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1978 XS400 CAFE Build

131K 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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#3 ·
Thanks bro, I can't wait to get it to my house and start taking it apart. The plan is a nice simple, clean, stripped down featherweight Cafe bike.
 
#4 ·
Looks like a nice base dude, hoping to build myself a lil cafe racer someday too.
 
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#5 ·
]http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=xs400+cup&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=565&tbm=isch&tbnid=roBOFPd2FIkCaM:&imgrefurl=http://xs400.net/wb/pages/ueber-die-xs400/xs-400-cup.php&docid=i4IFCudRXmU2vM&imgurl=http://xs400.net/wb/media/cup_bilder/XS400_CupZ_Prospekt.jpg&w=485&h=388&ei=O7_7TrK7GKqqiAKs88XGDg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=314&vpy=132&dur=531&hovh=201&hovw=251&tx=116&ty=115&sig=114611581882430083447&page=1&tbnh=110&tbnw=145&start=0&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0[/IMG][/URL]

found this a while back xs400 cup bike seens applicable

be cool if you could get that tank and tail
 
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#8 ·
What's up Rob? Got it for a really good price too, he got it for free so he hooked me up with a "Old friend price". Really excited for this build.
 
#7 ·
I love fully fared old race bikes.
 
#11 ·
How about a disc brake/spoke wheel swap? Anyone know of any that would work? I like the spokes that are on it but I would like to go to disc brakes. Aesthetics really, this thing is so light already I won't have much of a problem stopping.
 
#13 ·
Hell ya bro, simple clean and light. That's the rough idea haha. I'll come up with some GIMP concepts soon
 
#14 ·
Here are two examples of what I want to do. I love the look of the removed side panels in the first pic and the seat from the second.

 
#15 ·
clean looking bike should turn out sweet. ive got a 75? xs360 im cafe'in as well if you do end up swapping wheels let me know im interested in a rear im missing some spokes.

also have you found a place that sells new carb boots as i have some dry rot as well

looking forward to see this thing progress sub'd
 
#16 ·
Thanks bro. I just ordered boots off ebay for $35 shipped, came with the gaskets too. I will let you know if I do a complete swap, might just find a front spoked wheel with discs and leave the rear drum.
 
#18 ·
Thanks bro I'll check that out
 
#19 ·
Got the bike back to my house tonight, started tearing her down for a little while. I need a heater, shoplight and to clean up the junk in the garage before I can really roll up my sleeves. How about this, I was at work today telling a co-worker about picking up the XS after work and starting to work on it. A resident's daughter over heard me and asked if I liked to work on motorcycles, then she said she had an 84 Honda in her shed that was her sons, been there since probably 1990 or so I think. She said I could have it for nothing if I came and picked it up! Apparently her son bought it new in 84 and rode for a bit till he dumped it on a patch of sand, he parked it and never rode it again, she said it's barely damaged at all but he had kids and got scared of it. I'm, picking that one up tomorrow, she thinks it's a 450, I HOPE it's a CB450 but either way I'm pumped. Anyway, here are some
pics of just maybe an hour of diss-assembly. Sorry for the poor quality, my phone takes crappy pics when it's dark:

Little service sticker under the seat from '81. Seats on hinges BTW, thought that was cool:

Old fuse box with what looks like some wrong size fuses, they work for now but I'll replace it with a modern box:

Cracked boots, ordered new ones last night as well as a petcock rebuild kit since the switch turns freely but leaks. I'll be replacing the lines with translucent fuel lines and new filters as well:

Little weep from this gasket, I'll order a top end gasket kit and replace all while I'm in there:

Not sure what this is but it's weeping as well, one end goes into the valve cover but I didn't trace it back yet:

Tank off exposing the old coils:

Tank, seat and side covers off and battery out and trickle charging. I'd love to switch to one of those tiny batteries so I can hide it. Looks like aftermarket filters on the carbs but I don't know for sure:


I'll post some pics of the Honda tomorrow when I get it home as well as more pics while I continue the tear-down of the XS.:shocker:
 
#22 ·
Thanks for the info but I'm sticking to spokes for this bike.
 
#23 ·
seepage at valve cover is tach drive cable should have a single oring on it i think. remove the screw and it should pull straight out
 
#24 ·
OK, did some more work on the girl. Didn't go get that Honda yet, Probably tomorrow.

Pics from today:

Battery box removed:



Unplugged this while removing the battery box, can someone tell me what it is and if there's a modern replacement:


Pulled the petcock from the tank, looks like all seals are leaking:


Removed the bars and controls to install clip ons when they arrive:


Both fenders removed and and a couple shots with/without parts:




Little mock up of the pods, I'll order up some K&Ns to install now that the battery box is removed and there's now space:

Here's the headlight without the light, very cool how they hid all the connectors from the front of the bike inside the bucket:

Bucket removed for re-paint:

Giant headlight bracket removed, I'll replace it with something much lighter and cleaner:


Gauge cluster off, I'll try to find a cleaner cluster or I'll make one, bar clamps unbolted, triple clamp needs paint too:

Here's the hinges for the seat, I would love to keep these on and use for the new seat. I'll also make up a thin sheet of aluminum to bolt down the electrical components and hide the smaller battery under the hinged seat:

Stock peg location, I'll make brackets that re-locates them a few inches back. I'll replace the pegs and shifter/pedal with Tarozzi's or Loaded gun universal rearsets.

More dis-assembley tomorrow and I'll probably start cleaning/de-greasing parts. First I'll pick up that Honda though :evilred:
 
#25 ·
Picked up the free Honda tonight, wasn't the CB I was hoping for and in kinda rough shape but I'm actually pleasantly surprised. It's an 84 CM450 parallel twin with 6,xxx original miles, last rode in 89. So far the clutch pulls with 2 fingers, front brake works, petcock switch turns freely and I was able to switch through all the gears. Once I get some air in the tires I'll check if the engine is seized. Anyway, pics:






Here's a pic of what it could look like restored:

I like it.
It's missing the headlight lens, ignition and indicators. I think I'll keep this one, I've never even rode a cruiser let alone owned one. I think it'll be cool.
 
#27 ·
I still think I should have haggled. Seriously though I think the Honda will be cool once it's restored, if not I'll just sell it. Win win really.
 
#29 ·
Actually I payed for the Yamaha (albeit not much) but got the Honda for free. I would do a build thread for the Honda, maybe I'll make it a custom cruiser of some sort. Parts seem to be cheap and plentiful for the Honda so that's a plus.
 
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