Quite ambitious

[cajun31]

Wow....what an asking price. Is this one of the xs11.com members. Not an orginal restore job with the round gauges and turn signals as well as the paint job. I am waiting to see if it sells and if we ever know for how much.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1978-...item23050a67f8

[crazy steve]

Besides the bike, he also has a 'standard' paint set (fenders, seat, tank, sidecovers) listed for a mere $1900.

Except the front fender's for a special..... oops!

'78E original owner

[DGXSER]

Well the pics of the bike show two different side cover sets, some pics show the "XS Eleven" emblem ,others show the "1.1" emblems.

As stated, it looks all standard until you get to the lights and gages those are all special so the history of the bike appears more sordid than is stated.

I'd love to see it sell for what he is asking though, might help the price of my project bike go up!

[Mr.Bill]

1.1 what 1.1 litre

Also, what are those handlebars on that ? Thats not stock for a 78 standard is it ?

I like them whatever they are

[79XS11F]

WOW, if he can get 7500 for that one mine must be worth at least 10K.



Rob

[DGXSER]

1.1 was the european designation of the Special IIRC. So those side covers are anything but stock. The bars look kinda like the stock standard bars, but I am not very familiar with the standards as I have not owned one...yet...

[crazy steve]

1.1 what 1.1 litre

Also, what are those handlebars on that ? Thats not stock for a 78 standard is it ?

I like them whatever they are

The bars look like they have less 'pullback' that the OEM ones as well as being a bit lower. And if you look carefully, you'll notice the vent cap is broken off the vent on the final drive, so his 'attention to detail' wasn't that great.

'78E original owner

[Guy_b_g]

In that shape with those mods I'd say he is asking about $4500 too much in Buy it Now, and that's being generous.

[DGXSER]

The bars look like they have less 'pullback' that the OEM ones as well as being a bit lower. And if you look carefully, you'll notice the vent cap is broken off the vent on the final drive, so his 'attention to detail' wasn't that great.

'78E original owner

Upon closer inspection I also noted that the exhaust pipes show signs of pitting and the flanges where they mount to the head appear to be from a special and not a standard IIRC. The instrument cluster is from a standard, although the gages are from a special so you get to see in two places if you have your high beams on? Which means there is some form of wiring butchery in place somewhere in that headlight bucket.

Frame number appears to be a 78, Not entirely sure the engine number matches it though.

Yeah, being rather nitpicky compared to my own bikes, but I never thought to ask almost 8k for one of mine.

[crazy steve]

Upon closer inspection I also noted that the exhaust pipes show signs of pitting and the flanges where they mount to the head appear to be from a special and not a standard IIRC. The instrument cluster is from a standard, although the gages are from a special so you get to see in two places if you have your high beams on?

The flanges are OEM standard as they're indentical to mine. As to the gauges, I guess the two high beam indicators are supposed to make up for the lack of either the fuel gauge or light.

The more you look, the more mickey-mouse stuff you see....

'78E original owner

[Bigge_al]

Next time I buy

Next time I go looking into buying a XS or XJ I am taking y'all. Dang you picked up on things that I would not even took a second look at. Two high beam light would not even thought about that.

[Larrym]

Return On Investment

So the bike has a number of things which don't stand up to close scrutiny. Kinda puts it in a category where it's not a museum quality restoration or a daily rider but somewhere in between.

Sounds like the guy did put a lot of effort into it though. I've done that to a lot of the vehicles and vessels I've owned. But my strategy for doing anything like this in the first place was to own it and use it as a means to to get a good ROI.

I mean when it comes to owning transportation, I choose to buy a used classic which holds its value, repair/restore it in order to make it roadworthy, and then drive it for a decade or so. When I do sell it most times I get more money than I paid for it. A far different strategy than buying something new, taking the depreciation hit, and then selling it 4 years down the road in order to do the same thing again.

This guy is really missing out by not riding the bike for a few years. Not all the ROI is in the form of $$$: The memories, the rides, the friends made, and of course that nebulous COOL factor of having a 30 plus year old vehicle.

D'ya think the proceeds will be enough to buy a decent new zip-splat??

[xs11lover]

I understand everything you guys are saying, but it only takes one guy with the cash to hit the "buy it now" and he's one happy ebayer.
Shoot for the stars!

[Larrym]

Other Side of the Transaction...

That's exactly why I never buy anything off E-Bay.

Winners Curse.

[xs11lover]

Never is a strong word. There are a few sellers on ebay you can trust. ole 492, acof911, georgefix, and me. xs11lover To name a few.