Sandrew's XS400 - v2.0

Sandrew

Active Member
DTT BOTM WINNER
Well, hello there.

Been sneaking around in this site for quite a bit now and decided to show my little oncoming cafe project. Did c/p from www.xs400.com

The beginning
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After 6 months of work

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Then...

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And another 6 months:

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More pics on v1.0 and v2.0


Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

Well been ridin' for couple of times in total of about 700 km. Also have done some small changes for looks.

First of all, cut off the both ends of the front fender and painted it black.
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Then threw away the ugly taillight/blinkers/license plate mount and made a new one.
before:
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after:
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Mount itself attaches to the original rear fender which got cut in half.
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Just some pics after a quick cleaning.
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Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

Got me a package today. First arrival form the UK.
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Yammy
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...

Went to a local shop today to try on some random tanks just to see if any of could meet my expectations. And yeah, the answer is "no".

Forgot to take pic of every tank I tried on.
Some Triumph:
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And a Hooonda.
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Actually liked that one if mounted more horizontally but I still would not like to go with a cafe. Possibly buy it anyway for the future projects (?)

Now I am thinking to go back to the original idea to use xs650 tank.
I mean the late model ones which were about gallon smaller than older ones, am I right?
So if anyone has one and is willing to send it for a few thousand mile journey I would be very interested. I am guessing the gaps are same in 400's and 650's and I have very clean one, so I won't be needing the gap.

Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

So it's been a while.
My insurance expired yesterday and decided to clean up my garage (boy it was a mess) and bled her out.

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Probably tear it down in a few days and start the process.

Meanwhile in last few months I've wasted long hours in ebay and gathered some parts.

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/// Side note: the tail light and bars went away (Was going for tracker first).

Updates gonna come more frequently from now on.

Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

So been working on it for couple of hours.

Almost ready for pulling the motor.
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Yep, handlebars were straight as hell.
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Needs lots of paint and polishing:).
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What came off.
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Whats going back (one way or another).
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Leftovers.
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...and bones.
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Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

Oops, it's been awhile... again. I don't know if I've mention this but no tracker project out of this one! I have really got meself in cafes over the last few months and it got me thinking: why to build a bike I don't even like. So full CAFE mode is on!

I also sold the x6r taillight, the handlebars and grips, obv they wouldn't fit with the style.
So got new grips, which needed to be bit modified to fit bar-end mirrors.
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And a few months back, when tearing down the engine (which looked really great inside, btw) I discoverd the reason of my oil leak.
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Someone had literally fixed it with sewing gum.

And just a picture of pre tear-down.
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Got bt's (also ages ago). Damn these things cost a lot.
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Wheels glass blasted. Didn't want to ruin 'em with sand.
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Also new bearings and seals.
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And of course some patches. Somehow they ended up on my bedroom wall.
Temporary I figure.
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Oops.
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Fixed.
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5 minutes of brushing.
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Rims powder coated graphite black and tires on. For those who can't get them on correctly like I didn't a first: Lot of soap and heavy bouncing.:) (Also thanks drewpy)
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Brushing revealed some cracks here and there.
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New hardware.
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And finally, today put the front end and rear shocks on to see where I am headed.
340mm shock are perfect.
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Lowered the front an inch.
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And a side view with the tank on. And i must say, I really dig the look. Exactly what I was looking for. 1 inch lowering the front, 1 inch raising the rear, and 1/2 inch raisin the tank. I'm in love.
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To get the better look. Friggin snow, I hoped you'd skip this year...
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Stay creative,
Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

Another small update.
Got the bar ends, fork seals and front pads.
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Also added a golden touch. The last and only things on this bike that I painted with spray (don't like the idea of it). Hammerite does a pretty good job tho, lots of patience and layers.
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P.S. the bike's theme isn't going to be gold!

/E: Could someone tell me the dimensions of the swingarm bushings. I don't have the swingarm in hands, so it's hard to measure it myself.
Outer diameter, inner diameter,overall length, flange extension diameter and thickness.
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Sander

...

Freshened... umm, what is that? Anyway we call it speedo snail around here.
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And drilled and smoothed front disc.
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Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

Got the sidestand, swingarm and frame back from sand blasting.
Spent half a day cleaning them up today.

Unnecessary mounts gone.
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Chain guard mounts gone.
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Steering lock gone.
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New side stand spring holders.
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And center stand mounts gone.
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That's about it for the day.
Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

Both 18s 120/90 rear, 100/90 front

Cleaned up the garages to get the overall designing goin'.
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Nothing gets done without music.
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(The CD's are in for illustrative purposes, who uses them nowadays anyway.)

...

Little ones keep on comin'.

Assembled the caliper.
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Took the forks apart.
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Bought new headlight. Diameter is a bit smaller than original.
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And drilled the sprocket cover.
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Sander

...

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Got the finished gauges layouts back.

And some gloss black powder coat.
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Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

Slowly but surely..

Only things on this bike that will see some polishing (points cover, too).
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Mounted the disk.
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Got a reasonable price on gixxer rearsets.
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And a few minutes later they were much skinnier.
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Also started working on the engine. Thinking not to split the crank case, as there seems to be no problems.
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The muffins are ready !
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Cleaning and sanding the oil filter cover was pain in the arse..

