The $100 Yamaha 400.

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So my neighbor was selling his motorcycle. This 1981(?) Yamaha XS400, purple tank. Low miles, 4 stroke.Just enough to get on the road, but not as much power as the CBR1000RR that I recently wrecked. So I handed him $100 and pushed it home. A $45 CDI box (Ignition controller) and some new fuel and she runs. Now comes the fun part.As shown in my poorly taken photographs, the guy who welded the frame was clearly intoxicated.  There's bird turd everywhere, some areas with no penetration, others where it appears he burned straight through the tubes and patched it...So my project... over the next few winter months will be turning it from a stock bike to a polished bobber with CLEAN, SAFE, welds.Something along these lines.Though I'll probably keep the rear suspension    in one form or another and make myself a nice cushioned seat.Any advice you gentlemen would be interested in giving would be much appreciated. Perhaps a similar project you've done so I can steal your ideas. -JoeI can remember in the 7th grade my mom said "people will offer you drugs" by the 10th grade I was like, "where the hell are these people?"
Reply:that was my first bike, I absolutely loved it. Been keeping my eyes peeled for another in good shape. You will enjoy it for sure.
Reply:Nice score!  I've been looking for a decent XS for a while now.  Some will say the XS bobber is played out but I dont care.  Good luck with the build and please post up or post a link to your build on one of the bobber boards, I would love to see it.SteveI'm not a welder, but I do sit next to one at the bar.
Reply:Why do you need shocks when you got a diamond plate seat?
Reply:Apparently the same guy that welded yours up also welded my xs400, and my xs650.The one in the last picture is an xs650. If you decide to hard tail it, PSW sells a weld on hard tail. If you want to keep shocks, and stock mounts you can use honda rebel shocks, or short sportster shocks to lower it a bit. I plan to do a drop seat soft tail on my wife's xs400... maybe this winter. We'll see.My welder:Century 180 Wire feed welder.
Reply:I'm having trouble finding any wheel that will fit. Anything looks better than those  5 spoke aluminum ones. Perhaps some time poorly spent at work will give me something I could use. I started removing and polishing most of the aluminum on the bike. What a mess... I'll post pics of them later today when my phone is back on. I'll look into the PSW hard tail. Thanks for the info.-JoeI can remember in the 7th grade my mom said "people will offer you drugs" by the 10th grade I was like, "where the hell are these people?"
Reply:Originally Posted by joefitzI'm having trouble finding any wheel that will fit. Anything looks better than those  5 spoke aluminum ones. Perhaps some time poorly spent at work will give me something I could use. I started removing and polishing most of the aluminum on the bike. What a mess... I'll post pics of them later today when my phone is back on. I'll look into the PSW hard tail. Thanks for the info.-Joe
Reply:Well thank you very much Pirana. Looks like some quality work he does. I'll be in Colorado in a few months, I'll give him a call and see what he can do for me. -JoeI can remember in the 7th grade my mom said "people will offer you drugs" by the 10th grade I was like, "where the hell are these people?"