Rear/front fork from 1VJ on XT400
 

Hi,

I have XT400 (Yamaha XT400) and I'm planing on fitting suspension from Tenere 1VJ.

Front forks shouldn't be much problem, but rear...?

Is that possible?

Why do it in the first place?

Just get a XT600 - there's loads about.

First, sorry it took me this long to answer you.

I had XT600, but some SOB stole it, so I bought XT400 '85. with engine from the XT600.

Problem is that previous owner replaced original front forks with forks from some Kawasaki KLR, and rear shock with im-not-sure-what and that setup is no good for me unstable at speeds higher than 90km/h. I can get cheap front and rear fork from Tenere 1VJ, but I'm not sure how much trouble is to fit them on my bike.

AFAIK XT400 have same chassis as XT550, hope that helps.

Interesting. I didn’t know Yamaha made a XT400 of that generation. It looks just like a XT550, maybe it is the exact same with smaller bore/stroke?

A guy on advrider has made many mods to his XT550, including suspension front and rear. Can’t remember his name, but you should be able to find him. He is very active on advrider. He probably will be able to give you some info.

My guess (like yours) is that it won’t be too hard to adapt a triple clamp /front suspension to the XT400. It will probably take some machining, but not to much.

On the other hand… your bike doesn’t have a linked rear suspension. You have a mono shock that bolts directly on the swingarm. It is possible to install a shock from somewhere, but getting the suspension to work right is another matter.

I once fitted a new front/rear suspension to a XL Honda 500S, don’t remember the year. Never got the suspension to work right…..not worth the trouble.

Maybe you should try to get some stock suspension from a XT550? Ebay?

Just to give back the info - front fork from Tenere 1VJ fits onto XT400/550 like a glove. Not problems of any kind.

Thanks. Interesting. Do you have some pics?

Did you use the stock triple clamps? So the front forks are the same diameter (38mm)?

Have you done anything with the rear suspension? If not, does the bike handle OK? Does it feel like a chopper (high front end)?

Triple clamps are also from Tenere 1VJ, because diameter is 41mm.

I have replaced rear shock with one from Kawasaki KLR, but I'm still not satisfied with rear end, I would like to raise it a little, because now in 1st gear I have to be very careful with throttle. Front end really easy goes up
:)

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_7VMVad25tbg/S4...0/IMGP2277.JPG

Thanks. Some wiring work eh?? :cool4:

Do you know if the rear shock from the Kawasaki KLR bolted right in? Is the shock harsh or soft? The rear of the bike seems close to the stock height or a maybe little higher…

Please let us know how things go with the suspension, this is interesting stuff…