swapping out carbs

[rizzo4u2]

is there another set of carbs that can be used on the xs 1100 that are newer than the ones i have now , trying to upgrade parts are getting hard to get

[foreda]

Carb swap

What year model do you have? It would be helpful for to provide more information on your motorcycle(s).

[rizzo4u2]

79 xs 1100 f

[foreda]

Parts

79 xs 1100 f

What specific parts are you looking for? There are still some parts available for these bikes. I have 4 of them and I generally do not have trouble getting what I need. If you are wanting new parts, that's another story. There are some parts but they are very expensive.

[rizzo4u2]

i guess im trying to have a decent set that are reliable this year for some riding with the guys mine have been repaired several times in the past alm ost used a whole box of bandaids on them lol

[CatatonicBug]

As long as the casting is intact, the only thing you need to do to these carbs is clean them and sometimes replace jets and other internal components. All those parts are available from various sources if you need them. I went ahead and bought complete bebuild kits for mine when I first got the bike, but some folks would prefer to use the old parts and just clean them up really good.

If you outline the problems you're having, I'm sure we can help you get your stock carbs running just fine.

[Larrym]

Choose Wisely

i guess im trying to have a decent set that are reliable this year for some riding with the guys

There's not a member here who doesn't feel the exact same way. Thing is that to achieve that goal most of us had to think things through and have come up with the same solution. (Exceptions made for those who have opted out of carbs altogether and done a fuel injection modification..)

Starts out with accepting the fact that the carbs are just pieces of aluminum with lots of holes/passages in 'em. No moving parts there to wear out. All the stuff that goes on after that is replace-able: jets, needles, seats, gaskets, etc. Lot's of help here on this site is there for anyone who is on the hunt for any of those replaceable parts: used, new, from members, from online suppliers.

So like C-bug says, unless some one has been ham-handed with the carb bodies and broken/boogered them up past the point of recovery, you really are in good shape. If you wanna bail on them then for enlightenment purposes, theoretically you could take pics of your carbs and then post them here on the site in the classifieds/parts for sale section. I'd bet that in very short time that the same carbs you'd be willing to give up on would go for a good price to another member. ( If the carb bodies weren't mangled then the new owner would likely be tickled pink with his new aquisition.)

But then if you wanted to ride with the guys you'd still have to find some way of getting the right fuel/air mix into the cylinders. A vicious circle, eh??

Do them yourself: depends on whether you're tooled up for the job and have prior experience/confidence. There is a learning curve if you do all that by your lonesome self. Fortunately there's tech tips here on the site along with members willing to reply to your questions if you reach a snag.

Have a shop do them: I dunno but no shop in my neck of the woods will do them or has the techs with "old school" superbike carbs experience.

Another option here on the site for your consideration:

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showpost.p...6&postcount=15

Whatever you choose to do, I hope that you do get the chance to ride this season--- On an XS preferably. I'm biased where that's concerned.

[rizzo4u2]

fuel coming out of the airbox

i am having problems with fuel coming out of my air box now what i said to myself here we go again , from the top of the carbs the fuel line gets hooked up on the bottom t and the vac gets hooked on the top t right............or am i backwords not a good day

[DGXSER]

Hmmm....I assume you have the older style carbs. In which case, the top T is a vent. It goes to atmosphere or perhaps to the vent tubes on the standard airbox if you use it.

If you ran vacuum to those top Ts, that will cause ALOT of issues I would think, like fuel flowing past the float valves.

[rizzo4u2]

gas in airbox

1979 xs1100f

[rizzo4u2]

top lines going to the airbox and the bottoms are going to the tank

[WMarshy]

Sounds like you have the classic leaky petcock/float valve problem. When ever you have gas flooding your airbox its due to 2 problems.

1. One or both petcocks are leaking. They are vacuum operated and shouldnt allow fuel to flow in any position when no vac is present.

2. The float valves are leaking from being dirty or just not seating as well as they should (they are 30 yrs old!).

[Larrym]

What's What and Who Knows It.

Mike,

Yeah. You've just experienced the classic "Tell-Tale" that something's not stopping the fuel like it's supposed to: fuel leaking out of the bike's airbox. Oddly enough, if you take the bottom of the air cleaner off you'll see that there's a orifice specifically designed/placed to allow that puddle of fuel to drain out onto the bike instead of filling up the lower half of the air cleaner. I would guess that if that orifice weren't there maybe a quart or so fuel could collect in there and slosh around. Wouldn't that be fun??

The fuel might have drained into other areas where it could cause big problems: the crankcase. At this point I'd recommend that you both check the oil level to make sure that it's not higher than it should be and to also open the filler cap to smell the oil. If it smells like gas then the thing to do is to NOT run the bike but rather to correct the fuel problem and change the oil.

As far as what to do next, I and others can walk you through the step-by-step process and that's a little time consuming. If you don't have a repair manual then I'd strongly urge you to get one and to familiarize yourself with the FUEL section. There's also the TECH tips section here on the forum that will give you a heads-up on stuff not included in the repair manual.

Lastly, and I don't see why more Owners don't utilize this resource, there are others in your area that really know what's what on these bikes and might be willing to assist/advise in person. Everyone here has been there going through the gate for the first time on a lot of repairs. Your probably not gonna find someone who'll do all the work for you but then what would be the fun in that? Check out this thread here on the site:

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...t=Pennsylvania

This conversation never happened and you just happened to find that thread by yourself, right??

It's all 'bout the bike: riding it and doing what it takes to keep it on the road.

[Yard Dogg]

A great place to get replacement parts for these carbs is Carb Kit Capital. Here's a link. They have everything you will ever need and are affordable from what I can see. They have complete kits for your year and petcock rebuild kits which has everything for your tank valves and vacuum valve. I was able to buy just one pilot screw instead of a whole kit.

http://www.carbkitscapital.com/

[DGXSER]

Sounds like you have the classic leaky petcock/float valve problem. When ever you have gas flooding your airbox its due to 2 problems.

1. One or both petcocks are leaking. They are vacuum operated and shouldnt allow fuel to flow in any position when no vac is present.

2. The float valves are leaking from being dirty or just not seating as well as they should (they are 30 yrs old!).

Actually, if problem no 2 is corrected, problem no 1 does not matter until you want to pull the fuel lines off. But then, you have the off position on the petcocks for that.

Yes, he does seem to be in need of petcock rebuild though. Beware on this one, it has been posted here several times that the valves in the repair kits are just a fraction smaller than the OEM and may not seal.