What a lucky find!

[Dwayne "Tuffy"]

I have been working on resurrecting to as original condition as possible a 1981 XS1100 LH Midnight Special. The biggest hurdle was the motor has some issues with a crankshaft connecting rod bearing spun on a journal. I sourced a replacement motor with Andreas and was ready to make a deal, when a local Yamaha dealer provided a solution I could not turn down. I located a fully intact, original condition 1980 XS1100 Midnight Special with everything there.
The original owner had no cash to get the bike back running as there were some electrical issues that had to be taken care of. I got a good bike for not much more than the price of a used motor and have everything for a rebuild.
The tough decision is which bike to resurrect? Decisions-Decisions!
It really does pay to look around and ask questions.
Keep the shiny side up and the wind in your face.

[boyat68]

I would imagine that it would be an advantage to keep the models separate as the engine in the 80 is already connected as well as the carbs for the 80 may be slightly different than the 81. It would be a piece of cake to get the intact 80 working, and later on you could tackle the spun journal as it may only require a bearing and the journal is ok.

[trbig]

Easy enough for me to sit here and say this.. it isn't my money.. but as rare as the midnights are.. I wouldn't canabalize either of them. Just watch around on Craigslist and I'm willing to bet you'll find a complete parts bike with a motor.. cheaper than you can buy a motor. Take the motor out of that one, paint it black and sell the parts off of it to make your money back.
Just my opinion.

Tod

[oseaghdha]

Keep both of them

Fix the '80 and ride it.

Find a donor bike, fix the '81 motor.
You can swap out the crank and rods, sell the leftovers.

Having the correct engine will make worth more.

[CatatonicBug]

Easy enough for me to sit here and say this.. it isn't my money.. but as rare as the midnights are.. I wouldn't canabalize either of them. Just watch around on Craigslist and I'm willing to bet you'll find a complete parts bike with a motor.. cheaper than you can buy a motor. Take the motor out of that one, paint it black and sell the parts off of it to make your money back.
Just my opinion.

Tod

I 2nd that, Don't tear apart a MNS that might possibly be fixable!