OK, I'm a new owner, so now what?

[poser493]

Went and looked at and bought a '98 XR400. It had trouble starting (needed the help of ether, and then died), and needs a little TLC, but for $1k I thought it was worth it.

"To Do" list so far:

clean carb

change oil

fresh plug

needs fork seal (how hard is this?)

lube swing arm bolt

What else should I put on my list?

"Want list":

new sprockets and chain (i guess this is more need than want)

exhaust (the stock has been gutted)

and maybe new plastics

and thoughts / tips will be appreciated. I'll be spending the next few days in the FAQ thread, but anything you guys think of would be great

thanks!

[4strokeridertt]

Check the wheel bearings.

Lube the clutch and throttle cables, While the carb is apart so you don't blow lube and junk it flushes out into the carb slide.

Adjust the valves, this may be the reason it is hard to start. Usually hard starting is a tight valve allowing blowby.

Check for loose or damaged spokes.

Lube the fork bearings.

Learn how to check your oil correctly. Do a search.

Ride it as hard as you can as often as you can.

[Red Dog]

Get a manual for it. They have all the proceedures for maintaining your bike. As far as fork seals go, it's not hard to do at all. You will need a couple of special tools however. A seal driver, and a tool to hold the cartridge. It's always better to do it yourself unless you hate to wrench on things. Good luck and enjoy your new ride.?

[Trailryder42]

If the gas in the tank/carb was older that 2 weeks it would have a tendancy to be hard to start.

Before you tear the forks down to replace a seal, try the business card/film strip trick first, for cleaning out the seal. Might be it's just got some grit stuck in it.

[poser493]

Get a manual for it. They have all the proceedures for maintaining your bike. As far as fork seals go, it's not hard to do at all. You will need a couple of special tools however. A seal driver, and a tool to hold the cartridge. It's always better to do it yourself unless you hate to wrench on things. Good luck and enjoy your new ride.?

Already found a manual and downloaded it (I'm going to print it at work, shhhhhh...)

And I do enjoy wrenching and learning, I'm looking forward to messing with this thing

If the gas in the tank/carb was older that 2 weeks it would have a tendancy to be hard to start.

Before you tear the forks down to replace a seal, try the business card/film strip trick first, for cleaning out the seal. Might be it's just got some grit stuck in it.

one side is leaking REALLY bad, a bunch oozed out when I strapped it down. I figure I'll just replace then for peace of mind

and I think the gas in the carb was over a year old ?

[GUMBYXR400]

I changed the order a little to be more fitting to the XR:

"To Do" list so far:

lube swing arm bolt

clean carb

change oil

fresh plug

needs fork seal (how hard is this?)

And welcome to the club.

One thing that I do with every thing I get is take all the electrical connections apart and clean them and lube them with diaelectric grease.

It doesn't take long and it can save you a failure later. This way you can also replace anything that looks sketchy.

I found two on my jeep that had the clips broke and they were barely together.

One fell apart on its own and my lights went out. Luckly is wasn't too dark yet and I found the problem in a hardware stores parking lot.

[alarmin]

A good carb cleaning is a good starting point for the starting and not running problem. While you have the carb apart be sure to write down the pilot and main jet sizes as well as the clip position (needle). If the exhaust has been gutted and if the air filter has been upgraded (or air box modified) we may need to play with the jetting a little to get it running good:thumbsup:

[scott_01_xr400]

I may have a stock exhaust for you and/or maybe a supertrap muffler if you would rather not go stock. PM me.

[poser493]

Got it running yesterday!

Pulled the carb apart and soaked the gummed up jets in chem dip (and gave the carb a good cleaning), threw on a new air filter and BAM!

I did the cold start procedure I found on here, and it fired right up!

In fact I can go out there right now and it'll fire first or second kick! It runs strong, I was surpised it was so easy to get it going.

Next on the list.

oil change

lube swing arm bolt

fork seals and fresh oil

bleed the breaks with some fresh fluid

RIDE RIDE RIDE

[z50nichols]

This is why we love our xr's soooo much!!!!

[2005_xr250l_thumper]

cant beat the XR's.?

[stan_97]

i also bought a bike with the stock muffler gutted (baffle removed) (97 xr250r) it acctually had a supertrapp but i want to do a little maitnence on it before i put it back on. i was planning on throwing the stock muffler on for a while. how loud is the stock muffler with the baffle removed?? noise is a bit of an issue for me as i often have to illegaly sneak down a few public roads to get between ofroad riding spots.

[2005_xr250l_thumper]

i think its fairly loud, if the xr 250s are are anything to go by.

[poser493]

i also bought a bike with the stock muffler gutted (baffle removed) (97 xr250r) it acctually had a supertrapp but i want to do a little maitnence on it before i put it back on. i was planning on throwing the stock muffler on for a while. how loud is the stock muffler with the baffle removed?? noise is a bit of an issue for me as i often have to illegaly sneak down a few public roads to get between ofroad riding spots.

mine is a XR400, and its LOUD

[stan_97]

hmmm..... i'm probably going to get the supertrapp ready, i might repack it and use a few less discs like 5?

[poser493]

pulled and lubed the swing arm bolt today.

You guys who've had trouble are going to hate but, but it came right out with little/no effort and there was no corrosion on it. In fact it still had grease on it, though it was pretty dried up.

It only took a few minutes to clean and lube with some marine grease and re-assemble.

changed the oil today too

Ordering some parts tomorrow

[SpED66]

pulled and lubed the swing arm bolt today.

You guys who've had trouble are going to hate but, but it came right out with little/no effort and there was no corrosion on it. In fact it still had grease on it, though it was pretty dried up.

Then you are lucky that one of the previous owners already lubed it at some point. Got any pics of your bike? We might be able to help you spend some money! ?

(Skid plate comes to mind... and a few other things.)

[stan_97]

ya you are lucky with the swing arm. i don't think mine had been touched for all of its 13 years, it took about 50 huge swings with a 20 pound maul.... bearings were shreaded to peices......