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I bought the XS11 from a mate – he was down on his luck and only parted with it as a matter of need for cash. My former wife didn’t approve of bikes so I had had some 15 years in a bike free wilderness.
Leesa, on the other hand, is supportive and everything a wife/partner/friend could ever be.
Anyhow, the bike, a helmet and jacket became mine for $1200 back in 1995.
The XS had been crashed, had a bogged dent in the tank, sported the crappiest 4 into 1 “Transac” system, but was otherwise OK, basically stock standard with about 120k klms on the ODO, been around at least once. (if you can believe an ODO)
I used the machine on a daily basis and enjoyed many weekends away with Leesa as a willing and competent pillion passenger.
In around ‘98/99 I met friends who were involved with Club Laverda Qld (www.clublaverdaqld.org) and became a member. I had never belonged to an enthusiasts club before and found that I fitted right in. I bore the brunt of many “jappa” and “ujm” jokes but these were in good humor and anyway I was not the only member who didn’t ride a Laverda.
I did the “Bikes are Back” Bathurst run in 2000 with Club Laverda mates – awesome weekend – 3 days of bike racing at Mount Panorama. I traveled heavy – took way too much gear – learned a lot that trip.
By now the XS had developed a nasty oil leak from the base gasket and it was time to overhaul. I have read of the “church of unnecessary modifications” and find that I am of the faithful.
As well as boring to 1130 (Wiseco kit), lightening and polishing the crank, balancing all reciprocating parts, modding the gearbox, new bearings/shims in the middle gear case and dif, new everything (primary chain, bearings, etc), porting and gas flowing the head, Ivan Tighe camshaft (253B grind), I consulted with Mal Pitman regarding making the machine handle less like a cruiser and more like a sport bike.
http://www.blatawcm.com/redbull/Mal.htm
Mal’s suggestions included that I should strip some unnecessary weight from the whale (lost the mammoth indicators, horns, centre stand, unused lugs on the frame, you get the idea), have the frame straightened (put the wheels in the same plane), stiffen the swing arm, make the engine part of the frame (lose the rubber engine mounts), and alter the steering geometry.
I am fortunate in having as a friend “Wobbly Bob” Castle. Bob is a motorcycle drag racer (Suzuki GS1000 and Katana) of renown from here in Brisvagis who has an exemplary workshop and competent associates in the field of m’cycle modifying.
It was using his contacts that the headwork, engine boring/balancing, and gearbox mods, and final engine assembly were completed.
Dave Kellett Motorcycle Engineering at Slacks Creek is the man to repair/straighten frames here in Queensland. Dave raced sidecars here and in Europe and is a contempory of Mal Pitman. Dave straightened my frame and tweaked the steering head angle.
I made the drawings below for a friend to fabricate the swing arm brace.
The frame/swing arm I had sand blasted and powder coated – next time I will paint – the powder coating is prone to becoming discolored and cannot be repaired when needed.
I had a local engineering shop fabricate billet aluminum engine mounts to my drawings and these were siliconed into place on assembly (eliminating vibration). I had high tensile engine mount bolt made up (the long one) with a finer thread as this was a bit corroded.
The machine was painted Ford XR6 blue (blueprint) at the first re-build – I liked the color – simple.
The front forks were modded and fitted with a fork emulator kit (FEGV S3301) and constant rate springs from www.racetech.com - using the best quality auto gearbox oil (Dextron 3) as fork oil (volume as per manual (212ml i think)
The emulators are great once you have adjusted them correctly for your style of riding and prevent that sickening bottoming out of the suspension in potholes or the like (we don’t have roads here in Queensland just road works) - the performance is v similar to a modern (cartridge) front end.
At the back I'm using units from www.bitubo.com (model WME02) - these have "micrometric spring preload adjustment" and rebound adjustment - I should have spent the extra and bought the model with compression adjustment but there it is.
The object of all this was to make the machine handle in the twisties - its no fun fanging with your mates if they leave you behind....................
The “divers mask” headlight I never liked so the round unit has taken its place. I had the rear guard shortened and this has really made the machine look more modern (as well as simplifying rear wheel removal)
I fitted Laverda Jota ‘bars at this time but they were always a little awkward with the stock foot pegs. I tried MX bars (Renthal) – these were great around town but turned one into a windsock on a run.
