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1978 XS400 CAFE Build

132K views 521 replies 39 participants last post by  AKyammy 
#1 ·
What's up bros, I'M BACK!!! Sold my GSXR project a while ago, I was sure it would be a long while till I had a bike again. I was wrong. Recently I had a cool dream about riding a little CAFE bike, the next day I watched the trailer for "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" in it she was riding some sweet little 2 cylinder CAFE bike and I thought to myself, I've always wanted a Small CC, 70's Japanese bike to CAFE out, but where can I get one that isn't burnt out or expensive. I remembered my good friend Brian said he would sell me his since he bought an RX7 and he doesn't have time to do both. So here she is, a 1978 Yamaha XS400. Beautiful condition, sat in a shed for 15 years. 17,xxx original miles bone stock, new tires, battery, and fuel lines and he already cleaned the carbs. I pick it up Friday, here's some pics of it I snapped tonight in his garage:






Bike starts right up and runs with the occasional pop, I checked the carb boots and sure enough they're cracked, replacing those will most likely fix that. Other than that it needs a good cleaning and then I can start the build. Here's my plan:
Clip ons
rearsets
leather cafe seat
2 into 1 exhaust
rear gas shocks
LED Blinkers/taillight/headlight
Hidden mini cell battery
custom gauge cluster
strip it down to the bare essentials
a little re-painting
possibly switch to disc brakes if I can find them on spoked wheels
Let me know your thoughts and ideas.
 
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#31 ·
Thanks bro. I'll start tearing down the Honda tonight and gathering parts from both bikes for sand blasting, luckily my cousin owns a blasting shop. If anyone needs any done I can talk to him about it, just shoot me a PM.
 
#34 ·
I got my Clip-ons in the mail today and they look sweet, problem is they sent me the WRONG SIZE CLIP-ONS! Sucks but I'm sure they'll straighten it out quickly for me. Got some little easy stuff done, most of it will come apart again for cleaning/paint but who can wait to try on shiny new parts???
New fuel line and filter routed:

New boots and vent line on:

Headlight brackets:

Here's the new fuse block, I still need to wire it up but man it fits nicely in the original's spot:

Sweet little shorty lever, need to locate a matching clutch still:

Anyway, I'll update probably this weekend since it's supposed to warm up a bit. Hard working in a garage with only a toaster size heater to keep you warm.
 
#35 ·
OK haven't really had anything to update since I'm still waiting on parts. Other than that I've just been taking things apart cleaning, greasing and putting them back together, like the seat and gas cap lock and little shit like that. Anyway here's some pics of stuff I did today.

Wired up the fuse block

Cut out a piece of thin sheet steel to bolt up the electrical components and hide them under the seat, after I drill the holes for the components I'll spray both sides of the sheet with Plasti-Dip then fasten them down.
Here's the components laid out for fitment.



 
#36 ·
Couple of pics with the clip-ons on and various little changes. I'll post a bigger write up tonight.





 
#38 ·
How does the stance feel with those clip-ons and mind telling me how long they are? I'm thinking of going for
them myself but am afraid I might run into some clearance issues room-wise. Looks great though!
 
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#39 ·
Thanks Bro. I don't know the length of the clip-ons but I can measure them tomorrow.
 
#42 ·
Here's a PS pic of a possible exhaust option and color change. I'll post more tonight, also working on my glass tail. Pics to come.
 
#46 ·
I would love put some knee dents on this tank but only if I could do it perfectly. I would hate to F up this tank since it has almost no dings as it is. I will look into the Dunlop GT501's, you've ran them before?
 
#49 ·
i have been searching for tires that i can "lean into" these sport bike tires came on the 250 ninja. all the reviews ive read says they stick like stink on shit. its been these tires or avons, in a sport bike tire.
Sweet, I'll check them out.

For the almost square tank you have i would weld-in knee dents. Using a Vertical band saw to cut-out the dents then its one 90 degree bend and a bunch spot mig welding.
I might have to try to find a banged up matching tank to try this, sounds awesome. Of course I'd need a welder and to learn how to use it first...:doh:
 
#50 ·
My knee dents came out fine. I used a rubber mallet and a delrin tear drop hammer.
( i had a career body fabrication so i might be biased.)

With welding you will have to do some body work SO why compromise the seal of your tank when you don't have to?

 
#51 ·
cut, weld, grind, weld, then POR-15 tank coating and totally sealed tank. i have a cb4 tank that needs heavy modifaction to fit my gs750. Im just doing this as a test of my own skills to make something work that was never ment to go on a bike like mine.
Thats the CB tank in the pic hiding under my 924S.
 
#52 ·
Got some etching primer on my triple clamp, headlight bucket and perches/lever today. I need more sandpaper before I spray them gloss black and clear coat them. Also took the huge mufflers and center stand off, must have shaved off at least 25 lbs. I really like those shorty cans, I might order a set tonight.


Still haven't made it over to my folks house to pick up the glass and resin for my tail yet, but I did order the racing seat foam pads today.
Here's a possible tail option, I don't love it yet, still needs some tweaking.
 
#54 ·
Tore her down again, everything but the motor left. Pulling it tomorrow when I have an extra hand. I decided I'm going to do it right and re-paint the frame and thoroughly clean the motor, also do the seal that's weeping. Thinking of polishing the brake hubs and clear coating them to match the lips and spokes.

 
#56 ·
What xs model do you have?
 
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