Jack Crank Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Hi YOC, 1st post in the community. Name's Jack and I live in Brooklyn and through a stroke of luck I just picked up a 1981 XS400 Special II for a steal. I'm fairly new to bikes (my other bike's a Buell Blast, it's my 2nd "first bike"... long story) and this is going to be my first real project. She's definitely not in the best shape, but she's definitely got life left in her. Currently she's not running but that's half the fun isn't it. Here's a crappy cell phone pic from the dark garage: I'm looking to do either a street tracker or cafe build as I feel the bike's not in good enough shape to warrant restoring to original condition. Currently the list of things I know she needs is: - Clutch cable - Clutch lever - Tires - Battery - Fuses - Left exhaust pipe - Mirrors - Probably a chain - Probably new brake lines Anyways, I've really enjoyed perusing this forum so far and have picked up a bunch of things already. Looking forward to getting deeper as the winter goes by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkwindjammer Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Hi and Welcome to the 'ward' Jack, great first posting and a real good find you have there, a few XS owners on here, is that pwonounced Bwooklyn ? Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FZR AL Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Hi and Welcome to the 'ward' Jack, great first posting and a real good find you have there, a few XS owners on here, is that pwonounced Bwooklyn ? Jim Hi and welcome from me too, looks like you got pleny of work to do on the XS , good luck and keep us posted cheers Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted November 10, 2010 Moderator Share Posted November 10, 2010 Jack black have you checked out the jap bober on here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted November 10, 2010 Moderator Share Posted November 10, 2010 Good intro Jack and welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Crank Posted November 11, 2010 Author Share Posted November 11, 2010 Thanks for the welcome yous guyz (ats howitz sed in brooklyn). Good to know there's a solid community of xs owners out there. I just went through all of that dutch cafe build's thread and was blown away. I don't know my ass from my elbow when it comes to most moto stuff but that was definitely inspiring. Ill be sure to check out the bob job tomorrow. Im leaning pretty heavily towards a street tracker as my blast is kinda cafed out right now and i've been spending some time at the dirt circle watching friends race. Anybody have any fav street tracker xs's they care to share? Or just nice ones in general? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted November 11, 2010 Moderator Share Posted November 11, 2010 Thanks for the welcome yous guyz (ats howitz sed in brooklyn). Good to know there's a solid community of xs owners out there. I just went through all of that dutch cafe build's thread and was blown away. I don't know my ass from my elbow when it comes to most moto stuff but that was definitely inspiring. Ill be sure to check out the bob job tomorrow. Im leaning pretty heavily towards a street tracker as my blast is kinda cafed out right now and i've been spending some time at the dirt circle watching friends race. Anybody have any fav street tracker xs's they care to share? Or just nice ones in general? here's mine, still in the build stage nicked this off a german website there's not a lot out there as regards xs400 trackers mostly bobbers, cafe's and chops! xs650 there's loads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Crank Posted November 11, 2010 Author Share Posted November 11, 2010 That's exactly what I'm talking about! Stripped down and rad! Where'd you get the seat and what's the tank from. I'm feeling that seat and some wrapped, black 2into1s. Renthal bars and stripping off as much weight as possible. Drewpy, did you move the foot controls at all or just change the pegs? They look like they're in the standard spot. Also, is it viable to strip off the electric start and just have kickstart for these bikes? I'm assuming yeah but would that mess with anything else? here's mine, still in the build stage nicked this off a german website there's not a lot out there as regards xs400 trackers mostly bobbers, cafe's and chops! xs650 there's loads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Crank Posted November 18, 2010 Author Share Posted November 18, 2010 Anyone got a set of the 2into1 MAC pipes on their 400? Looking at these on ebay. My left pipe is dunzo (completely smashed in on the header) and I was thinking why not redo the whole thing if I gotta redo one anyways. Also, what's the bar diameter? 7/8ths? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted November 18, 2010 Moderator Share Posted November 18, 2010 That's exactly what I'm talking about! Stripped down and rad! Where'd you get the seat got it from ebay XR750 copy I belive and what's the tank from. hand made to cover the ATE master cylinder (you not read my thread on this?) Drewpy, did you move the foot controls at all or just change the pegs? They look like they're in the standard spot. just changed the pegs Also, is it viable to strip off the electric start and just have kickstart for these bikes? I'm assuming yeah but would that mess with anything else? that's what I'm doing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Crank Posted November 18, 2010 Author Share Posted November 18, 2010 Posted that before I read yer thread man. Sorry for the confusion. I was more interested in the 2into1's. got it from ebay XR750 copy I belive hand made to cover the ATE master cylinder (you not read my thread on this?) just changed the pegs that's what I'm doing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted November 19, 2010 Moderator Share Posted November 19, 2010 we don't have mac pipes here in the UK. mostly Motad and Neta. I seem to remember that they can easily rust! Motads are stainless (crap grade though) Marvin seem to be a good make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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