The little widgets on my axels are axel pullers they make taking the wheels out so much easier when you get flat tires in the bush. No need to use pliers or special tools. They just bolt into the axel. check out this mob they list them for most bikes https://www.enduroeng.com/ProductDetail.jsp?LISTID=800001FD-1177528277 dvgonzo The bash guard has got a small 2 litre water tank because where we ride in the desert there are no services for upto 150km in all directions, It was made as a prototype for a guy who is racing in the australian safari in 2011 and we have been testing our design for strength and durability This is not a normal fixture on the bike.
I knew it was not a normal fixture (at least on the ones we have here in the US) as I have a '99 as well as an '03. Several friends also are riding them in different years and sizes and I had never seen a "tank" skid pan before. Well, other than the one that they had on the two wheel drive version that was for the hydraulic oil used to run the front wheel that came out several years back. At first I thought you were carrying oil in it to up the capacity of your oil but that kinda skeerd me as if you punch a hole in it you would be hurtin' when it all leaked out. Water is a pretty good idea as I have been there before out in the sticks. I had a stick maybe 2 inch in diameter and about 18-20 inches long stand up as my front wheel went over it and it took out my left lower radiator hose connection. Luckily I was able to bend it back into shape and had an alcohol wet nap and a little two part epoxy pack with me so I got it to where it almost sealed back up. Had to fill it with Tang as that was what I was carrying in my Gatorback, but it made it back to the truck like that! MUCH better than walking back! I do like those little axle pull out additions too!
These older yz's dont need a heap of extra oil because they run 1.5 litre's compared to the 900ml that the later bikes run, there are a few places a small tank could be placed if you wanted to, a good addition would be an oil cooler of an xr 400 on the front of the bike this would add half a litre and bring the total up to two litres. this would be good to be adapted to our mean machines
That is one of the reasons I like my old '99 so much. It has at least a little oil capacity. These scoots that only hold less than a quart tend to worry me. It is all good unless they they start to use even a little oil cause it then can go away so fast that before you even realize you might have a problem you have a BIG problem and are walking. When I fist saw the nice, totally trick, well desingened oil cooler on XR400's and the way it sits mounted in on the triple tree pretty well protected from mishaps I was (and pretty much still am) amazed that they did not catch on and become standard equipment for every bike (street and dirt a like). They are small, inconspicuos, and very efficient as they are mounted right up front in the airstream and all scooters can benefit from cooler oil. I saw a post ( I think it was on this site too) where a guy had built a pretty nice cooler for his KTM. It upped the capacity as well as cooled what was already on hand, but it was mounted along side one of the radiators, right in harms way. I have squished more than a couple radiators (even with Devols mounted up) and that is just not (IMO) the place to be mounting an oil cooler. Where the XR ones are mounted is to cool!
Just picked up a '00 wr400f and love the thing.. great in the woods awesome enduro bike super fun.. controlable power etc... compensates for my slowness and suckiness :) next step, its used so who the heck knows what maintenance hasn't been done to it. cranks up the first time etc... any step by step directions on a valve adjustment ? how to do it.. it will be my first adjustment..go easy on me :) recommeneded oil?
What are the clearances... I think I'm going to recruit my brother in helping me do this valve adjustment :) thanks for the help!
Sorry if this is 205, but here is a site with some good info for dual sporting a 99 WR400F. http://www.farplaces.com/dual.htm
The previous owner of my WR had a really hooptie contraption for holding the plate on the bike. He bolted a piece of carpet to the underside of the fender letting the plate swing around. Wish I had a picture; it really was really ridiculous. I took it for a ride just for kicks, and my friend nearly died laughing as he following me watching the plate swing back and forth, banging around all over the place. Anyway, I got rid of that and I bolted the plate to a piece of aluminum and then bolted that to the fender. Anyway, it lasted a year, but the aluminum failed at the section where I bolted it to and on my last ride in the desert I lost my plate. Aluminum fatigues over time, $20 lesson learned. So here's the rear fender. I was told that it doesn't have a 99 fender, but one from a 426. Anybody have any suggestions to mount my new plate cleanly (without a piece of carpet)?
