oscar_m

HI, I was checking my spark plugs after a ride recently and it seems the bike runs a little lean. I did replace old foam on the air filters through the winter and I wonder if I need to oil them. Before the change the bike ran rather rich, but old filters where really in bad shape. Now it seems somehow ok without oil - so do "to oil or not to oil" - that is the question... thanks Oskar

Guys, have a look here (XS400SE81): I wanted to adjust my contact breakers, but it seems I am at the "end of scale" for them. I mean that the two cutouts at the LF plate are practicaly useless, and the screw at the RF is at the end of the oval hole. Do you think its time to exchange points or maybe I should play with "gap" setting (which seems correct 0.3-0.4 mm) and find the "best possible point", even though it will be off a bit? The LF is pretty much ok (1mm to mark). The RF is like 3-4mm off the mark, so needs adjusting. Points aren't that expensive in the end, so maybe I'll change them anyway, but maybe issue is somewhere else (cam chain?)? thanks oskar

Hi guys, as promised I put here a picture of a "spannungsregler" - a voltage regulator: http://imageshack.us/a/img827/1012/regulator.jpg that works with floating winding here: http://xs400.net/wb/media/faq_anhaenge/schaltplan_4G5_bunt.jpg If the volatge rises above specified voltage the T2 shuts T1 down thus reducing current through the winding, which results lower voltage output. The downside is that the static currents flow through "green" cable when engine is stopped and it was those 3Amps I have been looking for. At ignition ON and engine off I measured ca.1V on green (which seems ok). regards Oskar

hi there, nope - no TCI, just contact breakers. Actually I managed to find the answear in the german wersion of workshop manual - it is voltage regulator that shunts this additional winding to ground (see again on the stator widings here: http://xs400.net/wb/...an_4G5_bunt.jpg ) The voltage regulator is a 2-stage transistor curicuit, by default connecting one end of this winding to ground, "shorting" battery to ground. I'll try topost a picture later. It seems that this ~3ohms and ca 3 AMps is just normal. regards Oskar

The point is that current doesn't just "go" somewhere, you need a point where it is consumed. Anyway, from what I understand from this: http://xs400.net/wb/media/faq_anhaenge/schaltplan_4G5_bunt.jpg (good replica of Haynes) is that I don't understand where it exactly goes I was just wondering if this doesn;t really make the cold start pretty hard.Turning that cold engine with stiff oil is pretty demanding and any additional, unnecesary current just makes it worse. Anyway - I'll play around and see, if it can be helped or is it just normal. regards Oscar

Hi guys, I'm trying to run my bike after long winter (still snowing though) and I just do a some checks here and there. I was measuring current drawn from the battery when "off" just to check for excessive current, but it was ok. I have turned the key to "ON" - neutral&oil lamps went on and I could measure 3Amps to negative battery terminal. I did fast calculations - neutral+oil lamp: 2x3.4W @ 12V -> 0.6A, even if I add something extra it's far from 3A. I have disconnected the whole "indicators box", but it still draws 3A. I've checked for the resistance at disconnected battery and disconneted indicators box - it's roughly 3ohms no matter what. The only thing I could find with such resistance is starter relay coil (~3ohms) but that would give max 2A and according to electric chart I could disconnect it via "kill switch" - which is not happening. I guess that ignition coils could also look like that, but I was trying to move the engine with kickstarter to release contact breakers and that didn't change much. So is this 3A too much or it's ok or should I look for a short circuit etc? Any suggestions? regards Oscar

Well... it looks like everything is ok here and it's just me being confused... It's all about the petcock design. In some bikes (e.g. Honda CB 250 which I can compare) the petcock has an arm and an ARROW pointing the current setting. In this bike it is the ARM that shows the current position (while actually hidding it under the arm), which made me confused. I had a look if the tap can be assembled another way, but it seems impossible, as the words "PRI ON RES" would be upsidedown... Nevertheless - it shouldn't happen that the carb overflows even when the tap is on "pri", so this is still to check. best regards Oscar

HI there - have a look here: regards Oscar

Hmm... 1) buy compresed air - such stuff is used for electronics cleaning; just be carefull and ask the seller that you don't want the "freezer" but just the compresed air 2) buy/borrow a cheapest multimeter (voltage meter) - check the volatege no the battery at ca. 3000rpms - should show >14V. If it is not - you should look for the manual regards oscar