With the machine in this configuration I clocked up around 20k klms including some commuting, a trip to Phillip Island for the MotoGP, and numerous “high mileage runs” with mates (1500klms in a weekend)
In May ‘07 I allowed No 2 son to borrow the XS for a fang with his mates (sons 2 and 3 are both competent riders at that time owning R6 and VTR1000) and he crashed heavily – he road the machine home to his credit (bent frame, ‘bars, crushed/leaking tank, smashed gauges, 1 less foot peg, no clutch lever, bent seat base) he low sided then the bike slid/tumbled down the bitumen scraping basically everything. Moral is … NEVER LOAN YOUR BIKE.
The XS languished in the shed until last Sept when, after a strip down, a massive hunt for gauges, much polishing, and a serious frame straightening, she was reborn in orange – I sourced rear sets and here we are……..
The bar end mirrors are from www.austreetfighter.com.au http://ausfr.com.au/cart/shopdisplay...arch=yes&bc=no
I heard they are not street legal here but I haven't been pulled up yet and they work great. The gauges are stock, switch blocks are XJ1200 (needed some re-wiring to plug into XS), the grey gauge on the LHS of the 'bars is a bicycle speedo ($69, v accurate, gives speed, odo/trip, max/av speed, elapsed time, and has a clock. More expensive units are wireless and have a backlight function) the sender is on the LH front brake rotor. The Laverda Jota 'bars combined with the rearsets suit my style of riding. The brace on the swingarm is visible here.
The 'bars are not quite stock Laverda Jota 'bars - I had to mod them after the last crash by straightening and lengthening the end parts (needed more bar length on the throttle side than a Laverda) I used heavier gauge pipe - this turned out to be a *uck up as i've had to machine the weights for the bar end mirrors to fit into the ends. I also had an issue with vibration in the RH bar – mostly fixed now by driving a few 75gm lead sinkers down the bar end.
The rear sets are "off the shelf" http://www.raask.se/fy40.jpg
My late father was a pattern maker and I have certain expectations regarding the finish of castings and so was sadly disappointed - once I had linished the cast brackets (removing the makers marks in the process) they bolted on, adjusted up and work all without a problem
You will find the Jota bars on the Raask site also but I don't know about quality.
With the help of B1, a CLQ clubbie, the seat base has finally been repaired and the seat re-covered (an expert job done by John Moorhouse at Evo Seats here in Brisvagis – turns out his late brother raced XS11’s in superbike back in the day here in Australia)
So the bike is again entire – now about that electronic ignition timing and dialing the camshaft timing……….
Leesa, on the other hand, is supportive and everything a wife/partner/friend could ever be.
Anyhow, the bike, a helmet and jacket became mine for $1200 back in 1995.
The XS had been crashed, had a bogged dent in the tank, sported the crappiest 4 into 1 “Transac” system, but was otherwise OK, basically stock standard with about 120k klms on the ODO, been around at least once. (if you can believe an ODO)
I used the machine on a daily basis and enjoyed many weekends away with Leesa as a willing and competent pillion passenger.
In around ‘98/99 I met friends who were involved with Club Laverda Qld (www.clublaverdaqld.org) and became a member. I had never belonged to an enthusiasts club before and found that I fitted right in. I bore the brunt of many “jappa” and “ujm” jokes but these were in good humor and anyway I was not the only member who didn’t ride a Laverda.
I did the “Bikes are Back” Bathurst run in 2000 with Club Laverda mates – awesome weekend – 3 days of bike racing at Mount Panorama. I traveled heavy – took way too much gear – learned a lot that trip.
By now the XS had developed a nasty oil leak from the base gasket and it was time to overhaul. I have read of the “church of unnecessary modifications” and find that I am of the faithful.
As well as boring to 1130 (Wiseco kit), lightening and polishing the crank, balancing all reciprocating parts, modding the gearbox, new bearings/shims in the middle gear case and dif, new everything (primary chain, bearings, etc), porting and gas flowing the head, Ivan Tighe camshaft (253B grind), I consulted with Mal Pitman regarding making the machine handle less like a cruiser and more like a sport bike.
http://www.blatawcm.com/redbull/Mal.htm
Mal’s suggestions included that I should strip some unnecessary weight from the whale (lost the mammoth indicators, horns, centre stand, unused lugs on the frame, you get the idea), have the frame straightened (put the wheels in the same plane), stiffen the swing arm, make the engine part of the frame (lose the rubber engine mounts), and alter the steering geometry.
I am fortunate in having as a friend “Wobbly Bob” Castle. Bob is a motorcycle drag racer (Suzuki GS1000 and Katana) of renown from here in Brisvagis who has an exemplary workshop and competent associates in the field of m’cycle modifying.
