What did you do to your bike today?

[mro]

I bought a 1981 XS11 about a week ago,
BTW, I got one with a fairing and mounted hard bags. I suspect that is the "D" version?

Hi and welcome to CH 11.
81 standards are "H" models
Specials would be "SH"
No "D" model any year

Not a good idea to ride any bike if fuel is leaking. Very easily can turn in to a flaming bomb.

As for carb problems and having a shop do the work, expect it to cost around four hours labor to clean, sync/adjust them (some people may take longer) plus any parts. If you don't know the history of your bikes maintenance I recommend reading thru the tech tips as there can be some safety concerns that are fairly easy to address or you might ask the shop to do it. (tires/brakes/hoses/fluids etc.)


mro
BTW, have any pics of your ride?

[grahamfam3]

No pics yet, unfortunately.

Since the bike had no service history, I told the mechanic who works for the motorcycle repair shop operated by the local CENEX Co-op to replace the air and oil filters, and to replace all the fluids (except for the brakes, just top the fluids off, which he suggested and after reading the forums I understand why, sounds like if they are working well it's best not to mess with them) and get it tuned up. Also for him to check the hoses, cables, etc.

I purchased it for $900, and the plates on it were last updated in 1996, so I fully expect to put money into it, so the cost for the work is part of my budget.

One thing I learned from being in the Army is it is better to spend $200 (not the estimated repair bill, just an example) on preventative maintenance checks and services than to pay $2000 for a repair bill.

Today I ordered a replacement seat cover from JCWhitney as the original one on the bike is pretty ripped up. Hopefully it fits.

The radio in it does not work and is missing the knobs. I searched the forums for information on aftermarket radios and found a few things, but not any real recommendations. Sounds like some people have Sirius Satellite Radio on theirs? If anyone has any suggestions on where to go to for replacement radios or ones that have worked well for them, I would love to hear about it.

[79XS11F]

Today I picked up a new CTC Motomaster brand battery for the hop up bike. The old one would no longer accept a charge but it was 4 years old so I can forgive it for crapping out on me.
The battery it replaces was a CTC eliminator brand battery which is listed as the standard replacement for the 79 XS1100. This cheaper battery does have a different foot print and is taller then the original. It is about 1/4 of an inch taller, 1/8 to 1/4 inch wider and a full inch or perhaps more shorter in length. It is however, heavier then the other one and offers a higher amp hour rating. The difference is cost was 56.00 bucks so i think it is worth it even if I have to adjust the battery tray to accept it.
Rob

[benxs1100]

Today I changed my middle and final drive oil and decided to give the bike a much needed bath when done. Once it was all sparkly clean I fired it up to go for a ride and #1 cylinder was not firing at all. After a little investigation I found I was not getting any fuel to it so I proceeded to rip as much of the carb apart as I could without taking the whole rail off. Several hours later and pretty much disgusted I threw it back together and headed home. About 1 block from my house whatever was clogged/stuck that was preventing vacuum in the carb let go and she is running like a champ again.

[justme1100]

Installed new headlight bucket, fixed the broken wiring from the accident, adjusted clutch, put controls on new handle bars ( mounted real bars, lost those screwy XJ 4 piece ones) trying to figure out where brake light wires need to go as I can't find the plug??? Need to change the oil and filter. Put the painted parts on along with case guards. My list goes on and on

[XS1100 Newbie]

Today i isolated and repaired the loos of total electric that i experienced on a ride the other day. It was intermitent the other day, and i totaly expected it to be hard to find. Ended up it did it's final power loss on the first time trying to start this morning. That allowed me to find it a lot easier. It was a bad connection on the positive battery cable on both ends. Replaced the ends, and shrink sleeved and sealed them. Found a couple other bad connections and repaired them as well.

[3Phase]

Three Rides

I cleaned up some rust around the fuel filler inlet, replaced the rusty screws with stainless steel screws and repainted the fuel filler neck area under the chrome bezel. It had to dry for a few days and it was finally dry enough to go to the station and fill up the tank. It will need a final fuel-proof coat of epoxy paint when the Rustoleum finishes curing in another month or two but it's good enough for now if I put the fuel in the tank and not on the tank.

