A project Begins....Picture intensive

[DGXSER]

So I have been looking for a smaller bike perhaps for just puttering around town. Then I find an ad for a fresh form the barn XS11, says its a 79 Special. Only one bad picture of it in the barn looking awful dusty. So I went to see it. Has not run in two years or so. Figured I was gonna have a long drive for a short beer, but as it turns out it looked ok, definitely not a cosmetic work of art, not yet anyway. And the engine turns over, the seat is not torn up, and....its an 81 just like mine. So I figure I need a stock seat for mine anyway, so I bought a REALLY expensive seat (perhaps).

Here it is fresh out of the barn after arriving at the homestead. I had to pull the fornt calipers loose as they were locked up.

Day 1 Just home.











Yeah, I know the bars are going need to be replaced. Anyone looking for a good home for their od buckhorns?

I have already started cleaning a spot on the rear fender which shined up very nicely, and a spot on the tank came out great as well. So I am hopefull on the cosmetic side of things.

The wiring is at best a clusterf...uhhh...well...yeah. I already order and received today (thanks TC) a new fuse box for the beast. As you see the PO did not believe in fuses, just twist the main wires together. Crimp connect the others.





So, I now have pulled the tank and removed the petcocks, pulled the carbs and they are completely broke down ready for a serious triple cleaning. So here is the newest torment as she sits tonight.



My first task is to see if it runs, then I'll play with brakes and cosmetics. Wish me luck cause I know I will need it!!

[DGXSER]

Forgot to mention and it may not be obvious to some, its actually an 81. Frame and engine match.

[tarzan]

Nice find,
I am going through the same thing with an XS750 I picked up for $125 this week.It sat outside several years and the front wheel is froze up.I removed the calipers like you did but the wheel still doesnt turn.It was a challenge moving it around.
I pulled the carbs off and installed the set of carbs off the XS850 I am working on.I had already rebuilt them.
I also changed the oil and filter and the PO had left out the spring under the filter.I found a spring that I made work.
Then the whole fuse block was missing.Schucks didn't have a fuse block,so I bought some inline fuses.Added gas to the tank and it fired right up.It runs great.Too bad it didn't come with a title.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey DG,

The gauges and left engine/crank cover says 81, as does your vin #'s, but the right ALT cover says a different year!? Perhaps the PO had charging troubles with that fine wiring setup! Hopefully it still works and charges!? Have fun!
T.C.

[DGXSER]

Hard to tell TC, that cover has been off and one of the POs cracked the bolt hole where the alternator cover bolts onto the block behind the cylinders. I'll deal with that once I get the bike running. Yeah all those wire nuts add confidence as well as the wire from a lamp cord used to wire the front turn signals. The wiring may well be the toughest part of this entire thing.

It was not quite $125, it was a $200 seat. Not to bad from what I see so far.

[DenyP]

Great find, I'm envious! Here winter is starting and I've no project...

Deny

[Bigfoot]

Never seen turn signals mounted on the handlebars before.

[DGXSER]

You know Harry, that was one of my first "WTF" moments when I saw the bike, and they are HUGE to. These may be replacment fork tubes as the ears are gone also. The second "holy F#$%in SH$T" was the wiring. I have never seen anyoen completely eliminate all fuses before to the point of taking the main fuse iut and just twistign the wires together with nothing over the exposed wires!

There is also some goofy piece someone welded on the top of the frame downcomers. I'll get a picture of it and post.

Good news is the tank has cleaned up pretty well so far. I am concerend that one small spot on the side has rust that is causing metal flaking. But I remain hopefull.

[DGXSER]

Ok so here is the progress to date. I have the carbs completely torn down, soaked all the removable parts in Berrymans dip (save the rubber stuff of course). Kits from Georgefix on the way, and new pilot air jets on order. The PO had installed the N151 style pilot jets with no holes but upped them to 47.5s, but had 170 pilot air jets. It has stock air box and pipes (original yamaha emblem on them.) So not sure what they were trying to do.

