XS11.club Forums - XS11/XJ11 Discussion

Tank sealant

LoftCol — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 15:13:50 GMT

Has anyone used a tank sealant before, the type that you pour in and slosh around the inside. The reason I ask is that I picked a reasonable condition tank, without any dents or filler but a little rusty on the inside. Put the jet washer in and created a few pin holes in it luckily all-in the same place on the underside. I can patch weld it ok, but there could be a few pin holes and thought that fuel tank sealant would be the answer. Any tips, or things to avoid would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

Weird Starter

barrelguy — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 17:08:21 GMT

Over the winter I installed a new handlebar starter switch from MikesXS. Worked fine. Recently I did the carbs and still the switch worked fine. The battery was old and crappy but it got the bile started with the charger connected. Now the fun part - I put in a new battery, turned the key, pushed the start button and nuthin'. Ignition and neutral lights came on, weak horn and signals so I connected the charger and still nothing with the key. Shorted the solenoid with the key on and it fired up nicely. Turned the key off and it just continued running. Had to choke it to stop it. Any words of wisdom out there? Thanks in advance.

Lift handles

LoftCol — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 17:38:34 GMT

Does anyone have a photo, with dimensions if possible of the lift handles for putting the bike on centre stand? They are rarer than hen's teeth over here. I have tried autojumbles, eBay UK, but no luck. I can make some, just need a few starting points. Cheers

'78/'79 Slide Needle Jets 'R Us Part Number

IanDMacDonald — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 13:45:36 GMT

Anybody have the part number for the slide needles for the '78/'79 carbs? They don't make it easy to find. Looks like you have to take several measurements of the taper.

ZRX1200 Carbs vs RS36 Carbs

IanDMacDonald — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 13:34:42 GMT

Hey, Team! Dragging up an old thread, and hoping to consolidate the info into this one here. My BS34 carbs work great. But, I'm contemplating going the ZRX1200 route, as I plan to keep the bike forever, so why not treat it to some modern carbs? I understand the following:

The carbs need to be re-jetted
The carbs are not spaced perfectly, but close enough
The carbs need a choke kit fabbed and installed
The carbs need a vacuum port drilled (TAD's thread)

My questions:

What about the ACV system at the end of the carbs with the electrical connector? What do you do with that? Is there a block-off plate if you remove it?
Would the RS36 carbs from the Oz site be any better or worse than the ZRX carbs, besides cost savings on the ZRX carbs?
Is everyone staying with the modified single throttle cable, or did anyone go with a push/pull cable?

TADracer oldyam80sg xschop
Anything to add?

Upgrading coils

EvelKeevil — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 19:42:28 GMT

The output from my coils seems weak (79 1100SF). If I'm going to replace them I may as well get something that makes nice big sparks. What do you recommend?

Clutch replacement

jetmechmarty — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 03:16:19 GMT

I’m going to replace my friction plates and springs. Is there a good reason I can’t or shouldn’t do the job on the sidestand? I would prefer to leave the basket in place if it looks OK. Will the sidestand lean it far enough that I won’t have to drain the oil?

Air Cleaner Box Carb Boots - How to change them??

JoeF1953 — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 18:58:39 GMT

Have a 1981 Midnight Special. I need to change the airbox boots. I could sure use some advice on getting the old boots out and putting the new ones in. I couldn't find any video or instructions on the internet on how to do this. I sure don't want to tear anything up since any kind of part for this old of a bike is hard to find. Can anyone help advise me on what to do/not to do? I wish they were simply screwed in like the front boots, but they aren't....

Gunson Colortune

jetmechmarty — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:09:42 GMT

I've had a Gunson Colortune in the drawer for a very long time. I put it to use today on the XS11. Carburetor #2 was very close. The rest read very rich. I did the setup with a warm engine and fresh E0 fuel. I'm wondering what difference it's going to make. I'm going to find out. Yes, I followed by syncing the carburetors. Fuel economy last checked was 37.4 mpg.

Aftermarket petcocks recommendation for Special

jetmechmarty — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:41 GMT

I have a project in the wings (many of them) and I just acquired a nice Special tank. No petcocks. I thought I was going to be able to use early XS650 manual taps as the bolt spacing is smaller than the vacuum units. No joy. A simple solution would be nice. I know I can source OE and block the PRIME spigot. Is there another satisfactory option?

Pilot Jets...The Teency-Weency Hole at the end. (ᗒᗣᗕ)

Larrym — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 22:07:11 GMT

#4 cylinder was not right. ( •_•)

I'd had my carbs in/out twice with the per usual "inspect-and-clean" without any change/improvement afterwards. (｡-_-｡ )

Even used THIS to look at the pilot jet pin-hole(s) at the end-

But still no joy...... (ノ_<、)

(Dunno how many times I used the carb cleaner spray on them pesky Idle Jets and almost sent'em flyin' outta my fingers and cross the shop...)

Wut finally worked? (O_o)

Bread ties (used to both poke out the three holes near the butterfly AND do the "bread tie" bench sync...) were too big. (*′☉.̫☉)

HOWEVER.... the bristles of a regular wire brush or a small SS wire brush wurky. (^_^)

I know.... TOTALLY against the rulez and "Inadvisable" cuz the wire might scar up the itty bitty hole. (>_<)

But I done it. Bike runs fine. Used it to get mOaR soft-serve Ice cream. (ʘ‿ʘ)

shifter sticking

red bandit — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 11:27:53 GMT

It doesn't do it all the time. It only happens when going from 3rd to 2nd and the shifter sticks in the down possition so it's inbetween gears. You have to pull up on the shifter very hard to get it back in gear, 3rd. Shift down again and it goes into 2nd. Do you think it's related to the pins under the left side cover or the shifter drum/forks.