pepperami

Welcome.... WOW what an absolute peach of a bike!!! i think you need to polish it a bit more

i can get it to kind of tick-over a 900... but it`s lumpy . maybe i can afford to take the revs up a little

thank you for that lads.. what about the SR250 wheels do they fit? German e-bay eh??? ich nich spreken Deutcher..

heres the thing! my xs400 bitsa has ally wheels at the moment and they are fine.... But i want to convert it to wire spoked wheels. If i coulds find some from another XS that would be great... But i have more chance of putting my own foot in my ear than i have finding XS wire spoked wheels!!! so i plan to look elsewhere (breakers yards), but what i would like to know is do any of you lot out there know what other bikes might have wire spoked wheels that could be compatible/match. thanks

:-) more please :-)

new brake lever wired in and working ....... now here comes the hard part??? getting the damm thing to tick over nicley..... i can get it to tick over at about 900rpm but any lower and it starts to cut out now and again. i have been through the inlet rubbers and air box and i am fairly sure that i dont have an air leak??. any suggestions folks ??

I would`nt dream of skimping when it come to safety on this bike... it`s got new pads & shoes and all seals have been renewed if they needed it..... all fluids have been changed as a matter of course..... i find not being able to brake can be quite painful

Thank you for that Mr D .... I did`nt know if i would have to take it somewhere or have the Starzi come round and inspect it.

i dont believe it .... i just got the front brake sorted and i notice a weep coming from the lever??? it turns out that the rubbers in the reservoir had perished!!!! and as everything had glued itself together with corrosion, i broke the tiny switch as i took it all apart lucky for me that i have a donor bike with a spare lever on it but now i have to fix the problem and do all that bleeding again!!! the things we go through to get our bikes on the road oh well, today was`nt all bad...3 steps forward and only 1 step back today.... it`s better that i notice it now, rather than it failing completly when i am out on the road in heavy traffic STOP PRESS: i`ve just got the new lever on from the donor bike and my front brake is now working again ... tomorrow i have to wire it in..(headlight off and all that) but it`s dead easy on this model (he say`s hopfuly)

the saga of me putting together an XS400 out of junk bits continues!!!! However i had a bit of luck today ... i thought that i was going to need to replace the fork-seals.. but i dont need to. i pulled the fork-leg dust covers off today and the seals were nice and clean & dry. most of it`s there now such as a running engine in the frame, all the electrics appear to work, both brakes function, seat, tank, carbs, exhaust...i`ve even changed the oil & filter!!!!and no swarf in the spent oil she will never win a beauty contest, but i will feel an enormous sense of achievement if i get her to the MOT station under her own steam NOW does anybody have any input regarding changing specs on a bike?? (was a 250 and now it`s a 400) who do i inform?, will it keep it`s original number-plate. has anyone done this before and did you have much hassle??? any info is helpful... Thanks EDIT NOTE!! pictures at end of thread

Well my welding is getting a bit better but i will never get a job doing it for a living!!! anyway i got hold of a really tatty set of pipes that could be made to fit, oh goody i thought to my self!!!! well i started to cut them yesterday and they just fell apart they were absolutely rotten inside so just as an exersise in pipe work i thought i would try and weld them together and use them as a template???WRONG... as soon as my torch touched them it blew holes in them OH Well!! try again!! still looking for pipes.

imagine running around in that hat at night you`d scare the living sh*t out of people ... Quality hat!!

i might be getting a Yam RS100x early next year if i can prize it off it`s current owner!! (he never uses it?) if i get it, i will be using it to tour East Anglia and i am looking forward to the challenge!!! I have a ZX6R but there`s no challege getting anywhere on that, it`s to easy. one RS100x, back-rack, panniers, waterproofs, tent and some cash and i`ll be gone anybody with a bucket of cash can get a big bike and do touring, but to me it lacks something. i feel that i have accomplished something when i get there (wherever my final destination is) on my little bike. in the late seventies there was a club called the "Small Bore Club" and to be a member your bike had to be less than 200cc........ reading these threads i think it might still have a place in modern biking. More please folks from anyone who has toured Britan or parts of it on a small bike, i would be very interested to read about any problems you came across and things i should watch out for... thanks!