Anyway, the seat may need a new covering The PO spray painted the barn it was in with it in there, the overspray is killing me.



However, the tank paint turned out pretty good. A few places required touch up paint, but overall better than I expected. Now I just need to clean out the varnished gas in the bottom of the tank. Hardley any rust inside tank too





Thanks to TC's fuse box and connectors, and about 18 hours of wiring fun, the bike now has fuses and no more patched up wiring save one wire nut I need to make a permanent conection on.



I think I found the problem with fuses in the bike, one of the hot wires in the front loom was piched in the steering area and almost in two pieces. Made that repair plus about 10 others up here. then wrapped E-tape around the groups of wires to control them. also bought the plastic tubing to put over them as well.



The rear turn signals were just as botched up wiring, and had a very "unique" mounting system. They were from a Suzuki of some type. Yep that is a copper plumbing reducer in there. The ground wire was simply wrapped around stuff, a common theme on the bike.



Opened up the front master cylinder, did someone misplace a Lousiana Bayou?? This is after I sucked it out with my mityvac. Yep, MC will be coming apart for sure.



Now to end on some good things though, the front and rear fenders looked alot better with a little chrome polish and some elbow grease. Just checked a couple spots, but they look promising. Front still has a wasy to go for sure, that overspray paint is thicker up there.





Well tomorrow is another day, hoping to get to do a compression check now that I got wiring and fuses to put power to the starter.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Lookin' like progress, Don. Hang in there... that's the adventure...

What's the old saying... ? Rome wasn't built in a day...

Man, that's too bad they got all that overspray on it like that... that's a lot of work right there.

But, when she's done... it'll be worth it.

And if it turns out lookin' anything like your other one's... she'll be a thing of beauty.

Hang tuff.

[Varnae]

As my anatomy professor used to say, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time."

Looks like you're doin' a great job Don. Keep up the good work and it'll be ready for sale in the spring.

[bikerphil]

overspray

If you have some reducer from a previous paint job hanging around, it'll work pretty well at removing the overspray. I just tried it on a chrome fender and worked pretty well using a shop rag and a bit of pressure. Watch out for the fumes!

[DGXSER]

Thanks for the kind words guys! It has been a project alright. I have finaly found the end of the wiring managerie I hope. Here is what I found when I unraveled the electical tape wrapping paper around the base of the main key switch.

Notice the nice hole cut through the back of it and the jumble of twisted wires. A replacement switch off of whatever was around cobled togeher to at one point let the machine run.



Here we see the great job of making the mounting holes fit....whatever might need to go up there...



Not sure what was really holding it up, maybe the electrical tape.

Well now for the bad news, I ran compression and the numbers were not to good. 1-4 went 80-60-70-90. So I added two teaspoons of oil to each cylinder and went again, numbers improved to 130-120-125-135. Unless the rinds need that little bit of oil to seal since the bike sat for two years or so without ever turning over, so dry cylinders. Otherwise, the rings may need replacing.

So, not to be to dishartened, I did get alot of the overspray off with paint thinner. The seat is still screwed, but the fenders are coming out pretty good. Removed and cleaned both front brake calipers, tested the TCI in Thunderstruck and it worked great, also made a better more refined bracket for the fuse box. This one supports the flasher and the solenoid.



Ohh...and I was VERY fortunate that another local XSer located for me one of the holy grails of XS parts, a special headlight with bucket and front turn signals!!! And it is in showroom condition!! Was only on the bike for one year before a faring was added!!

[tarzan]

Well that bike should keep you busy for a while.
I wonder if just running the bike for a while will get the rings to re-seat.26,000 miles aren't many miles.
Nice score on the headlight and turn signals.
Thanks for posting you're progress,I love this type of thread.
Rick

[DiverRay]

I agree with Rick, just ride the bike for at lest 500 miles BEFORE you retest the compression. After running for a while, the rings will usually reseat and the compression will be right back close to factory.