So the time has come to bring my beloved rat back to life. I'll give you the full story for those who may be interested.
I found my little XS400 leaning against the wall, with no kickstand and looking a little worse for wear from years of neglect. Right away I liked it. Don't know why, never owned a street bike that wasn't a Honda, and it was waaay smaller than the Interceptor, but for some reason it just clicked. $600.00 later I had a new friend.
Knowing I didn't have the budget for a restoration on any level, I ventured into the rat world. It is kick only, the starter has never worked. I replaced the battery and throttle cable, I solved the short in the signal lights by cutting them off with an angle grinder, and finally replaced the headlight with an aftermarket KZ so I could actually see at night. I also converted from glass to blade fuses. I peeled off the one remaining tank badge, steel wooled as much of the rust and dust as I could and went to work with a couple of rattlecans of high heat flat black barbeque paint.
A couple of years later I was posted to Germany and took the little XS along for the ride. To date we have traveled through 5 countries and in the 4 years that it was my daily rider we logged about 25,000 kms. I have been pulled over by police in three of those countries to be questioned about it's roadworthiness. Never did get a ticket. (I think the Polizei just wanted to take a closer look)
The front fender fell victim to a rabbit in Holland. I had no tools, only camping gear so I sheared off the bolts with a hatchet to remove it from the front wheel, tossed it in the ditch and kept going, and a few weeks later hit a bird just outside of Geilenkirchen, Germany which demolished my speedo. Hence the estimation of mileage. In 2009 I found my dream bike, my K3 but could never seem to be able to let go of the little Yamaha in the corner of the garage.
Last fall we were cleaning out the garage, and my wife threw a leg over the the little rat and commented, "maybe you should put this thing on the road for me" My heart skipped a beat, had it been too long? Could I do it myself? Those questions will be answered in the next few weeks.
So far the bike has been to a mechanic buddy to have the left valve replaced, and I filled in the tank badge brackets to smooth them out. The pictures are of how it looked when I took it off the road in 2008. More work and more pictures on the way!! Wish me luck!
Operator