Haha..I have a bad temper and tools tend to get broken or launched into oblivion. Thanks for the specs and advice!
I tried using aluminum too as I have had two plates crack all the way across right below where they bolt up and sometime later notice I am plateless. Aluminum did not cut it as it did the same thing but would last a little longer. I then made one out of stainless but really do not like thinking about what ANY metal backup plate or even the license plate could do to you in a get off. Think razor blade at speed. How I finally cured the problem was I got a piece of 3/16 inch thick rubber that has a little fiber reinfocement in it and cut out a piece slightly larger than the plate. I used 5/16 inch NYLON bolts and nuts in all four corners to hold the plate and rubber sheet together, glued a real thin rubber edge material all around on the outside edge of the plate (to help prevent the razor blade effect) and then two more nylon screws about in the middle of the plate through the fender. I did use fender washers on BOTH sides where the bolts that mount the plate through the fender to help dissapate the flexing forces a little bit more and have had no more issues so far.
Pics? EDIT: Used my mad fab skills to create sort of the same thing. And by fab, I mean cut a piece of plastic with scissors and a hole punch. I plan on zip-tie'ing it instead of using bolts to keep the weight down (hopefully making it less prone to failure), then zipping it to the fender. Now, I just need to pick up some zip ties.
Do not have any pics right now, last computer took them all with it when it died. Have not had time to get around to it with this new one yet. Lightness was the reason I went to the nylon screws to mount it. They are better than zip ties and way lighter than steel ones, and can be had in most common sizes. #10's would probably have been good enough but I went 5/16 as I had a bunch on hand.
Yeah I really dig mine. For some reason people haven't discovered this bike. In my area it seems people are asking close to $3K for used up XR400's if they have a plate which is insane. You can find WR's for a third less. I've ridden both and the old XR doesn't hold a candle to the WR, except for being a little less vibey. The XR is smooooooth...
I'm in the process of legalizing my WR400, meaning I bought it with a plate but no equipment to make it street legal. Here in Commiefornia that is a recipe for a ticket, so I decided to make legal. I'm going to post up a thread once I get it done to make sure I did it right, but there may be an easier way to do it.
Kawidad, I had heard that in Ca. they were not only no longer allowing you to plate bikes that did not come equipped that way from the factory but were now going back and pulling plates for bikes that had been made street leagal that they had granted legal staus to in past years. Is that true? I know here in N.M. they quit allowing us to plate bikes that were dirt only about 2-3 years ago but so far have not tried to make it retro active for ones that were plated before that time. We only had to sign an affidavit that stated we had added turn signals, horn, high low beam, at least one mirror, DOT tires, and brake lights before they stopped us licensing them. Some folks never did do all that but just said they had. I never added the turn signals as it was (and I think still is ) still legal to signal with your hand here, but if you do not a cop can site you.
Sort of..... What they're doing is pulling plates on bikes that were made after 2004 and/or the plate was issued after 2005. So older bikes with plates are grandfathered in. What I'm concerned about is rangers with a sharp eye and an even sharper pen. Most cops don't care all that much, but in my experience, rangers of all stripes are far greener and therefore more inclined to write tickets for cheezy equipment violations.
I know what you mean. We had a bud get written up cause his tires were not DOT approved ( everything else was in order) and had the misfortune to run into an LEO that was anal enough to look at the sidewalls for that. I think he just had a scooter hatred myself as he was a real a$$hat.
Yeah, I've never really run across any "real" cops who were that bad, honestly, many of them ride too, but rangers around here anyway are a totally different story. To most of them it is a religion, helping to serve Mother Gaia, but I'm not going to turn the thread into a JM style rant.