thank you for the tip on the cables... i had a sneaking susspision that SE cables would be the answer now i can go ahead and put my slightly wider and flatter handlebars on TTFN

well i am learning a few things on this site Mr Drewp? i notice that the coils on your bike are not in the usual place? any reason for that? they also dont look like the standard coils?? is that a fork brace i see up front?? can you enlighten me as how you are going to stop this beastie without a front brake?? surley not all on the back brake??? is using the number plate like that legal?? i was thinking of doing the same, but i am concerned about getting a tug from plod. i`m guessing that those handlebars are wider than standard?? i am have a right old game trying to get cables that are suitable for wider handlelbars as the standard ones are just that bit to short Mr Drewp please dont take these questions as a form of critisism as they are far from that. i am trying to learn from your experiance. i brought a MIG welder yesterday and am going to be having a go at making my own exhaust out of bits . just spent this morning practising and the results are interesting!!!! it looks like some one sneezed all over the metal i was practising on we are almost going down the same raod with our XS 400`s

the local dealer i use in Suffolk is not to bad and they try to help as much as they can?? but will give nothing away in the form of knowledge or tips!! (suppose they want you to bring it to them to be fixed).. show me a dealer who will go out of thier way to provide a service ( including coffee for the regulars) and will use thier resourses to get hard to find parts and i will be a loyal customer. i would rather go to a shop and buy there and then than wait by my letter box waiting for something to come through the post that i have sourced via the net. with the net you are never sure that you are going to get your goods. that said the net can be and is a damm site cheaper than some dealers think you should pay for parts.

thank you folks for the welcome... yes i confess to being an LC rider in my youth!!! mine started life as a 250 and got heavily modified = opened reed stops, polished & gas flowed, stage 1 tune, re-jetted rear-sets, clip-ons, fork brace, ect ect. and it went like stink and it never let me down as for the XS, i am looking to put a teardrop tank on it along with a shorter 2-1 exhaust, single seat, and wire spoked wheels.... but this is the hard part, (trying to get bits to match) . it is already a runner and could be ready for an MOT in a few weeks, but i want it to go to it`s MOT as a flat tracker so there can be no complaints from plod when i eventully get out on the road with it!!

thanks for that Mr Shop who sells these pre-bent sections, and where are they. that would be the way to go with this bike...i am already on the chopping up other exhausts route but my efforts look a bit nasty as i am a novice at this. i once did an underslung exhaust for a Baltaco Persang that was modified into a moto-ball bike but that did`nt need to look good. i notice from your title that it`s you that`s bought all the SR500`s now i know why i could`nt find one when i was looking for a project bike!!!

Yes i am ... in the east of the country

i know this may have been done before, but please help if you can... i am in the process of building a xs400 flat tracker... but can i find any types of exhaust!!!! can i diddly ... i have searched and searched and the only ones i can get are bespoke and cost £350 and upwards!! does anyone know any of the specs of the exhausts of these bikes and if the exhaust off any other bikes fit with a bit of fidling. i only paid £65 for two bikes and three engines so a bespoke exhaust is a bit silly on such a bike. any info would be welcome thanks such as any specialists dealing with older japs

thank you for that... i see from your profile you are trying to build an XS 400 flat-tracker !! snap!! that`s what i want to do with mine.. some parts for XS 400`s are as rare as rocking horse poo!

Good afternoon i`ve just come to this site after becoming the proud owner of a tatty old XS400!!.. it may be tatty , but i really like it. i am doing it up to ride next year, hopefuly? i did all the usual things in my youth, like owning a LC and a variety of mopeds. hopefuly i can add to the forums without stepping on any toes, and i might learn a thing or two also.