look of the 50's machines, then there's "brat style" which is Japanese which is a mix of street tracker and bobber

Is there any info you can give me about the bike pictured? I really like this one and have not come across this one in 2 years of research.

[xs400 cafe racer project]

Hey thanks. yeah i am actually gonna paint the whole bike as close to raw metal color as possible. If i could it would all be raw metal but that would last 1hr until it rust. I am also looking to fab up a set of rear sets soon too. I want to get rid of the gauges and replace them with a mini tach only. And trust me the tought has crossed my mind about that factory orange color. I think it would be cool to do the whole bike like that, but then again i like the raw mechanical look of things. who knows a project is never done!

What gauge will you be using? I have a similar project i'm working on and I'm having trouble figuring out what I can use.

[1980 XS 400 Wheel & tire?]

you'll have to scour ebay uk for xs250's with wire wheels and get them just to send the hubs!!

one just sold last week!!

Is that the only hub that will work?

[1980 XS 400 Wheel & tire?]

spindle= axle, its the thickness rather than length. its the matter of the hub. if you just want to respoke on a rim there's no problem that i can see except for speedo error!!

Well I bought a XS650 wheel because of the hub but I'm guessing the hub is going to be the problem huh? I want a wired disc brake wheel up front and can't find anything. I noticed you have one but it's built with components hard to find stateside. Any ideas?

[1980 XS 400 Wheel & tire?]

you'll have to junk the front fender. but more importantly the xs650's have different size wheel spindles. If you know where there is one, get them to check the spindle size. you also need to think about spacing and speedo differences

Is it a matter of the hub and possibly the axle being too wide? Is the spindle the same as the axle? Can I still make it fit without changing the fork or triple tree?

[XS400 Brake conversion]

You can get a cast wheel which would be what yamaha used for disc brakes on the xs 400's like ours... And most bikes. You could probably get one off eBay. The only thing I would be concerned with the hydraulic brake line fitting into the ya 250 master cylinder and the yamaha caliper but it might I've never done it. If it fits though that'd be sweet.

Could I use a 19" disc ready wire wheel from a XS650?

[1980 XS 400 Wheel & tire?]

you can get any thing to fit if you really want it bad.

the bigger bikes run 19" on front and 18" on rear

I've just put a 3:50 tyre on my flat tracker front and it looks funky chunky!! and on a 1.85 rim

Can I fit a 1.85X19 wheel from an XS650 fit on my '81 XS400?

[1980 XS 400 Wheel & tire?]

should be obvious, the xs400 speedo mirrors the casting on the opp side. the disk has a big hole in the middle to go over the speedo drive!!

Can I fit a 1.85X19front wheel on my '81 XS400? I plan on removing the front fender if that will help the fit.

[XS400 Brake conversion]

new wheel, new caliper, and why not just buy a used yamaha xs 400 front brake set up, instead of messing with after market pieces for dirtbikes.

Ok, the reason for the aftermarket pieces is as follows: I have small hands and needed something small and adjustable. They suggested these as the best option. I guess what I really needed are exact specs of what I need. I have the levers and master cylinder like I said. Is there an aftermarket spoked wheel with disc or can anybody suggest something? I can't seem to find a spoked wheel with disc.

[XS400 Brake conversion]

Ok, based on the advice from one of the www.wrenchmonkees.com guys I bought some motocross levers to put on my 81' XS400 I bought a set of ASV F3's and he said those would work, I also bought a master cylinder from a '05 YZ250 which was told would also be fine but I may need to replace the bolt (not sure what that means). I am new to this and I am learning as I go. I currently have stock wheel with a drum brake hub, I would like to convert to disc and need to know basically everything, I found some front fork legs that look like they accommodate disc calipers, can I swap these onto my current fork? Also I would like to keep the spoked wheel look, can I swap out the hub with a disc ready hub or do i need to find a whole wheel with disc? If so any recommendations either way? I think that's all for now.

Thanks, Nathan

p.s. I'll post a pic as soon as I figure out how