I have checked my fuel tank + fuel tap, previous to getting carbs dismantled. The fuel tank had some sediments, but the fuel filter was ok. The fuel tap works like this (when the bike is not running): 1) NORMAL: fuel is stopped 2) RES: fuel is flowing constantly 3) PRI: fuel is stopped Can you tell that is the normal operation? I don't get it why RES is working differently than PRI. I thought PRIming is used to flood empty carbs and it allows free fuel run. RES I would say is OK, as it allows fuel to flow when the underpressure is too small to "suck" the fuel out of the tank. Am I wrong? If the RES is working this way, then the carb float valve should stop the fuel from overflowing - and looks like it didnt... BEsides - I had a look on the sparks. DAMN! They were black like hell, I had no problem saying the mixture is too rich. I had recently problems with the bike dying at small revs - now I know why... regards Oscar

I've changed these gaskets yesterday and it is as you said - I put the bike on the center stand and there was just few drops of oil, just some leftovers. Anyway removing this cover is nothing too difficult, the only problem was with cables that come out of the stator. They are usually hold by the neutral switch assembly under the main sproket cover and you need to pull out the rubber holder that holds them in the crankcase cover if you want to have enough free play to remove it. NEvertheless - seems it is working, as I couldn't notice anymore oil drips. Will see after a longer ride. regards Oscar

Check for spark on sparkplug or replace with new, clean air filter, engage 3gear and have someone push you (of course let the clutch go at some point ). I'd think of draining the old fuel and getting the new one as well - I am not sure what happens to the oil/gasoline mixture over a long period of time, but the gas itself can loose it's parameters. regards Oscar

NOpe, I've seen this one and although it applied to my bike as well (neutral switch leakage), it is not that case. I had a closer look on manuals and pictures and it looks like there is a hole that connects the main shaft oil basin with the starter clutch area, somewhere when the arrow on the picture shows. So it looks like it's enough to tilt the bike and wait a bit until oil drains from this place. We'll see :) IMAGE best regards Oskar

Thanks guys for your suggestions. First I'll check the petrol tap and fuel filter for any sediments or wear, then I'd probably check the carb valve as you mentioned. I'll let you know my "outcome". regards Oscar

Folks, I preffered to start another topic rather than put everything in one post, so that those topics stay clearer. To the point. I had my carbs being cleaned and regulated during March this year, as I had really problems getting the bike to start up last year. After I got the bike I was nicely surpised by it's response, nice power, and somehow - more speed achievable - COOOOOOL! :D:D:D:D Yep - but - I also noticed increased fuel consumption (fine with that though) and recently I also some kind of fuel leakage which seems like..hmm..overflowing of the carburator. I did some reading about how to set up float levels, but wanted to get a second opinion before starting doing all that messy stuff. 1) I left my bike with fuel tap on "reserve" and after some time it started to drip fuel through air filter box 2) It did not happen on the "normal" position of the tap, although I have noticed that my bike likes to smoke black after start-up, which suggests fuel in the combustion chamber 3) I noticed that even though I have pretty much fuel in the tank, I have to switch to reserve (didn't happen that much before) since the bike has some significant "drop" of response at low RPM's (when I try to run at traffic lights it's like it had a cough before really jumping ahead). So either it is fuel starvation or the oposite - it is flushed with fuel or something 4) I also think that my oil isn't "oily" anymore but starts to smell with fuel aaaaaaaaaaand this would lead to the same conclusion Thanks for any hints/additional things to check/how-to's etc. regards Oscar

Hi All, I couldn't quite figure it out whether there is some lubrication for the starter motor/starter motor clutch and how it works. Have a look here: http://yamxs.joaquim.ch/cariboost_files/1977xs400.pdf It's not the same model, but still the same place: page B9 part 1&2 which covers things from page A10. In MY bike there is oil there, since it's dripping from the gasket a bit. Question is - should there be oil? how much? Is it an "oil bath" or? I have ordered a new gasket anyway, but I am not sure whether I should drain the oil first before taking that cover off or it'd be enough to tilt the bike on its right and catch the tiny bit of "leftovers"? thanks regards Oscar

Right....Everytime I look at my bike I wonder when I start to leak and what kind of gasket would help for that )) cheers! oscar

Hi All! To shortly introduce myself - I'm living in Poland(EU) and riding XS 400 SE (4G5) '81 since 3 years now. It's my first bike (not countining my wife's HOnda CB250) and was supposed to be just for some time, but it seems it will stay for another few seasons. I already found some help using this forum, but came to the point to ask few questions, so wanted to introduce first... BTW - you know - I'm the same age as my bike and nobody calls me "classic" - strange, isn't it?? ) b.r. Oscar