XS400 brat build

[cave weta]

You will be needing one of of those fancy Shorai Batteries from EdBear. they are tiny and can be mounted any way you like. Also they are 4 times the power of lead -acid!

[Subike]

have a look at my XS1100 for a few ideas,
There are a heap of things you can do without spending a lot of coin.

[bugn8r]

Awesome bike man, thanks for the pictures. Mine will be that clean one day hopefully! I think my favourite part about your bike is the motor, it looks so good. I was looking at doing my motor like that but unsure, you have definitely given me some inspiration!

How did you do the motor? Just mask off certain areas when painting?

[Subike]

Awesome bike man, thanks for the pictures. Mine will be that clean one day hopefully! I think my favourite part about your bike is the motor, it looks so good. I was looking at doing my motor like that but unsure, you have definitely given me some inspiration!

How did you do the motor? Just mask off certain areas when painting?

the motor?.
I made sure it was perfectly clean,
Hung it up out side in a lean to shed.
Made sure I had plugged the inlet and exhaust ports with cloth plugs.
wrapped wiring loom in a piece of plastic garden hose.
Made sure there were no holes anywhere allowing access to the internals, like the clutch cable entry point.

Scrubbed it with hard bristle brush and kero first. To get rid of 90% of the built up dirt
Then dried that off with an air gun, ensuring I got into every crevice., wear a mask doing this, shit flies every where.
I then went over it again with yuck off , a degreasant. cheap stuff from the ware house.
Again blew this off with an air gun. max pressure.
Then using a Air Painting gun, and a mixture of petrol and kero, went over the motor again, saturating it , again blew this off with an aair gun.

Took engine inside, hung from foor of workshop. sprayed it all over with enamel thinners. Blew this off, covered it, and left it 2 days.

I waited for a really warm evening, and then painted the engine with 3 cans of high temp engine enamel , very liberally coating everything.
gave it three good coats, waiting till the paint was tacky dry between coats. Rigged a dust cover over it. ( used an old bird cage)
Left it hanging for a week.

I had ordered S/S bolts sets for the entire engine, from an American dealer who will supply you exactly what you need.
I systematically went over the whole motor and replace every visible bolt, etc, with S/S bolts.
I was very careful to slowly undo each bolt, to stop ripping the surrounding paint.
I used a drop of lock-tight, or anitseize on each bolt, depending upon its application.

For the cooling fins, a cork sanding block and 180 grit wet/dry paper was all that was need to do the first clean.
For the final clean 250 grit, gave a desired Finnish. take your time, and a good job will the result.

When fitting back into the frame, I wrapped the frame in some thin rubber that i got from work to avoid scratching.
Post office bubble bags work good too.

Once the bike was back together and running, I bought it just up to temp, about 5 min at idle, then let it cool to cold over night,
Did this three times, to "cure" the paint, not curing the paint can cause it to flake after time or blister and look horrid

Hope this is a help for anyone reading this.

The important things, being very very clean, and take your time. be aware of the ambient temperature of your workshop/shed.

[ducatilover]

That's basically how I did mine, except I pulled some of my covers off (polished).

I cleaned my motor with kero and a tooth brush then wiped it all down with thinners and then a few coats of VHT engine black.
The end result isn't too bad

[bugn8r]

Thanks guys, both motors look awesome.
I have just put a bunch of parts up on Trademe http://www.trademe.co.nz/MyTradeMe/S...source=sidebar
I will also be listing the 400 Special but message me if you want the bike or any parts off it, it will need to be gone before or on the 14th.

Also does anyone know of any tanks that fit on the XS frame? It's hard because it's quite wide so the bottom of the tank needs to be wide enough to fit over the frame. I tried to put on the tank from the CB250T I have, looked a million times better I reckon, it just isn't wide enough to fit over the frame at the back.

[bugn8r]

if that link doesn't work try this one, http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=489097498
and just look at my other listings.

[bugn8r]

Just to give you an idea...

[ducatilover]

Hammer the inside of the tank to get it to fit? It looks awesome

What size are the wheels and how many liters is the tank? If you were in my area I'd buy that rolling chassis, it's begging for a big fat air cooled 4

[bugn8r]

Both bikes have 18" fronts, the sport has an 18" rear as well but the special has a 16" rear.
Yea I'd like too, the tunnel is wide enough though, it's just too thin right at the back where the mounting point is, the frame is just quite wide.

[ducatilover]

Are they shaft drive? I like them wheels, if it's chain drive I'll keep an eye out for a set

Hammer and a dolly (not your sisters one...) and it'll fit...either that or you'll have a rooted tank.
That original tank looks okay, but the Honda one is properly cool.

This is giving me very bad ideas.

[carburator]

Im certainly interested in the special, only problem for me is your in christchurch and im just outside jaffa land

certainly after front and rear wheels, axle bolts and brake assembly.
rear swing arm
triple tree

what state are the front forks in?

what options are there for shipping? a semi complete bike around?
sorry if it sounds a noob question im moving house in a week and currently
running about like a mad barstard for work.. ( brain fried tonight )

I don't want to cherry pick parts if its easier for you to sell the complete bike.
and at the price for the complete bike im not complaining either.

[bugn8r]

Sorry mate, bidding has already started. If you can find someone to hold onto it in Christchurch or send it for you please bid.

Thanks
James

[carburator]

Sorry mate, bidding has already started. If you can find someone to hold onto it in Christchurch or send it for you please bid.

Thanks
James

Im getting a couple of quotes for a door to door ( ship my trademe ) and mainfreight..
Also i have a furnature removal company thats been doing a lot of akl to chc and back
of late..

[bugn8r]

Yea that's sweet man