Move on to the barrels and head tomorrow. Going to do some dremmeling on the intake.
It's so good when you have a few weeks free inbetween semesters.

Sander

/// Sidenote: and to the present day.
...

Took the valves out in fathers shop.
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A friend painted the fork legs for me.
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Found my durex in the mail today.
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New seals and ATF in and back together.
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Accidentally switched them up and got thinking to convert the rotor to left. Seems like nothing isn't stopping me just turn the tyre around BUT what about the speedo counter? I mean, it is going to spin the other way. What should I do about that?
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And the sets mock up.
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Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

Like your progress, looking good. I was thinking about buy on off CL while I try to finish my CB750.














i
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

Homemade soda blaster works like a charm.
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Masked up.
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And some brownies this time.
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Same will happen to the barrels.
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Cleaned the engine and decided not to polish it or paint or blast, just leave it as it is.. real engine.
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Can't take decent shots with the phone..

While cleaning and getting to know her I discovered some post factory welds (?).
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Next up is to modify lower shock bushes, make the seat loop and have a fathers friend mill me new bronze swingarm bushes and pivot.
Also motor should be back together in a few days.

Sander.
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

Grate build! I am taking notes! I love the gold calipers What type of paint did you use on them? I was going to use some heat resistant paint but do you think they will get that hot?

Also what kind of bit did you use on your sprocket cover? and any tricks or tips you have on it?

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I was planing on drilling mine from the back side so i don't drill threw one flanges.

Also how did you drill your front rotor? Everywhere i have looked say not to drill them. Something about you will heat the metal and it will have stress cracks, but don't brakes already get hot?
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

Oops, forgot the thread in here.
honda53rider: For the golden parts I used Hammerite gold metal spray. On the sprocket I did some measuring, making sure I wouldn't hit the reinforcing walls. As long as the front rotor goes, haven't read any myths about it but it's commonly done and haven't seen any negative feedback yet (haven't looked for it, haha.)

Some progress I copied from xs400.com:

I didn't think my mail box fitted that many packages. Usually they send the notification and I have to pick it up myself but I guess they are just tired of me. (30 ebay order from past 5 months)
All from the US this time.
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And the inside.
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Big thanks to xschris for send me new clutch perch.

Couldn't resist a ultraquick mock-up.
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Seems quite far away from the forks but I like it. Can't get the full effect without the gauges.
What do you think?

------------

Haven't done anything in the garages lately as it was about -25 to -30 C outside and below zero in the garage, but got my gauge faces from printing and taillight in the mail today.

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------------


First of all, removed the original faces with white spirit and revealed the "nice" yellow.
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Then painted the back side and edges of the plates red with motip touch up to achieve red-ish lightning.
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Light layer on.
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The other layer on and done. (The white dot under the right tach screw is just some piece of paper that decided to fly oround.)
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Lightning under the "sun". (More of a red than pink actually, can't get the right tones with my phone.)
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-----------

And today's topic is new pointers.

Started by ripping off the ugly orange plastic ones and made tunnels for new ones.
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Steel.
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Painted the tips red and glued to the needle mount.
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Here we go.
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Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

New blinkers.
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Polished a pile of parts.
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Also gave rear sprocket a new look.
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More polishing to come in a few days.:wink2:

------------

Bling bling! (Yet again some shiiiid phone shots.)

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Could be better but with only a little effort i put in them I am more than pleased.

----------

Painted carb bowls and yamaha's background. (Cover needs repolishing.)
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And started working on the tank.
Paint remover did about 50% job on the underside.
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Fortunately, someone hadn't done good prep job and the paint came off quite easily with heating.
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Overall there was a thick layer of different colors starting with the original metallic silver, then yellow primer, then dark blue, then grey primer and then the final red.

The original silver.
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Nice and clean to the bare metal.
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Need to fill a few dents and it's ready for primer.
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Used "226dark" trick for electrolysis.
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Going to take a look at tomorrow, but I think one round should do the trick as it looked very clean from cap hole.

(Better half of the tank).
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Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

And we are up to date again.

--------------------------------

Spring is coming !

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After the 2 week hiatus figured it's time to do something.
Dug a bit more into frame (Getting rid of the double-walled tubing takes patience.)
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And father went old school.
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He machined studs to connect the loop to the frame.
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Couldn't be more happy with the result. Long way to powder coating, tho.


Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

Productive weekends are productive.

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yellow: battery
blue: stainless sheet metal
red: fiber glass
black: well.. black leather off course

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Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

Haha.

Yup, we have a cowl ..almost.

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Somethin' like this.
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After hack-saw blading.
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Then the knife.
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And after sanding.
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Next part is gonna be fun. It's been a few years since my last fiber glass experience.


Sander
 
Re: Sandrew's XS400

I didn't remember that playing with polyester and fiber glass was so much fun.

After first 2-2.5 layers.
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And 4-4.5 layers.
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Found a great half hidden place for the rear blinkers.
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Tomorrows plan is to lay out the wiring harness to see if any more tabs for the frame is needed... Should make rearsets' bracket templates, too. Would very much like to get the frame along with some other small stuff off to powder coating by the end of the week (yeah, righ).

Beacause..
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Sander
 
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