It was using his contacts that the headwork, engine boring/balancing, and gearbox mods, and final engine assembly were completed.
Dave Kellett Motorcycle Engineering at Slacks Creek is the man to repair/straighten frames here in Queensland. Dave raced sidecars here and in Europe and is a contempory of Mal Pitman. Dave straightened my frame and tweaked the steering head angle.
I made the drawings below for a friend to fabricate the swing arm brace.
The frame/swing arm I had sand blasted and powder coated – next time I will paint – the powder coating is prone to becoming discolored and cannot be repaired when needed.
I had a local engineering shop fabricate billet aluminum engine mounts to my drawings and these were siliconed into place on assembly (eliminating vibration). I had high tensile engine mount bolt made up (the long one) with a finer thread as this was a bit corroded.
The machine was painted Ford XR6 blue (blueprint) at the first re-build – I liked the color – simple.
The front forks were modded and fitted with a fork emulator kit (FEGV S3301) and constant rate springs from www.racetech.com - using the best quality auto gearbox oil (Dextron 3) as fork oil (volume as per manual (212ml i think)
The emulators are great once you have adjusted them correctly for your style of riding and prevent that sickening bottoming out of the suspension in potholes or the like (we don’t have roads here in Queensland just road works) - the performance is v similar to a modern (cartridge) front end.
At the back I'm using units from www.bitubo.com (model WME02) - these have "micrometric spring preload adjustment" and rebound adjustment - I should have spent the extra and bought the model with compression adjustment but there it is.
The object of all this was to make the machine handle in the twisties - its no fun fanging with your mates if they leave you behind....................
The “divers mask” headlight I never liked so the round unit has taken its place. I had the rear guard shortened and this has really made the machine look more modern (as well as simplifying rear wheel removal)
I fitted Laverda Jota ‘bars at this time but they were always a little awkward with the stock foot pegs. I tried MX bars (Renthal) – these were great around town but turned one into a windsock on a run.
With the machine in this configuration I clocked up around 20k klms including some commuting, a trip to Phillip Island for the MotoGP, and numerous “high mileage runs” with mates (1500klms in a weekend)
In May ‘07 I allowed No 2 son to borrow the XS for a fang with his mates (sons 2 and 3 are both competent riders at that time owning R6 and VTR1000) and he crashed heavily – he road the machine home to his credit (bent frame, ‘bars, crushed/leaking tank, smashed gauges, 1 less foot peg, no clutch lever, bent seat base) he low sided then the bike slid/tumbled down the bitumen scraping basically everything. Moral is … NEVER LOAN YOUR BIKE.
The XS languished in the shed until last Sept when, after a strip down, a massive hunt for gauges, much polishing, and a serious frame straightening, she was reborn in orange – I sourced rear sets and here we are……..
The bar end mirrors are from www.austreetfighter.com.au http://ausfr.com.au/cart/shopdisplay...arch=yes&bc=no
I heard they are not street legal here but I haven't been pulled up yet and they work great. The gauges are stock, switch blocks are XJ1200 (needed some re-wiring to plug into XS), the grey gauge on the LHS of the 'bars is a bicycle speedo ($69, v accurate, gives speed, odo/trip, max/av speed, elapsed time, and has a clock. More expensive units are wireless and have a backlight function) the sender is on the LH front brake rotor. The Laverda Jota 'bars combined with the rearsets suit my style of riding. The brace on the swingarm is visible here.
The 'bars are not quite stock Laverda Jota 'bars - I had to mod them after the last crash by straightening and lengthening the end parts (needed more bar length on the throttle side than a Laverda) I used heavier gauge pipe - this turned out to be a *uck up as i've had to machine the weights for the bar end mirrors to fit into the ends. I also had an issue with vibration in the RH bar – mostly fixed now by driving a few 75gm lead sinkers down the bar end.
The rear sets are "off the shelf" http://www.raask.se/fy40.jpg
My late father was a pattern maker and I have certain expectations regarding the finish of castings and so was sadly disappointed - once I had linished the cast brackets (removing the makers marks in the process) they bolted on, adjusted up and work all without a problem
You will find the Jota bars on the Raask site also but I don't know about quality.
With the help of B1, a CLQ clubbie, the seat base has finally been repaired and the seat re-covered (an expert job done by John Moorhouse at Evo Seats here in Brisvagis – turns out his late brother raced XS11’s in superbike back in the day here in Australia)
So the bike is again entire – now about that electronic ignition timing and dialing the camshaft timing……….
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