TwinTalon

I was planning on 15w fork oil, given that i'm about 210 with gear. And yeah, a "slightly harder ride" was exactly what i was going for. This pogo stick business is for the birds. Ok then, that's what I needed to know. thanks guys.

Does anyone know the stock fork oil level (mm from the top, mL's would be fine too) on an '80 XS400Special? This is all i'm waiting on to put the front end back on...

Alright, i'll be turning the screws out at 1/2 turn increments and see where that gets me. Thanks for the help everyone. I'll report back how it goes.

Un-fuggin-believable, though it happens too often. One would see that here in the US as well. I was bidding on a mint '04 tank for my EX500, but I let it go when it got over $400, twice what it's worth.. A USED tank, 4 years old, went for $420.... a NEW one, From Kawasaki, At Dealer Prices, is $550. And i'm sure the moron was thinking "Hey, it's cheaper than the dealer, i'm saving money!", and these unappreciative, uninformed monkeys ruin it for the rest of us. When I'm King...... Argh.

That would probably work, but i'm betting mixture adjustment via the fuel screws will fix it too. I'll just have to play around with it till I get it right. Thanks for the tip!

Golden. Thank You. I cant really take a pic, not at the moment, but they're on top of the carbs, on the engine side, maybe 12mm from the outlet to the engine. By your description, they're definitely fuel screws. Alright, i'll play with that next. from what i've read, these particular carbs won't let you adjust the needles, not even with shims/washers. You have to go buy aftermarket needles with clips. Thanks for the info. I'll twiddle on the bike in the next few days and give a report.

I've already siliconed the carb holders, so i doubt its a leak there. I'd Really rather not put the stock airbox back on as i'm trying to keep investment to a minimum and the stock filters(There are only cages left in the airboxes... ) are more than I wanna spend. I'm sure the pods have something to do with it, but I dont know if I need to adjust the needles, jets, mixture screws, etc. Stupid Question: When you unscrew/loosen the mixture screws on top of the carb, is it letting more Air or Gas in? I ask because a lean condition would not be helped by backing off the mixture screws. I thought i'd read on here that you usually don't have to mess with jetting on this bike unless you do a full system with pods. Did i misunderstand something? I'm sure there's some adjustment to be made after pods, but I don't know what to adjust. Again, it's been a while since i've fooled with carbs, and i'm a forgetful bloke...

I have a little situation: 1980 XS400, stock exhaust (small hole rusted on bottom left @muffler, not fixed yet), pod filters, stock #135's. It much prefers full choke to even start, though when it wasn't 40 degrees outside, half choke sometimes did the job. Once it's warmed up a bit, the choke can be cut off and it'll idle fine, settles-in right at 1,200. When cold, she stumbles a bit. Once warm, she revs fine. She just doesn't like to Un-Rev. It takes a good 3-4-5 seconds to settle back down to idle. So: What carb situation is indicative of requiring half-to-full choke to start, and what would cause the revs to come down so slowly? I would tend to guess it's a little lean, but it's been a while since i've had to fool with carbs and i'm not quite sure. Any Suggestions?

For what it's worth, my 900 did the same thing; Idled fine till it warmed up, then the dile would creep up and hang around 3K. The 400 was doing it too. The Fix? A nice even coating of silicone on the inside tract of the carb boots cleaned it right up. Idles smooth and steady at 1,200-1,300 all day long. In my experience, it's most likely an air leak. The carb boots heat up, then those 25+year-old cracks start to expand, letting air in and messin witcha mixcha. She gets all wound up, but she don't wanna calm back down. You gotsta slap some silicone on her to calm her back down a lil. Kinda like a real woman....

Just poking around thru the fiche, it looks like the 79 RD400F, 80-81 XS400 Specials, and a few 250's got this caliper, and THAT'S IT. I didn't check Every bike from 60-80, but within 5 years either way of 1980, between the XS/RD lines, ONLY these few models got that particular caliper. How Bizarre.... I would have thought for a budget-minded line like the XS400 that there would be more parts-sharing.