Yamaha XS400

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Skub
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Yamaha XS400

Post by Skub »

You'd wonder why anyone would spend time and money on an XS400. :silent:

The bike surely had an XS of slowness.

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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by weeksy »

It's not for me that's for certain. I can't think of anything nice about it
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

It's truly shite, the only good thing about is that it isn't an XS250 or XS500 or XS750 or XS850 or XS1100, Yamaha made some really shit 4 strokes in the 70s.
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by GuzziPaul »

At least they havn't ruined an RD400. The height of that screen you could probably sit on the tank and still be protected.
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by KungFooBob »

Could be worse, could be an XS250.
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Bigjawa »

Ok, gonna be a bit of an outcast. The XS400 had a better engine than the 400 Superdream or GS400. And those engines lived on in various forms long after the XS was binned by Yamaha.
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Skub »

Bigjawa wrote: Sun Jan 09, 2022 4:01 pm Ok, gonna be a bit of an outcast. The XS400 had a better engine than the 400 Superdream or GS400. And those engines lived on in various forms long after the XS was binned by Yamaha.
Not like you to be contrary,man. :lol:
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Yorick »

Bigjawa wrote: Sun Jan 09, 2022 4:01 pm Ok, gonna be a bit of an outcast. The XS400 had a better engine than the 400 Superdream or GS400. And those engines lived on in various forms long after the XS was binned by Yamaha.
None of them ever saw a racetrack, so make them look like racers?
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

Bigjawa wrote: Sun Jan 09, 2022 4:01 pm Ok, gonna be a bit of an outcast. The XS400 had a better engine than the 400 Superdream or GS400. And those engines lived on in various forms long after the XS was binned by Yamaha.
Just because it's not as shit as something else, doesn't make it good.
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Felix »

Its got a kind oooff..............slight............appe... Nah fuck it. Its ugly
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Druid »

I nearly bought an XS250 back in the day. I phoned the dealer in the morning to tell him I was on my way and set off to hitch hike the 100 miles. It took me till mid afternoon and when I got there he'd sold it

The 400 in the OP is fugly, but there were loads of kits like that back in the late 70s and early 80s. There was one designed for Kawasaki KH250/400 triples that was particularly unpleasant
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

There was a Dyson bodyworked KH400 in Stowmarket in 1983 when I was 16, I thought it looked fantastic
R (10).jpeg
R (10).jpeg (96.14 KiB) Viewed 349 times
It looks okay now, certainly better than that XS
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Skub »

Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Sun Jan 09, 2022 8:15 pm There was a Dyson bodyworked KH400 in Stowmarket in 1983 when I was 16, I thought it looked fantastic

R (10).jpeg

It looks okay now, certainly better than that XS
A mate and I hired a table at an autojumble to offload his and my junk. We had a Dyson bodywork KH250 in running order,but needing work. We got £100 and thought we were ace salesmen. :roll:
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Druid »

Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Sun Jan 09, 2022 8:15 pm There was a Dyson bodyworked KH400 in Stowmarket in 1983 when I was 16, I thought it looked fantastic

R (10).jpeg

It looks okay now, certainly better than that XS
Aye, that's the one. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or so they say but that's properly ugly
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by JackyJoll »

Yorick wrote: Sun Jan 09, 2022 5:22 pm
None of them ever saw a racetrack, so make them look like racers?
That’s what cafe racers are about.
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Bigyin »

I had an XS400SE in the late 80's which apparently was a better version with alloys and what i took to be the XV 500 style bodywork. Gutless piece of crap i used as a spare when i was a courier and the only reason i kept it was i had 3 bikes at the time and needed to sell 2. I blew it up on the M6 near Lancaster and once rebuilt it lasted 2 weeks before it holed another piston on the M8 near Edinburgh. The 3rd piston was a keeper though :mrgreen:

I put up all 3 for sale and everybody wanted the RD250LC even though it was a bit of a bitsa and the R100 went to another courier as it had full Krauser panniers and a hard wired courier radio and speaker but nobody wanted the XS funny enough. I got left with it and used it for transport during my RAF training days all over England and Wales carrying all my uniform and stuff in a bungee miracle on the rack and back seat

Last time i owned a Yamaha until 2019 when i bought the Fazer ;)

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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Felix »

10 digit phone number. You is well old :lol:
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Bigyin »

Felix wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:25 pm 10 digit phone number. You is well old :lol:
There is a clue mate, look at the reg number .... A prefix was 1983 and it was already a few years second hand at the time and i was about 20/21 ;)

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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Felix »

Bigyin wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:32 pm
Felix wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:25 pm 10 digit phone number. You is well old :lol:
There is a clue mate, look at the reg number .... A prefix was 1983 and it was already a few years second hand at the time ;)
I worked for Falcon for a few days in Edinburgh. Clutch went in the car and i was skint. Turned out to be the slave cylinder. I took it apart and put a few 1p's behind the plunger what worked so went to Eagle till i got a job in hotels. Only had to top the fluid up every two days.
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Re: Yamaha XS400

Post by Bigyin »

Felix wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:36 pm I worked for Falcon for a few days in Edinburgh. Clutch went in the car and i was skint. Turned out to be the slave cylinder. I took it apart and put a few 1p's behind the plunger what worked so went to Eagle till i got a job in hotels. Only had to top the fluid up every two days.
Small world working for the same company :mrgreen:

Eagle came in as an outsider company to Glasgow at the time i worked for Falcon who had a fairly good grip on the business there as we had A-Z and Pony Express who were both franchised from London and brought up London riders to work in a city they didnt knew which amazed me. When i was there Falcon didnt have an office in Edinburgh and didnt use cars, just bikes and Bedford Rascal vans . My callsign was Falcon 35 and still got my old logo'ed Rukka jacket

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