Yamaha XS400

Seat

This is the second seat that I’ve made. For developing the shape, I’m using 2″ foundation foam from my local building supply. The foam is glued using spray styrofoam adhesive from a craft store. Regular spray adhesive dissolves styrofoam. The rough cuts are done by hand or on my bandsaw. All shaping is done with 60 grit sandpaper.

Gas Tank

I placed a “followed search” in eBay for a Seca gas tank about a year ago. When one popped up for $49.00 including shipping, I grabbed it. Aside from the dent, it was in decent shape with very little rust inside.

When the tank arrived, I noticed the seller spent about $30.00 to ship it. He also used a lot of what appeared to be his younger sister’s clothing to pack it.

Parts

I didn’t realize how much parts can cost buying them a la carte. Fortunately there was a fellow parting out a bike on the XS400 forums and we got all of this stuff as a package deal:

  • Carburetors – missing
  • Sprocket Case Cover – missing
  • Clutch cable – missing
  • Front brake master cylinder – missing
  • Ignition switch with key – missing
  • Wiring Harness – mice and rust damage

First Photos

Found this sad 1982 Yamaha XS400 Seca on Cragislist for cheap. Bought it as a project to work on with my 14 year old son. I thought it would be fun to see if we could get it running again. The bike came from a guy who cleans out houses in exchange for the unwanted contents.

The original gas tank is missing. The tank in the photos doesn’t fit, but was included in the deal. I think it’s from a Suzuki. The carburetors are also missing.

Registering an Old Motorcycle With Just a Bill Of Sale

When I purchased my SRX600, I didn’t realize it is next to impossible to register an old vehicle without the previous owner’s title or registration. After much searching and querying, I discovered a technique that works in Massachusetts and many other states. First register the vehicle in Vermont, and then use the Vermont registration to register the vehicle in your home state.

It is perfectly above board to register a vehicle in Vermont even though you don’t live there. I suppose Vermont just wants the sales tax revenue.

Here’s the website that I first learned about this technique.

Here’s another write-up of the technique from the advrider.com forums.