Back in the Saddle

[rubadub]

Well after a 13 year hiatus, the bug came back. One night found myself looking at motorcycles on craigslist, and now have purchased a 1980 XS1100 Midnight Special. Previous bike was a 1982 CB 900 Custom. I love the Classic style of this era.

Mrs. Rubadub is not pleased

Looking for some fellow Xs'ers to ride and share info with.

Looking forward to meeting some of the riders here

Rubadub

[latexeses]

Welcome,

You found the tub.

Plenty of information here to keep your ride in top shape. There is a strong MNS following here.

I'll tell you first that everyone here like pictures. Grab a photobucket account and get used to the fun...

Get used to the search button too. I've asked a bunch of questions only to find out that they are there for the answering.

Welcome again,

Rodger

[CatatonicBug]

Welcome aboard! Always good to see another Midnight on the road! You've found the right place for info about these incredible bikes. Anything and everything you might want to know about them is available here! Any questions you might have, feel free to ask! There are a few rallies across the continent each year, so keep your eyes peeled on the Rallies section of the forum. We also like pictures here, so make sure to post some on your MNS so we can drool over it.

[rubadub]

Photo

[rubadub]

Photo

[TopCatGr58]

Black is Beautiful....in this case anyways! I never noticed before that the rear brake lever was also gold colored? Just an FYI, your exhausts are NOT OEM, that looks like an RC Engineering ceramic coated set of pipes. And your fork brace as from a 650.

That front tire looks like the pattern of a Cheng Shin....you might want to look a bit closer at it for it's branding, as well as the date stamp of manufacture. These machines often sit around for years, and the rubber gets old/hard easily. Be thankful that it's an 80 MNS and not an 81, the 81's were more like the XJ's with even harder to find parts.

How about some history of the bike, was it ridden often by the PO, how many miles on the clock. At least you have experience riding a similarly sized and powered machine with your previous 900. I don't have any experience with the 900, but this machine is a bit stronger. I had a 9 year hiatus myself 9 years ago, when my trans went out, and so after getting it back on the road, I just rode locally the first year. I've never taken an MSF course, been planning on finding on to attend, possibly an advanced course, but I've been familiar with countersteering, and many/most of the other safety riding techniques.

See member Catatonic Bug's reply/profile above and check out his download links for owner's and service manuals. Also take some time to read thru the tech tips, especially the maintanence section, certain things like cam chain tensioner adjustment....if done wrong, can lead to severe engine damage!
T.C.

[mro]

MNS, very cool

Very nice.
I second what TC says about the tires. Old rubber can be like always ridding when it first starts to rain and at the least can leed to a rather embarrassing XSperience.

mro
Somewhere out in my garage is a LG (or most of one )

[FANNING507]

Sweet looking scoot. Welcome to the site.

[Bigfoot]

Nice looking midnight and welcome to the site.

BTW, the brake lever was originally black.

[dpotter58]

Nice

I'm pretty sure there is atleast one XSer in Vienna...
I look at craigslist frequently but obviously not enough...

[foreda]

Greetings

Welcome to the pit!!

[latexeses]

Wow tough luck on the bike...Look at all the experience you are going to miss getting that bike looking nice. All of the dirty hands, barked knuckles, new language. All those experiences missed. Bummer.....

The bike looks great. Congratulations!

[rubadub]

Thanks, Road trip Wisconsin to DC

Thanks for all the comments

I'll be going on a road trip labor day weekend, starting in Wisconsin, and going to Washington DC. Anyone who would like to meet up and ride along, would be great.

Looking for some recommended by ways to travel, and places NOT to go

[tarzan]

Very sweet ride.Did you buy it as is?Or did you do some detailing.
Welcome to XS11
Rick

[rubadub]

Purchased as is
I need to do a little detail work