New Member

[CarolynS]

I have a bone to pick! You guys have had me checking out postings all day! I've gotten nothing done that I was supposed to do! Now Monday I am going to make this my home page on my work computer. I'm doomed! But what a way to go!
I bought my 70 XS 1100 last fall. I haven't driven a bike in 20 years, but I've been riding HD's forever as a passenger. The old man said a smaller bike would be boring me in a week, so he suggested something with some oomf! I found the XS on craigslist for $400 w/ title, rode it around and the po even delivered it for free. It has been sitting for the winter and I'm about to get started on it. It has some normal problems-age-the intake seals and exhaust are shot. The big problem that worries me is it is hard to turn to left, but not to right. The Yamaha dealer agreed to work on it-reset the front end. It looks as though it may have fallen off the kickstand, no major damage, just some small scratches, and that could have contributed to the steering issue. If necessary, I will rebuild the whole front-safety first.
Old man has a Road King and I will be following him around like a baby duckling for a little bit-get the old skills polished. I rode dirt bikes for years-then I'm going to eat that big old loud beast of his for breakfast! Woo-Hoo!
I can't tell you how highly I think of this site. And thank you for all of your efforts from all of you.
Seeya around.

[trbig]

I bought my 70 XS 1100 last fall

Hmmm... Your WHAT?!?

Welcome to the site/addiction. We "kind of" felt bad for Wildkat being the only noticeable female on here. It's nice that she'll have someone to accompany her to the bathrooms now! lol.


Tod

[CarolynS]

I'm a truck driver, not a typist. I miskeyed. The Bruins are on, it's Saturday night and Capt Morgan will do that.

[prometheus578]

"Woo Hoo.. another female!"

Let's hit your problems one at a time.
1. Ditch the 'Old Man" and move to Wa. state.
2. You probably hit the wrong key. You meant a "79 XS1100?
3. Intake seals? Do you mean the intake manifolds/boots? They may look all cracked, but they are double-walled. Other than being ugly, they are still functional. (Many of us fit into that category, as well.) Some people put gobs of black spray paint on them, some people smear a light coat of black RTV on them, some people leave them alone. Now... where they mount to the head, sometimes they get a vacuum leak, but it's too early to speak of that. The rubber plugs covering the vacuum ports on #2 and #3 carb can get brittle and leak vacuum.
4. Need more info on the turning difficulty. Is this while riding or sitting in the driveway?
Put the bike on the centerstand and have "The Old Man" apply a little heft on the rear to pivot the front end offa the ground. Slowly, with a light pressure, move the handlebars from left to right. They should move easily. If you feel any "notchy-ness" or tight spots, you'll need to replace the steering bearings. If this checks out OK, and it's difficult to steer while riding, you have a fork alignment issue.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Carolyn,

Welcome to the group. Your fella is going to rue the day he let you get an XS1100!

Prom's advice is good. However, a recent member had similar symptoms, but the bearings were actually alright. It was just due to sitting outside, weather exposure and such, the grease had gotten all dried, hardened, and lumpy!

Once he pulled the parts apart, and inspected the races, they were actually in great shape, and it was just a matter of cleaning the bearings, regreasing and putting back together properly, and it turns smooth as glass! YMMV!

T.C.

[Wildkat]

Welcome!

The 2 members I was going to warn you about have already posted... (I'll let the 3 of them fight it out over that one)


It's a great site... If you check out the rallies section(if you haven't already), you'll find some information for some 30th anniversary rallies. A great place to meet up with some fellow XSives and really great people...
(all wrapped up in one group)

[CarolynS]

I actually grew up in WA. First Kennewick, then Pullman, then Waterville(Wenatchee). Moved there in 75 with my fam. I miss the open spaces.
I keep trying to ditch the old man, but he keeps finding his way home-lol.
Crackers turns fine while sitting. The problem shows when riding. Turning to the right is smooth, but turning left is like pushing a wheelbarrow full of horsepucks. The bike sits straight, looks straight, but on closer inspection, it almost looks like the front wheel is a 1/2 inch to one side in the forks. I'm a decent mechanic, but bikes are new to me. I'm a quick study tho.
As far as the rally goes-I already printed the logo from the shirt and it's up on my desk. PA is not that far from here and I have plenty of time to prepare. I even checked out the vid and pix. It looks like fun and something I really want to do. I will try to go, but I don't know if I will bring the 79. It may not be ready. We'll see.
I'm only just now getting good with this computer thing, so hopefully I'll have some pictures to put up at some point. By the time I'm finished with the bike, I'll have to buy dinner at the rally to reward all of you for all the help(and patience)you show me.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Again,

BTW, I'm NOT one of the folks that Kat warned you about! :P

First we would ask that you EDIT your Profile, from the buttons at the top, go to your CP(Control Panel), and then you'll be able to edit it to add your general location ie. city, state, as well as the Year & Model of your machine so that for the FUTURE requests for info and help, you won't have to repeat yourself in every post!

Also, this forum is for just general chat and off topic stuff, like introducing yourself like you did. We would recommend that you post actual technical questions in the TECH disc. forum, will get seen better there, and receive more responses because of that.

Also, please try to respond to the same problem in the same thread to provide followup diagnostics, etc., so that we can follow what has been suggested, tried, failed, etc., saves repeating ourselves. IF it has been a few days, weeks since you had last posted, your thread will have scrolled OFF the main page, a simple search will reveal it, and then posting a new message to it will BUMP it backup to the front page for folks to see again!

What you described with your front tire is very possible depending on how the PO may have replaced a front tire, worked on brakes, etc.! Other folks will also report about uneven wear on a tire. There are BORN ON dates stamped into the sidewall, in a little OVAL, stands for week and 2 digit year of production, ie. 2405 would be 24th week, 2005. IF the tire is 4 years or older, it may be getting hardened, and may be as simple as putting a new one on to fix the problem. But hopefully others will chime in with other things to check out!

I'll copy this thread to the TECH SECTION, rename it for the steering problem, and see what others say!
T.C.