Posted April 4, 201014 yr Well, I finally finished converting this thing! The only true xs400 parts anymore are the engine and frame for the most part. Front end, tank, and rear wheel/mc are from an xs750. Fiberglass seat made by me. And a bunch of other random junk I don't feel like listing out! Like it, hate it, do tell! *carbs aren't on the bike as they're waiting for new diaphragms to arrive. And I didn't have the oil filter on when I took the pics. Oh, and when I asked the painter to do British racing green, he took it one step further and used factory Jaguar green. Made my day.
April 4, 201014 yr Moderator Very nice. If you want honesty, spoked wheels would have been my choice.
April 4, 201014 yr Moderator very well done, never been a fan of the redwing shocks but they tie in with the cases really well. spoke wheels are great but they are a bitch to find, but if you do, get the xs360 ones with drum front brakes for that period look. glad you used the xs750 tank as it does look good and i liketh the exhaust wrap! when you fire it up lets have a vid and you riding it!! bet your dead chuffed
April 4, 201014 yr Author thanks everyone. yep, pretty much gave up on spoked wheels for now. maybe next winter... and the redwings were originally temporary as they were the only ones I could find to give the seat proper clearance. Still keeping an eye out for a set of hagons, but they're slowly growing on me.
April 6, 201014 yr Eh Im not a huge fan of spoked wheels ... I love my Mag wheels and yours too , retro but 80s/Back-to-the-Futurific lookin, and reminds me more of my bike as an iron horse too with more metal on there haha ... Heres my bike a year ago P.S. what would be the approach to make old XS400 mag wheels look good? powder-coat them like below... saw this one on chrismejia xs500 blog: OR strip them entirely... I guess the stock mags come with a black paint? over the aluminum mag wheels (and thats the thin strips of silver on the wheel?)? So would be safe to use method #2 by stripping paint off and showing all aluminum or stripping the paint and take them somewhere to get them powder coated? not sure if theres a 3rd option for doing an all black wheel, ie. stripping and then painting over it (or would be better just to get it powdercoated black)?
April 6, 201014 yr Author ...I guess the stock mags come with a black paint? over the aluminum mag wheels (and thats the thin strips of silver on the wheel?)? So would be safe to use method #2 by stripping paint off and showing all aluminum or stripping the paint and take them somewhere to get them powder coated? did all mag wheels come painted black? mine must've been powder coated then. don't know friend. Powder coating would be much less hassle, as you wouldn't have to polish every so often like with bare aluminum.
April 6, 201014 yr Not quite an XS, But a SR400 Cafe racer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_dlKPtwVTE Reminds me of an old Triumph or BSA
April 6, 201014 yr blasphemy! take that, Norton! ha ha... Norton ha ha love that jaguar Green colour, nicer than racing Green...
April 7, 201014 yr heh where did you get that Norton-like Yamaha sticker?, My bike will look like a Norton by the end I was debating putting silver Norton decals on it.
April 7, 201014 yr Author heh where did you get that Norton-like Yamaha sticker?, My bike will look like a Norton by the end I was debating putting silver Norton decals on it. do i dare post a link to another forum? ah, what the hell, eh? http://dotheton.com/index.php?topic=4911.0 mine's on page 4
April 7, 201014 yr do i dare post a link to another forum? ah, what the hell, eh? http://dotheton.com/index.php?topic=4911.0 mine's on page 4 Cool I may ask for one from him at some point when my bikes done
April 7, 201014 yr Author he charged me $5 shipped for 4 decals, and can pretty much print anything you give him. cool guy.
April 10, 201014 yr Eh Im not a huge fan of spoked wheels ... I love my Mag wheels and yours too , retro but 80s/Back-to-the-Futurific lookin, and reminds me more of my bike as an iron horse too with more metal on there haha ... Heres my bike a year ago P.S. what would be the approach to make old XS400 mag wheels look good? powder-coat them like below... saw this one on chrismejia xs500 blog: OR strip them entirely... I guess the stock mags come with a black paint? over the aluminum mag wheels (and thats the thin strips of silver on the wheel?)? So would be safe to use method #2 by stripping paint off and showing all aluminum or stripping the paint and take them somewhere to get them powder coated? not sure if theres a 3rd option for doing an all black wheel, ie. stripping and then painting over it (or would be better just to get it powdercoated black)? Hey Armyof12, I personally recommend the powdercoating if you want the color to last. It adds a whole new layer of protection to your wheels when you accidentally bump or knick your wheels. The aluminum is very easy to dent and with paint it can easily chip right off. That was my experience with mine. Only one thing to keep in mind, powder coating is thick, so any lettering and/or numbers that are raised on the rim will get kinda filled in and become hard to read. Some people care about that stuff.
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