XS progress

 

Dumped out the xs400 from the donor bike.

 

 

Dumped out the lame 360 from Carole's chassis.

 

Cleaned up the frame and controls.

 

 

Inserted XS400.  Anyone who tells you an xs400 engine fits in an xs360 frame is a damn liar. Had to redo the rear motor mounts and adapt the top brackets. Got a set of Duro HF-308 dirt track style tires coming for it too which should look great. Lots of electrical work to do before then.

Mama's Moto

 

Me and Du Keeps got busy last night scraping spider nests off of Carole's XS360. Pulled the gremlin ridden wiring harness out and replaced it with the non-gremlin one off the XS400. Man that's a lot of electrical! I forgot how much stuff there was going on on these stock Japanese bikes. 

Next I'll swap the motors too. We found out that the XS400 has electronic ignition which blew our minds. Hahah.

XS360 revisited

 If you go back far enough on the Antiquated Mule you may find the project bike that started it all for me. My first two wheeled turd, a 1976 XS360 I got for $500. I knew nothing about mechanics, motorcycle or otherwise and had only ever ridden out on the farm with antiquated 125's and the like.

Well only a few years later and here I am going into the winter building season and I'm building a panhead motor, transmission, wheels, forks, and basically everything else from the ground up and with old rotton pieces of chopper history long forgotten. We've come a long way Baby!

So I was pleased when my search for an adequate bike for my wife Carole led me to...you guessed it, a 1976 XS360. This one I got for $300. Looking forward to the new version of the original Black Sparrow.

  

Here's a sneek peek at the direction we'll be aiming for come spring.

 

Hooligan

Thinkin about my little hooligan. Kinda wanted to see it out on the road this summer and never did. Shame. I'd buy it back if it was fucked again.

Black Sparrow Archives

Found some pics in the archives of the Black Sparrow just after I'd bought her. FONZIE!!

Billy suggested I might get that big dent outta the top of the tank with a little plunger power. Now I think he just wanted the opportunity to get this picture. Look at that Eddie Vedder hair!


How many nights was this the norm. I spent more time jerry rigging that thing 'til 2am just so I could ride to work in the morning. Musta' put a few thousand city miles on that thing from July to December when I finally pulled the top end apart. I miss you little 360.

Black Sparrow Rebuild 2

Together Again
Stealin' gas at 2am to fire it up.

Must be the muffler bearings.

Black Sparrow Rebuild

What the Fuck is this thing?


The rings literally fell off in two pieces, top and bottom, both cylinders. No wonder I had low compression.

Note the "D" guitar string keeping the cam chain from disappearing.


Pretty smooth rebuild with two buddies in the Tiny Garage Rod Shop. It was my first rebuild of anything and neither of the other guys had ever done rings before. Started at about 8pm with beers and by 2am she was waking neighbors again. I had a pretty serious oil leak from the points case until I figured out that a plug had been put on the wrong way. Luckily it was fixable w/out tearing the head apart. Cereal boxes mixed with gasket maker and away we go. We set the points by eyeballing it and must have had the Buddha of motorcycle maintenance smiling on us, still can't believe it fucking worked. Ran better than ever actually. Cereal boxes mixed with gasket maker and away we go.

Black Sparrow

This was the end product of the Black Sparrow project. A '76 XS360 I bought for $500 in '07. She came to me running, and I rode it all that summer although was admittedly put together with bubblegum and bailing twine. A real rat job. Radio Shack electric start mounted under the tank, glass packs in the pipes (loud MF), electrical system patched and spliced top to bottom. Changed the bars and bought a front fender off ebay. By the end of the summer it ran like Sh*t and had low compression on both sides. I spent the winter months tearing the topend down and replaced the broken rings and honed the cylinders at a friend's garage. Put the old girl back together and she ran like a top. Finished modding with a custom seat with a plywood pan, and smaller signals and taillight. Sold her this Summer. I miss you.