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Hi, just thought I'd introduce myself and give a bit of history.
While a new member, I'm a long-time XS11 owner, having bought my '78 new in June of that year. I've never been a 'heavy' rider as I live in Washington state and riding in the cold and/or rain isn't my bag at all. My bike still only has about 15K on it.
The bike got semi-regular use and a few touring jaunts (longest was to San Diego) until 1985, when I endoed it on the way to a AMA event (cinders on the road surface in a high-speed sweeper; ALMOST made the corner). Damage was suprisingly light, with a trashed windshield, handlebars, rear fender/taillight, various minor scrapes, busted hinge on the trailer (did I mention I was towing a trailer?) and a big dent in the tank from my knee. I ended up with stitches in my hand and leg (never did figure out how my leg got punctured) but no broken bones or rash. My buddys farmer-fixed it while another took me to the local emergency room, and we continued the trip. The bike never missed a beat, but boy, did that hand hurt. Oh yeah, the other casulty was the two cases of beer in the trailer. My buddys were pissed about that. I'd been rather lucky....
Anyway, I bought most of the parts to fix the bike, and shoved it into the corner of the garage until I healed up and had time to fix it. Well, time marched on, and a divorce, new wife, job, raise kids, etc and before you knew it, 15 years had passed.
Finally, all the kids were gone, so the bike was calling me. Pulled it out of it's corner and started in. Of course, after sitting for all that time, more stuff had went bad. So find parts. Hmmm, not so easy now. I got disgusted with the poor parts availability of 'vintage' Jap bikes (and it's true, don't deny it) and went out and bought a Sportster. Now, don't flame me for that; I didn't get rid of the XS did I? The Sporty is a fine bike, with great handling, unbelievable parts selection, and excellent fuel mileage (my wife's econobox gets better mileage than my XS ever did), but it's not a high-speed distance bike (yes, they DO vibrate, but no worse than the XS650 I had).
Well, the bike sat a bit more until my oldest kid expressed an interest. So I tracked down most of the rest of the parts and told him I would 'help' him get it back on the road. He started in on it, but it wasn't 'instant gratification' enough for him and he went out and bought a new Sportster that he since found out he can't afford. In the meanwhile, the XS came 'home'. Most of the hard stuff has been done. All the polished aluminum was pulled off and re-done (lookin' good!), the carbs were went through, and basically all that's left is rebuilding the brakes, a good tune-up, and a re-paint because I couldn't find a 'correct' maroon tank (anybody got a good one for sale? Probably not...). I'd love to 'correctly' restore it, but a OEM-type paint job is a bit beyond my abilities and/or budget, so it'll likely end up a non-stock color. I'm done touring (bad back) and my wife won't ride, so the trailer hitch will probably go away unless I keep it on for a conversation piece (although the reaction I got the time I took the motor top end off my truck to the machine shop in the trailer was priceless).
Anyway, I hope to have the bike up-and-running by the time riding weather comes back, so maybe I'll see you on the road.
And no, I'm not selling the Sporty; the one thing I never liked about the XS was it's weird 'pogo-ing' when corner carving. And let's face it; the XS suspension wasn't that great even when new for that sort of stuff.
Steve Ellingson
Beautiful outer Yelm
While a new member, I'm a long-time XS11 owner, having bought my '78 new in June of that year. I've never been a 'heavy' rider as I live in Washington state and riding in the cold and/or rain isn't my bag at all. My bike still only has about 15K on it.
The bike got semi-regular use and a few touring jaunts (longest was to San Diego) until 1985, when I endoed it on the way to a AMA event (cinders on the road surface in a high-speed sweeper; ALMOST made the corner). Damage was suprisingly light, with a trashed windshield, handlebars, rear fender/taillight, various minor scrapes, busted hinge on the trailer (did I mention I was towing a trailer?) and a big dent in the tank from my knee. I ended up with stitches in my hand and leg (never did figure out how my leg got punctured) but no broken bones or rash. My buddys farmer-fixed it while another took me to the local emergency room, and we continued the trip. The bike never missed a beat, but boy, did that hand hurt. Oh yeah, the other casulty was the two cases of beer in the trailer. My buddys were pissed about that. I'd been rather lucky....
Anyway, I bought most of the parts to fix the bike, and shoved it into the corner of the garage until I healed up and had time to fix it. Well, time marched on, and a divorce, new wife, job, raise kids, etc and before you knew it, 15 years had passed.
Finally, all the kids were gone, so the bike was calling me. Pulled it out of it's corner and started in. Of course, after sitting for all that time, more stuff had went bad. So find parts. Hmmm, not so easy now. I got disgusted with the poor parts availability of 'vintage' Jap bikes (and it's true, don't deny it) and went out and bought a Sportster. Now, don't flame me for that; I didn't get rid of the XS did I? The Sporty is a fine bike, with great handling, unbelievable parts selection, and excellent fuel mileage (my wife's econobox gets better mileage than my XS ever did), but it's not a high-speed distance bike (yes, they DO vibrate, but no worse than the XS650 I had).
Well, the bike sat a bit more until my oldest kid expressed an interest. So I tracked down most of the rest of the parts and told him I would 'help' him get it back on the road. He started in on it, but it wasn't 'instant gratification' enough for him and he went out and bought a new Sportster that he since found out he can't afford. In the meanwhile, the XS came 'home'. Most of the hard stuff has been done. All the polished aluminum was pulled off and re-done (lookin' good!), the carbs were went through, and basically all that's left is rebuilding the brakes, a good tune-up, and a re-paint because I couldn't find a 'correct' maroon tank (anybody got a good one for sale? Probably not...). I'd love to 'correctly' restore it, but a OEM-type paint job is a bit beyond my abilities and/or budget, so it'll likely end up a non-stock color. I'm done touring (bad back) and my wife won't ride, so the trailer hitch will probably go away unless I keep it on for a conversation piece (although the reaction I got the time I took the motor top end off my truck to the machine shop in the trailer was priceless).
Anyway, I hope to have the bike up-and-running by the time riding weather comes back, so maybe I'll see you on the road.
And no, I'm not selling the Sporty; the one thing I never liked about the XS was it's weird 'pogo-ing' when corner carving. And let's face it; the XS suspension wasn't that great even when new for that sort of stuff.
Steve Ellingson
Beautiful outer Yelm
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