XS1100 Midnight Special?

[balance]

Looking at purchasing a xs1100 midnight special, 1981, with about 5000 original miles on it.

Was wondering what the deal is with the bike itself? I heard that they only made 500 of these. Is that true?

Also I was wondering what type of mechanical issues/problems are common with this bike and what I should look out for before buying?

I love the design of the bike. I currently have an XV750, 95', and really like it but I want something with more power and feeling.

By the way, what is a good price for one of these bikes?

Thanks

[dpotter58]

They are nothing but trouble and worth very little. Just tell me where it is and I'll go buy it to keep you from getting stuck with it..

http://www.photodump.com/direct/dpotter58/bikes006.jpg

[John]

Originally posted by dpotter58
They are nothing but trouble and worth very little. Just tell me where it is and I'll go buy it to keep you from getting stuck with it..

http://www.photodump.com/direct/dpotter58/bikes006.jpg

You really are "Midnight Junkie", aren't you? Hey, that would be a cool nickname.

[mro]

originally posted by balance
Also I was wondering what type of mechanical issues/problems are common with this bike and what I should look out for before buying?

Look thru tech tips at left and main page.
Also click here

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=194

MNS are


mro

[81xsproject]

If that bike is a decent price you would really be missing out if you didn't get it.

[Pat Kelly]

fanning the flames of another flame war

If my special wasn't a Midnight special then I wouldn't have bought it.
For power, handling, and looks I like my standard better.


(no malice intended here)

[dpotter58]

Re: XS1100 Midnight Special?

Originally posted by balance
Looking at purchasing a xs1100 midnight special, 1981, with about 5000 original miles on it.

Was wondering what the deal is with the bike itself? I heard that they only made 500 of these. Is that true?

Also I was wondering what type of mechanical issues/problems are common with this bike and what I should look out for before buying?

I love the design of the bike. I currently have an XV750, 95', and really like it but I want something with more power and feeling.

By the way, what is a good price for one of these bikes?

Thanks

All joking aside, I really like the black and gold look. I am partial to the specials over the standards but have never had a standard to compare it with so... Anyhow, what's it worth? It's worth what someone will pay, no more, no less. I paid around 2,ooo for one with 22,000 0n it and 1,400 for one with 15,00 so it's really what's it worth to you.
If it's reasonable, go buy it. ( or let me know where it is and I will)

[dpotter58]

Re: fanning the flames of another flame war

Originally posted by Pat Kelly
If my special wasn't a Midnight special then I wouldn't have bought it.
For power, handling, and looks I like my standard better.


(no malice intended here)

Pat, are the standards more pwerfull? How? I thought they were pretty much the same except for the tire size and shape of the tank and seat.
Like you, I'm not trying to start trouble here, just wondering...

PS my specials look better than your standard..HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[webbcraft2150]

My standard dosen't start gasping for gas at 80 miles. (My butt does. ).

[Pat Kelly]

I think because of the political climate of the times the 78 had more power. After that they started de-tuning them for milage reasons. Probably the same reasons they went to the 85 MPH speedos...... politics.
I know that my E is quicker and has a higher top speed than my LG. I thought my LG would be quicker with the smaller back tire but the E just has more "oompf".
As far as looks go, I've never been a fan of cruisers (styled along Harley lines). I call my wifes Virago a Yamaharley. I swapped the bars on my LG and it pleases me. If I ever sell it I still have the OEM buckhorn bars and I'll swap them back if they want.
I do like the LG for is uniqueness and rarity. It's my summer bike. The E is my workhorse and long-haul bike.
I originally felt my E handled better but found that the steering bearings were dry in the LG. Both standard and special have the same steering geometry (rake, trail, wheelbase) so they should both handle about the same. Lubing the bearings made a world of difference.
We'll see if I feel a difference with the big bore kit in the LG.

[Do Lee]

When I went to the dealer shows in Vegas back in the late 70's early 80's we were told that there was 2 midnight Specials made for each dealership and a few extras for "incentives". Most sales of "stagnant" models, most sales in a month, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I worked for a shop that the owner would do what ever he could do to win these incentive packages. He didn't get any extra Midnight Specials but he did win trip to Japan to tour the Yamaha Factories. I just bought a 1980 Midnight Special going to pick it up this weekend and its vin # show the bike to be the 1172 or 1177 of the assembly line. I can't tell if the last number is an eight or three. So there were more that 1000 manufactured, my guess is that there was around 1500 plus bikes made each year.
Like Pat said it was a big political deal with bikes. In the late 70's our government started to place EPA guide lines on how much pollutants the bikes could exhaust. Bikes 50cc and up manufactured on or after 1-1-1978 were to be tuned to the specifications of the Clean Air Act and the 55mph law.

[81xsproject]

I thought the standards had a little less rake?

[Pat Kelly]

I'm looking at both owners manuals and they both say:
Caster (rake) 29-30 degrees
trail 5.12 inches
wheelbase 60.8 inches

Though the special forks are longer, the axle sits higher on the fork leg and :
The special axle is in front of the fork leg, the standard on the end and:
The special has a shallower triple tree (less offset distance from the steering tube line to the fork tube line) than the standard.

So through different ways of acheiving it, they both have the same steering specs.

I was an automotive front-end and brake mechanic for many years and I've measured these specs along with camber (turing pivot angle side to side, bikes are supposed to be 0 degrees here unless leand over ) and aligning these to the rear wheels (rear wheels get aligned too nowadays). Difficult to visualize these angles with cars as theres no long tube to sight down to see the angles. They also deal with positive and negative angles. Another thig I had to take into account is what kind of driving (and where) the customer did. Roads with a lot of crown to them required more positive caster (rake) on one side to compensate for the road being tilted to the right (less of this if they were mostly driving on the freeway, less crown there).

I used to have a bicycle when I was a kid. It had the same proportions and Capt America's bike on Easy Rider (ok, I used to like choppers). it had a raked triple tree, the steering angle was radically different than the fork angle (I see these occasionally on the American Chopper bikes, scares me to think of riding one). It had the disconcerting effect of the frame of the bike moving left when the forks were turned right. It had a negative trail spec.

[renniks73]

New XS1100 LG Owner!

I just purchased a used 1980 XS1100 LG and am beginning the restoration process to get this beauty back on the road. Any advice? I realize that's a loaded question.

Let me know if anyone knows of a 'Midnight Special' area where you all post stuff specific to my bike.

Thanks,

Steve

[Ljay40]

Steve

The (Lg) Midnight Specials series are pretty well the same as the rest of the bikes on this site with some minor diffrences of course .
Most of the stuff (ex) carbs valves timing, front brakes, final drive middle drive. gears shocks and transmission,electrical
pretty well all falls in the category of your bike,
So pretty well what you read you can apply to your new bike
Picture time!
We all want to see a picture