The new guy

[DJinNH]

Just thought I would introduce myself since I am new to the boards.

I'm Don, 44, living in New Hampshire, USA. Divorced, have two sons, 20- a U.S. Marine and a 13 yr old.

I owned bikes back in my younger days; 1980 Yamaha XS400, 1981 Yamaha XS 850 Special and a 1981 Kawasaki GPz550. I gave them up while living in FL for 20 yrs...too many drunk tourist on the road for my liking.

I was seriously injured on-the-job and had to take a Disability Retirement. My long time friend in ME sent me info on two bikes on Ebay so I bought them last December. One is a 1980 Yamaha 1100 Special SG and the other is a 1981 Yamaha 1100 Special SH. The whole plan was to get me out of my house.

Both run but need TLC. I just had the seats redone and have the tanks and battery covers in a body shop to be repainted.

I am currently replacing anything I can think of that might leave me stranded on the side of the road.

Looking forward to learning from some discussions in here.

Take care,

Don

[ScottsXS]

welcome and congrats on the new "girls"

[prometheus578]

"No one learns anything from the discussions we have."

At least... the ones that I'm involved in.
When you have questions... we'll have answers.
(And then comes the discussions, mockery, and mindless trivia.)

[lakecountrydave]

Welcome!

I know that there is a thread or link here that goes into the items that should be looked at after purchase, but I cannot find it. Maybe TC can chime in with it In the meantime, I would replace the fuse box, properly grease the final drive and change the middle gear oil. Look in the maintainance, repairs and modications sections for enough info to keep you busy for a long, long time.

Dave

[fredintoon]

Hi DJ & welcome,
sometimes advice lacks precision. Where Dave posts "properly grease the final drive " he don't refer to the final drive unit itself (you put oil in there). There is a grease fitting on that unit, though. It's supposed to grease the spline where the driveshaft fits but it is a snare and a delusion because it only greases the outside of the spline while the spline itself runs dry. If you pull the back wheel the rear drive unit comes off with 4 nuts. Now you will see the driveshaft spline itself. Slather it with grease and reassemble. Now you are good until the next rear tire change.

[DJinNH]

Thanks for the replies guys.

My friend in Maine, the buddy who got me to buy my bikes...I forgot to mention that he too owns a 1981 Yamaha XS1100 Special. Basically, he's helping me get mine ready for riding season.

I just hope his wife doesn't get too upset that we are reliving our high school days!

Don

[John]

Where in Maine does your buddy live? I grew up in the Waterville area. There are a few members in the Portland and Lewiston area, and one in Bangor.

[DJinNH]

He lives on Rt. 236 in South Berwick. He has a nice large shed so he lets me keep my 2 bikes in there with his. He told me yesterday he plans on being a member on here, he just hasn't gotten to it yet.

Don

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Don,

Yes, congrats on a fine choice of rides...SPECIALS!

Now, first if you'll go to this thread in the MISC section, you'll find the thread that describes the things you'll want to look at to make it road worthy and safe!

ALSO....if you'll scroll down from the MAIN FORUM PAGE, not the links in the left yellow column, and go to the LINKs Section, you'll find a thread for the OWNER's Manual for the 81H/SH model, just in case your friend lost his, as well as for yours, the 81 is very similar to the 80, so the main maintenance sections will be the same, it's in PDF format, about 6MB, complete with photos and such!

There's also folks in BC as well, I think that's not too far from MAINE....but folks will tell you my geography skills are lacking!

You've ridden both an XS400, as well as XS850. The 1100 will have about 3 times as much power as the 400, and about 1/3 more power than the 850. I had an 850 triple and loved it, loved the vibration....err harmonics of the triple engine, and was rather surprised at the smoothness of the 1100's 4 cylinders. But it doesn't lack for torque or power, SO....be careful getting your sea legs again. Have you looked into taking an MSF course? I don't know the licensing requirements of Maine, but it might also help with your insurance costs, as well as help you relearn the good stuff, and even perhaps surprise you on possibly UNLEARNING some bad practices you picked up in the past!?!?

Okay, now post some photos when you get them all 'purty'!
T.C.

[lakecountrydave]

What Fredintoon said! That is what I had meant to say

Dave

[DJinNH]

T.C., thanks for the info.

Following the suggesting of my friend, I ordered and already received the Clymer Yamaha XS1100 78-81 Service, Repair and Maintenance book.

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon on many of the links from this site.

I'll be sure to post some photos when they are looking good enough.

Don

[BLUEJEEPLAB]

Welcome DJ,

I see you've met Prom. He's full of good advice and when that runs out, he brings on the mockery. If he likes you, he'll front load the mockery....

[malber]

What part of NH? I just moved from Manchester to Franklin. There's a lot of great riding to be done this summer. Last summer I hooked up with some of the guys on sport-touring.net for some of their rides. During the Covered Bridges ride I had an FJR owner come up and exclaim, "Old School Yammy!"

[DJinNH]

Originally posted by malber
What part of NH? I just moved from Manchester to Franklin. There's a lot of great riding to be done this summer. Last summer I hooked up with some of the guys on sport-touring.net for some of their rides. During the Covered Bridges ride I had an FJR owner come up and exclaim, "Old School Yammy!"

Then you must know this area...I'm in Raymond. I grew up in Portsmouth, then went to FL for 20+ yrs. Came back a year and a half ago to be near my sons. Just trying to get use to this cold weather again.

Do you know any good places around here to get my pipes, etc re-chromed or a new exhaust system? I would like to keep my pipes like the original instead of changing them to something totally different.

The same with that "Yamaha" plate on the forks just below the headlight. My '81 looks fine, I don't know why my '80 one is so rusted out.

Don

[malber]

Motorcycles of Manchester (M.O.M.'s for short) is a good place to start. Other than that, ebay is your friend if you're looking to replace.