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  • #1

    old guy...BACK!

    64 years young here and just bought the bike of my youth, a '79 XS11.
    last month, i had decided to give up biking and sold my kawasaki drifter. i have a mustang convertible, so thought that would satisfy my need for "wind in the face"..NOT!!
    on beautiful days, i'd hear bikes going by and long to be back in the saddle. decided to start looking for a lower priced, nice, dependable bike that i could ride a little when my back wasn't killing me.
    long story short, found a Bob Jones built '79 right here in kansas city at a reasonable price. bike was built in 2002 and still looks and runs like new.
    i bought an XS11 new back in '81 and loved the bike, rode it many, many miles with absolutely no problems.
    i may paint the fenders, and would love to find a king/queen seat for the bike....anybody have one for sale?
    thanks, dutch
    Tags: None
  • #2
    A Born Again XSive!!

    Hey there Dutch,

    Welcome back you old fart!! Oh contrare, there are several here with many more trips around the sun than you sir!!

    BTW, not sure if you knew, but Bob Jones passed away recently, so you have a truely rare find for sure now!

    Hopefully you won't need to do much in the way of repairs, just routine service, but would suggest you edit your signature to include the style...Standard or Special of your 79XS11, so that IF you need assistance, we can provide the proper info. There ARE differences in the years. The 81 you had before only had mech. vac. adv, the cent. adv. curve was programmed into the TCI/iggy box. The 78-80's have a simpler TCI, and utilize mech. vac. and cent. adv. parts. The carbs are also a bit different as well.

    As for the K/Q seat, do you mean the one with the big high back rest built into it, or just a double bucket style? I've gotten one from JCW years ago, Travelcade brand, not the softest for sure. If you have a decent PAN, you could probably do better to take it to an upholstery shop and have one custom cut/made. Folks have commented about shops that you could send the pan to for refinishing as well. I think JCW also has a slip over type kit for it as well in the double bucket style.

    Otherwise, watch Ebay, or post this request for parts in the FOR SALE/WANTED parts Forum here!
    T. C. Gresham
    81SH "Godzilla" . . .1179cc super-rat.
    79SF "The Teacher" . . .basket case!
    History shows again and again,
    How nature points out the folly of men!

    Comment

    • #3
      thanks for the input there topcat. yeah, i know there are some out there who have looged many more miles than i have and are older. in fact, guy i bought the bike from had a few years on me and i have a brother that's 72 and still rides!
      as for the bike, it's a special, and yes, i did know bob had passed. i live in raytown(kansas city suburb), so wasn't far from his shop.
      don't really "need" to do anything to the bike, but may paint the fenders to match the color on the bike and would like the king/queen seat...the one with the high built in passenger backrest. guy i bought the bike from had already redone a stock seat and had lowered it an inch in the process and i got a travelcade seat also in the deal and some other accessories that i'll probably be putting on the site for sale in the next week or so.
      looks like a great site, i've been a member of various honda forums and of course the drifter forum for quite a while.
      dutch

      http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...drocket/rs.jpg

      Comment

      • #4
        Originally posted by dutch1944 View Post
        last month, i had decided to give up biking and sold my kawasaki drifter.
        You sure relapsed fast! Glad to see you found such a nice bike. Welcome to the forum.
        1980 XS850SG - Sold
        1981 XS1100LH Midnight Special (Sold) - purchased 9/29/08
        Fully Vetterized and Dynojet Kit added, Heated Grips, Truck-Lite LED headlight, Accel Coils, Irridium plugs, TKAT Fork Brace, XS850LH Final Drive & Black SS Brake lines from Chacal.
        Here's my web page devoted to my bike! XS/XJ User's Manuals there, and the XJ1100 Service Manual and both XS1100 Service manuals (free download!).

        Whether you think you can, or you think you cannot - You're right.
        -H. Ford

        Comment

        • #5
          Welcome to the forum. We all like pictures here and I for one would sure love to see some of your ride.
          2-79 XS1100 SF
          2-78 XS1100 E Best bike Ever
          80 XS 1100 SG Big bore kit but not fully running yet.
          Couple of more parts bikes of which 2 more will live!

          Comment

          • #6
            Hey Rasputin,

            He put a link to this one in his post, guess you didn't see it?
            T.C.

            T. C. Gresham
            81SH "Godzilla" . . .1179cc super-rat.
            79SF "The Teacher" . . .basket case!
            History shows again and again,
            How nature points out the folly of men!

            Comment

            • #7
              That link slipped right on by my tired eyes for sure. I was a few days behind in reading postings, so I was doing it in a hurry. No excuse for not paying attention though, sorry. Nice looking bike too.
              2-79 XS1100 SF
              2-78 XS1100 E Best bike Ever
              80 XS 1100 SG Big bore kit but not fully running yet.
              Couple of more parts bikes of which 2 more will live!

              Comment

              • #8
                thanks for the welcome. really hated to give up the drifter, but just couldn't justify having such an expensive bike sitting around not being ridden much. with my bad back and hip, most of my riding is just around kansas city now and the xs will be great for that, and if i do want to take a longer trip, i know it's up to that also, and i won't have a bundle in cash sitting around in the garage for those days/weeks i don't feel like riding.
                here's a pic of the drifter i had. it was the 1500 model. put it on craigslist when i decided to sell, and it went the first day.
                dutch
                http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...rnewest001.jpg

                Comment

                • #9
                  Welcome back, Dutch. That's a sweet lookin' ride.
                  I think I have a loose screw behind the handlebars.

                  '79 XS11 Standard, Jardine 4/1, Dyna DC1-1 Coils, 145 mains, 45 pilots, plastic floats - 25.7mm, XV920 fuel valves, inline fuel filters, speed bleeders, Mikes XS pods, spade-type fuse block, fork brace, progressive fork springs/shocks, manual petcocks, 750 FD, Venture cam chain tensioner, SS brake lines

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    That's a sweet looking ride Dutch.Hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of it.You've probably noticed many of us are very passionate about these bikes and you found a nice one.Congratulations! Terry
                    1980 special (Phyllis)
                    1196 10.5 to 1 kit,megacycle cams,shaved head,dynojet carb kit,ported intake and exhaust,mac 4 into 1 exhaust,drilled rotors,ss brake lines,pods,mikes xs green coils,iridium plugs,led lights,throttle lock,progressive shocks,oil cooler,ajustable cam gears,HD valve springs,Vmax tensioner mod

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Welcome to the site. That is a very nice looking XS you have there. There is getting to be quite a bunch of us here in KC. I think we need to plan a get together sometime this summer.
                      Harry

                      The voices in my head are giving me the silent treatment.

                      '79 Standard
                      '82 XJ1100
                      '84 FJ1100


                      Acta Non Verba

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