RyGuy

breaking news: its alive! :D I jumped it with a portable jump-start box i borrowed from a friend. the solenoid is tip top, but this means my battery isnt up to snuff. It will be getting replaced soon. I appreciate the swift reply. many thanks, Ry

cant argue with that, the battery has been around for awhile. Ill try another battery for sure though it seems to deplete faster when i use the kickstart. when i press the starter button the solenoid just "clicks. None of this happened before i took the starter out. Could i have messed with my earths? can you short out/fry your solenoid?

Hello all, My xs400 was starting up and running fine until recently when the starter motor began to make a loud grinding noise inside the crankcase anytime i depressed the starter button. It would silence a bit if I attempted to start the bike without choking it, but then it began grinding when i did this as well. Feeling adventurous I detached the starter motor wire from it's terminal on the solenoid and removed the starter motor from my bike. It appeared that the sprocket had come off of the motor's armature and fallen into the crankcase. I opened up the case, fished out the sprocket and put everything back together, reattaching the chain to the sprocket, closing the crankcase and finishing by reconnecting the starter motor's wire back to its terminal on the solenoid I thought that was it... But the bike wouldn't start, and iit still wont. In fact it doesnt make a sound, other than a clicking noise from the solenoid. I thought the battery might need to be charged, so I charged it 100% and tried again. Turned the key on, lights came on, pressed the starter button and still nothing but a clicking solenoid. I tried to use the bike's kick start, but after 4 failed attempts, the lights were almost too dim to see and the battery was dead. I double checked my owners manual and repair manual and everything was rewired properly, just as it was before. Im exhausted and confused and in need of wisdom. Where do I go from here? Is my solenoid bad? Many many thanks in advance, Ry

Hello all, i want to make the swap to pods but need to know two things first: 1) with a 132.5 main jet and a 42.5 slow jet, will i need to rejet? 2) wheres a good place to get the pods? Thanks! Ry

Hello all! First the good news....MY BIKE HAS COME ALIVE! :D after buying and installing some carb kits i got from siriusconinc (Thanks to drewpy for the very helpful link!) the carbs on my 78 xs400 are now in working order and the bike now starts and stays on for more than 2 seconds Now the "not so good" news... The bike turns over and idles, but the idle speed rises, very slowly, from about 1200 rpm to 2000 rpm over the course of about a minute and continues to rise at this rate. With my limited (but ever expanding!) knowledge of my bike, i assume that this can be fixed by adjusting and fine tuning the idle/air screws on each of my carburetors. But, by all means, prove me wrong if theres something else to be done. Another thing I've noticed is that after I've started the bike and its had time to warm up, white smoke starts to emit from both exhaust pipes, with significantly more smoke coming out of the left side. I dont believe its water vapor due to condensation, because it doesn't dissipate quickly like vapor, but rather clouds and rises upwards. My first thought was that oil was somehow being burned, but i always thought that smoke indicative of oil burning had a bluish tint and smelled, well...like oil. Yesterday (the day of the bikes rebirth) I performed MY first oil change on the bike. The "oil" that I drained out of it looked and smelled like a 50/50 mixture of oil and petrol. I assumed this was due to the leaky carbs that had gone unfixed until i bought the bike. I replaced the old oil with 1.5 liters of 20W-50 oil, recommended by the bikes repair/maintenance manual, and .5 liters of and oil treatment substance recommended by my mechanic (According to the repair manual the oil pan holds just over 2 liters of oil). Could the change to new oil be responsible? If not, while the bike runs theres a scratching sound that comes from the engine that sounds like a metal whisk being stirred around in a metal pot. Could it be a problem with the head/head gasket? Truth is i really dont know, and cant afford another trip to the mechanic on a college students budget. ANY input/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! Ry

hey all! i just took apart my mikuni bs34 carbs for a cleaning and a tune up. One of the several things i planned to do was to replace the worn and damaged jet needle. The throttle slide is removed with the rubber diaphragm still in tact, but i cannot figure out how to remove the current needle from the slide body... your thoughts? thanks in advance! Ry

thanks for the great link! i planned on getting carb kits but didnt know where to get them from. Now i do ill post more as i get down and dirty with the carbs. thanks all! Ry

yikes! I finally found a set of 25mm fuses at a local hardware store this afternoon! and after putting them in, along with new spark plugs and oil, it started up for the first time since i got it a month ago ive come upon a new problem though. It will idle briefly, die, and then it leaks a small about of gas out of the bottom of what looks like an air-intake box (the box behind the removable side covers on the bike) and It does this on both sides of the bike (both boxes). The previous owner said that the carbs needed work so this wasn't unexpected, but with my VERY limited knowledge of motorcycle repair I'm unsure of the next steps to take

Ah, yes, I am in the usa. Sorry for any confusion Thanks a lot though Merv, Ill give those both a try!

Hello all! I recently ran through the electrical on my 78 xs400E with a multimeter, checking to see which component was responsible for the bikes overall lifelessness when i tried to start it or turn it on. I narrowed it down to the fuses (which i would have started with had the previous owner not SWORN they were good). I discovered that the 20A main fuse (glass tube fuses for those of you unaware) was bad as well as one of the 10A fuses for the ignition. So i went out to the nearest auto parts store to grab the fuses i needed, but they didn't have any in the exact size i needed. So i took a chance and drove a ways further to the next parts place and they ALSO had none that were the same size as the ones i pulled from my bike. So i got to wondering, if I find a fuse thats a bit shorter than one of the "unique" fuses from my bike, but with the appropriate amperage, could i use it in my bike? Thanks in advance! Ry

Hello all! Names Rian, from Atlanta, Illinois. 20 yrs old and just bought a 78 xs400E (my first bike). Practically stole it at auction so I've got a lot more cash to put into it than I first thought. Really pumped to start learning more about it, along with cafe'ing the crap out of it