YOUR 78-79 XS1100s CONDITION

[Pat Kelly]

Hmmmm...... two bikes in different conditions.
LG, non-stock parts are exhaust (have the original), handlebars (have the originals, speedometer (have the original). Different front brake master cylinder (have the original). Added a sport fairing. Cosmeticlly it's very good for 65,000 miles. A few chips if you look close. I can get it back to stock. Oh yeah, 1196 big-bore kit.
E, lots of internal upgrades, fork springs, SS brake lines, drilled discs, tubeless rear wheel, oil cooler, dyna coils/wires, Jardine pipes. I bought it with a Yamaha touring seat, Pacifico fairing, Yamaha saddlebags, rack with sliding backrest. I later bought a NOS OEM seat. I have painted it blue. I have all the parts to put it back to OEM condition cosmetically (if I painted it macho maroon). Condition-wise it is rough around the edges. I have the original receipt from when the PO bought the bike along with all the manuals.
Both bikes run great (tho the E is wanting me to look at the carbs again).
I can't vote for two bikes so you've had to read this.

[petejw]

Hey 79XS11F,

Have you got sumthing against the 80/81 models? lmao :-)

[79XS11F]

No I have nothing against any of these bikes. I just want an example of how many of the oldest ones are still around in spec and mint condition. After the 1979 model the xs1100 became available in more and more versions and it would be complicated to do a poll based on each model. I guess I am just curious to see just how rare these bikes in spec and mint condition are. It seems to me that the suggested value for a spec and mint bike is too low depending on rarity.
Should those who have spec and mint xs1100 suffer because many with bikes in other conditions don't really know what they got and sell them for a song and a dance LOL lOL
Rob

[mro]

Close to stock 79'


Has a little extra chrome
and just yesterday put a new seat on it.
Nothing wrong with the seat in pic, but a little too hard for my skinny little a$$

Have/had a couple 79' standards....but too many issues and they became "parts".


mro

[BLUEJEEPLAB]

Alan,

Yours are sweet, but definately a bit off Spec. Nothing wrong with that...

[AlanB]

Hi Gino,

The original question was something like "what is the condition of your 1979 XS11, any model"

It just looked like a golden opportunity to show off a pic of my SG with the new (primed not painted!) screen and the 4.00x17 back wheel!

To be fair, Mine is an 81; I didn't read the question right!

AlanB

[MAXIMAN]

MINT?

I wouldn't say my '79F was mint but very close.

However mint generally means it looks and operates as if it had just rolled off the showroom floor. I don't know of ANY spec (I assume you mean all original) bikes that are "mint". About the only way that would happen if the original owner rarely rode the bike and kept it stored in a climate controlled environment for the past 27 years.

My "Time Machine" was one such critter. It only had 11,000 miles. The guy I bought it from was the original owner and he kept it stored in the prescribed environment. Still it is not mint. There is a very small (1/4 inch) scratch on the tank and the mufflers are not original....close....but no cigar.

Some XSives have some really slick bikes...IE Dave Jackson's 78E. It looks newer than showroom. Actually the fit and finish of Dave's bike eXSeeds anything that Yamaha actually built! It has a finer finish on all painted parts including the frame. The bike is unbelievable. Still I wouldn't rate it mint original.

Maybe its a matter of semantics. One man's mint is another man's meant?

[79XS11F]

I just was curious as to how many OEM mint condition early (pre 80s) XS1100s there are out there. It just seems to me that there are next to none that are in OEM mint condition so I really do not understand the value they pin on one? I my opinion they appear to be so rare that the value is incorrectly TOO LOW.
Rob

[Crazcnuk]

Well, the value of anything is not based purely on rarity. Thre still has to be some demand.

And for many of these bikes, even though they are almost 30yrs old, huge numbers of them have survived, more than there is demand for them as museum pieces.

It may not seem like there are very many, but there are, in collector terms, lots. Almost all the bikes you see on this forum are not collector bikes, but, if not daily, regularily ridden bikes. They are in varying states of modification, or restoration, but none, that I've seen, are being done with the idea of putting them on display.

They ARE of an age, that I shake my head at any of these guys that are doing irreperable modifications, in the hopes of getting some semblance of a modern bike in terms of power and/or handling.

These bikes ARE getting scarcer by the minute. The lovely people on Ebay are destroying a few every week. On the one hand I like the availability of parts, but it makes me cry knowing these people are dismantling bikes in far better shape than the ones we are using the parts on.

XS's are like the buffalo. No one will miss them till they are gone.

[Hammerhead1st]

My 79 was a Rat when I got it, it'll be a Rat forever. Although I am trying to improve the looks overall of the poor beast, I haven't the funding or equipment required to do a proper job of it. Honestly, my sole intention was to ride the thing into the ground and dump it for something newer, better.

BUT...I didn't know what I was being handed, either. I love this bike, I ride it daily, and I spend every single idle moment I have trying to bring back the aluminum luster and chrome shine it once had. It's a slow arduous process and I'll never really have the money to do original showroom...but...I occasionally find the funds to do aftermarket cool .

When I'm done, it'll be a cob-job of old merged with new, chrome and flat black, and leather merged with plastic. I do what I can but I'm sorry, factory just isn't going to happen here.

But FAST sure is....WOOOOooooooo

[greyranch]

I would say my bike is not spec but in very good condition.Repainted by myself last month.Engine is stock with K&N air filter and aftermarket exhaust.The seat is stock.Has after market backrest of unknown origin.Bike has 37000 miles,no unusual noises,no oil smoke. It could use new carb mounts but seems to run fine for now.Paid 400 dollars with another 500 invested for paint ,tires,fuel guage regulator ,etc. So I would say chassis wise it is spec,but body not spec but better.[IMG][/IMG]

[HobbyMan]

The bikes in my garage are all to spec except for odds and ends like a new reg/rect. Everything else is stock. The condition ranges from a showroom bike that was taken out for a long weekend and an every day bike.


Man this thread realy hits home. I miss my motorcycle.

[79XS11F]

Well .. of all the users on this board there is only 1 spec and mint bike. Seems to me that a spec mint per 80s bike is in deed very rare. So .. why the low value on these rare bikes?
Rob

[Hired_Goon]

Mines definately not spec but in my book she's mint enough for me.

[Pain]

Mine are dirty, and I ride them everywhere, all year long. Everything on them works, but they aren't winning any beauty contests.