Well... At least I got to ride in the good weather!

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MrShake · #1 Unread post by **MrShake** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 4:41 am

So, for those of you not in or near Illinois. This weekend it edged up to and possibly a little over 60 degrees. So, of course, out comes the bike.

Now, to back up a little, I noticed a couple of weeks ago that a puddle of fuel was starting to form under the bike. Suspecting a stuck float, I got a little seafoam and went to get a fresh tank of fuel, bike ran ok for a 40 degree day at that point.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and it was still leaking fuel a bit, so I decided to dig further. First, I tried starting the engine, no go. The starter would crank for a short time and then stop. I looked at the sight glass for oil and saw nothing (or so I thought) so I added a tiny bit more oil and saw no change. Suspecting something odd, I checked the crank case, and could smell fuel in the oil, so I proceeded to drain about 3 gallons of fuel (with a little oil mixed in) out of the crankcase. Thanks to Autozone for taking this stuff for me!!

Fast forward another week (to this last weekend) and its now saturday. Out to the Garage I go. Drain the crankcase again of any leftover fuel/oil, pull the gas tank and pull the battery off the charger. I took apart the petcock and cleaned and reassembled it. Reinstalled the gas tank, side pannels, battery, added fresh oil. Opened the garage, turned the key, pushed the starter, starter turned the engine over just fine, but no go. Duh, choke man, so choke on, push button, FIRED UP!!

Took a ride across town to a buddy's house and the bike ran great. Got it home, put it in the garage with a smile on my face. Temp that day was about 45 F.

Next Day (sunday), after church, back out to the garage as it is now nearing 60 degrees. Push the bike out of the garage, choke on, fired up just fine, adjusted the clutch to get rid of some play, and off for a nice 30-45 minute ride. I was actually getting a little warm, so back home to ditch the sweatshirt. I stop the bike (wanted to adjust the idle setting) and after making changes, I try to start the bike, no go. Same as a few weeks back, the starter turns the engine over maybe 2 or 3 times, and then stops. After 3 or 4 tries, a small click and now the starter is just whirring. Next thing I try is a push start, and the bike starts fine. Sounds a little unusual, so I take it just around the block. By the time I get back to the driveway, the bike is now acting really funny. It goes into gear, it goes forward, but it feels like the tranny is catching on something and its causing it to have a really jerky motion forward, even when in neutral.

So, all that story, and what I'm left with is a bike with what, I believe is a bad starter clutch that is causing interference somewhere in the transmition. My hope is that its reasonably easy to fix, and not to expensive. Does anyone have any other insight? I figure, since I'll probably have to wait on parts, and since its supposed to snow again today and tomorrow, I might as well pull the carbs and clean the floats/needle to make sure that problem is gone as well. But, as I said, at least I got to ride!!

Thumper · #2 Unread post by **Thumper** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 8:48 am

Any day you et to ride is a good day; nice weather just makes it that much better.

I have no insight into your bike's woes since my knowledge is limited to turn key-pull in clutch-press starter-and MAGIC! It Goes! But am I glad ya got to ride

MrShake · #3 Unread post by **MrShake** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:54 pm

I'm glad I did to!!!

MrShake · #4 Unread post by **MrShake** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 4:58 am

Does anyone have any experiance splitting the crankcase on an XS400? I'm thinking thats what I'm going to have to do to repair the starter clutch.

Otherwise, anyone have a spare xs400 engine they want to sell?

MrShake · #5 Unread post by **MrShake** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:24 am

bump