I went for a leisurely ride then bought a can of engine cleaner, went home and washed the bike. The engine had a runny nose for while (slow drip from the cam chain tensioner plug) and slimed the whole underside of the bike so it was nice to get that cleaned up. It fired up on the second kick with no missing so it's water-tight.

I took another leisurely ride to dry off the bike and clear a few cobwebs out of my head, then came home and changed the oil and filter. With the B&M Supercooler and a new K&N filter: one gallon of oil out; one gallon of oil back in; oil level is correct in the sight glass; no leftover oil.

With the new filter, fresh oil in the engine and after checking for leaks I went for a... less leisurely ride --> grin reinstalled!


Regards,

Scott

[cywelchjr]

Damage Repair

I fixed the broken luggage rack that my Vetter trunk mounts to. All 4 bolts sheared off on Sat riding back from camping. It was a pretty goat road, and my father was in front of my in the van so when it broke (at low speed in a TIGHT corner) I picked it up and put it in the van and lifted the part of the mounting frame that the trunk pulled to the ground with it (I suspect that the front two bolts broke and the back two snapped when the trunk hit the ground, but I'm not sure). I sure was glad that I had put the quick disconnect in the wiring for the trunk, as it just unplugged rather than ripping the brake and tail light wiring out .

I do know that my brakes and suspension are working really well. The road would have been more fun without following a mini-van, but it was actually a challenging road, dropped over 2000 feet to the american river and then back up about 1700 at one point. Straight line distance was probably something like 1/2 mile, but the road was a LOT longer. Lots of 10 MPH turns even for a bike .

So, got the luggage rack fixed, and the trunk remounted, now I just gotta find a new lid for it (ground the edges and corners of the lid when it slid about 20 feet on the blacktop ) That and with the brand new paint job on it, which at least didn't get touched on the side of the trunk, so I'll just have to paint the lid to match the rest of the bike when I get one.

Point to remember, when Craig Vetter says that the built in luggage rack can carry only 20 lbs, he means it. I'm gonna figure out how to beef it up, but until then, I'll be really careful about the amount of weight I put in there, at least on longer rides on rough roads.

PS, the contents of the trunk, which included my laptop came out unscathed. It did however break the ground point for one of the taillights off, I'll fix that later this week.

[ManitoulinLad]

cam cover re-tighten

Noticed that a little oil was coming from the cover on one side. Took the tank off & re-torqued the allen head bolts on the cam cover. Didn't do this since my re-build, just did the head bolts only and man a couple of them were really scary loose. Glad I did it & will check at least every winter or more. - Dan

[TexinMaine]

Added Seafoam to gas tank and oil. It had some hesitation when taking off from stand still. toped off gas and went for a ride. After about 10 miles hesitation cleared up and the little bugger seemed to want to accelerate all on it's own, deffinant difference in responce to throttle. Gonna put a few more miles on then change oil and filter. Gonna ride tomorrow and see if it still hesitates when cold.

Tex

[Montreux_Blue]

Added Seafoam to gas tank and oil.

You might want to change the oil pretty quick before you spin a bearing or lock up the engine!!!!!!! The Seafoam will thin the oil!!!!!!!!

[CatatonicBug]

You might want to change the oil pretty quick before you spin a bearing or lock up the engine!!!!!!! The Seafoam will thin the oil!!!!!!!!

Definitely!! Change the oil BEFORE riding it ANY more!! Running it at idle is all you want to do with seafoam in the oil.

[cywelchjr]

Definitely!! Change the oil BEFORE riding it ANY more!! Running it at idle is all you want to do with seafoam in the oil.

+1 on the changing the oil before riding anymore. Hopefully you didn't already cause damage to the engine that you will regret later.

[Bigfoot]

What did I do to my bike today?

Rode it.

[TexinMaine]

+1 on the changing the oil before riding anymore. Hopefully you didn't already cause damage to the engine that you will regret later.

I am surprised to hear that. I read the Seafoam website and it stated it was perfectly safe to run in your engine. I did go for about a 30 mile ride, when I pulled into the garage she was purring right along so hopefuly nothing was damaged.

Tex