xs400 front wheel with drum brake, mating to an xs650

M

mackgren

XS650 Member
Messages
21
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hello all,

I just bought a pretty nice xs400 front wheel with drum brake, and was hoping to mate it to my xs650. I imagine the price was relatively cheap, cause my hopes for throwing it on the bike aren't going to go as easy as I had hoped...is it? Any help would be greatly greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Mark
 
There's a few things...

  1. Is the axle diameter the same?
  2. How are you going to mount the brake? The xs400 brake has a key on it that slides into the fork. XS650 forks don't have the receiving part.
  3. Need brake lever, perch, cable, speedometer cable. I would ebay them all from an xs400.
  4. Your speedo probably won't be accurate.
  5. Handling will probably suck. You'll be running a 3.00x18 front tire in stead of a 110/90-19
  6. Front tire will probably look pretty funny. (changed my wifes xs400 front rim out because the tire was so tiny)
 
Hey Ebola Monkey,
Well I have the brake cable and all the other applicable cables that came with the wheel when I bought it. I was hoping to just keep the hub and lace it to a 21" front wheel. As far as the speedo and all that stuff...i'm not running one. Which front rim did you use on your wife's bike?

Do you know of any aftermarket brackets to make the xs400 front hub work on the xs650? Or do I need to buy a set of xs400 forks and triple trees, and modify them so it will work on the xs650?
 
It's not hard to make a brake stay for the front plate. You just need to mount it to the lower and connect it to the plate. I'll be doing the same on mine, so tomorrow or the next day I'll at least mock something up and take pictures so you can get an idea of how to go about that part of it....

The rest on the other hand is either more expensive or more complicated or both. Easiest way: Send your hub and rim to Buchanan's and let them deal with it. They'll mate the xs400 drum hub to the 21" rim and away you go.

Hardest: Order the correct length spokes yourself and modify the spoke-hole angles to match the spokes you order from Buchanan's then lace and true it yourself... OK, maybe there's only an easy, more expensive way, and a much more challenging not entirely cheap way. lol
 
Teebs is right about the rim.

The one I used was a rear from a 73 ts500. It's an 18" rim, same as stock on the xs400, and the hubs were almost the same size so I didn't have to worry about spoke angle.

If you send it in to Buchanan you're looking at $250+ for the rim, $90+ for the spokes, ~$100 for them to lace, and true it.

You MIGHT be able to save the $100 and lace it yourself. I've heard that they have information on most common hub, and rims. Lacing is made out to be harder than it really is. A 6-pack, and some patience is all it takes.

Honestly I don't know if I trust a 30+ year old drum brake meant to handle an 18x1.60" rim, and a 3.00x18 tire to handle a 21x3.00? 3.5? and what? 110/90-21 tire? That's a LOT more rotating mass.

Kind of like the nimrods with 87 caprices on 30" rims, that can't stop because they have stock brakes.

Might as well go no brake in the front.


As far as the brake mount goes you'll have to fab something up, or have it fabbed up for you. I'm sure someone has done it. The xs650 has the caliper mounting tabs on the left side that could be used. I've seen some really flimsy looking brake stays recently, but they apparently work.
 
I disagree with the statement of might as well go no brake in the front.. Any front brakes are better than no front brakes. Maybe you were being sarcastic???

For that bracket, check out XS1961's post here http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?p=29930#post29930

Anyone know if the XS400, XS650 and SR500 all use the same exact key and slot to hold the drum stationary?
 
I'm not sure about mackgren, but for me it's a combination of things: 1. The basket case I bought didn't have the caliper or handlebars/controls , so I would have to find a caliper, master cylinder, and hose. For the drum, just a cable and lever. 2. Drums look better IMO. 3. You have one small cable on a small control, really cleaning up the handlebars.
 
Travis said:
Maybe you were being sarcastic???

For that bracket, check out XS1961's post here http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?p=29930#post29930

Anyone know if the XS400, XS650 and SR500 all use the same exact key and slot to hold the drum stationary?
Click to expand...

Half sarcastic. I know how crappy the drum on the xs400 is first hand. It'll be better than no brake, but I think it will be lacking.

I saw that bracket, but couldn't find a single one on ebay to add to this post.

The xs400 key/slot are 15mm x 30mm, centered on the fork starts about 53mm up from center of axle. The key is actually part of the left fork lower.
 
See I'd like a drum front brake for my BritXS650 . . just for looks. But I want it laced to the original aluminum rim I have. So I would need an early drum from a 650 and lace it in my '75 rim. Or something else??
 
I lace my drums to original 650 18" REAR rims, like this one to my '77
They look far better than disc brake IMO, they work just as well as post '78 disc calipers too if set up properly!
 

Attachments

  • myxs.jpg
    myxs.jpg
    28.6 KB · Views: 585
Well I want a front drum for two of the three reasons Teebs laid out. It looks way better and its cleaner. I reconstruct traffic collisions for a living, and I know how much greater breaker efficiency you get from having a front brake over a rear...and the combination of the two is that much better. So I'm not really eager to run a rear drum only.

Separate but related question. Do all XS400 forks, even the ones that came with discs, have this mating slot on the left fork tube? If so I'll just run the xs400 forks on the xs650 and just swap steering stems. But I need to know if it has that slot before I buy some forks. The Fong Bros did this swap on one of their bikes. The link is below.

http://www.xs650chopper.com/2009/04/yamaha-xs650-bobber-the-fong-bros/

Thanks, Mark
 
You can get them direct from Yamaha (or Yamaha dealers)in Europe (or Japan)as they were fitted to SR500's in the 1990's.
Ive had loads of people asking me to sell mine but its the last one I have(sold 3 of them :banghead:)
If you cant find one why not grind off the caliper lugs and have a 1/4" width alloy locator peg welded to the inner fork leg to locate into the brake-plate slot? Ive done this very successfully before, looks neater too.
 

Attachments

  • sept 2010 016.jpg
    sept 2010 016.jpg
    125.2 KB · Views: 276
Hey Teebs, I look forward to pictures of the brake stay you make. That might be the easiest route. Keep me posted please if you don't mind.
Later, Mark
 
Does anyone know if the xs400 front forks with disc brakes still have the mating slot for the xs400 front drums?
 

Similar threads

G
SR500 Front Drum Brake
Replies
0
Views
148
Grewth
G
Mikey
Front disc brake question
2
Replies
38
Views
912
Wingedwheel
Wingedwheel
gentlemanjim
Help with front end swap
Replies
9
Views
268
gentlemanjim
gentlemanjim
J
Old style drum front wheel
Replies
7
Views
362
STARCROSSEDMOTO
STARCROSSEDMOTO
S
rear brake conversion
2
Replies
23
Views
1K
46th Georgia
4
Back
Top