What did you do to your bike today?

[MaximPhil]

Hi Cy Thanks I was wondering what the toggle switch on my fairing was for I told people who asked it was to engage "Warp Drive"
When they ask how it works I tell them at 100MPH you throw the switch to engage. I've never had the courage to let go of the handlebars at 100MPH
to find out
Phil

[planedick]

Door opener

I have had mine in the fairing for years. Just took the old opener and wired a remote switch to it, wrapped it in foam and stuffed it in the most rear part of the left side. Little red push button opens the garage door.

[cywelchjr]

Hi Cy Thanks I was wondering what the toggle switch on my fairing was for I told people who asked it was to engage "Warp Drive"
When they ask how it works I tell them at 100MPH you throw the switch to engage. I've never had the courage to let go of the handlebars at 100MPH
to find out
Phil

I guess I could tell them that's the warp drive switch, and that the push button is for the photon torpedo's . I don't think I'd want to take my hands off the bars at 100+ to flip the switch either, but I think we can get Tod to do it, he'll take his hands off the bars at any speed. Of course he'll run off the road too, but he's used to that by now.

[3Phase]

Bush is finally 100% legal, registered, and after a short shakedown ride there are still no leaks. This bike is almost scary fast but handles like a dream.

I had to use the stock round Special rear turn signals for front turn signals so I Mickey Moused a spare set of rectangular Standard touring rear turn signals on the back.

The Low Fuel thermistor is bad so that'll have to be replaced but all of the lights work and the signals self-cancel. The rebuilt tachometer and speedometer are now accurate and smooth as glass.

I do have to track down an intermittent tail light fault so I'll rip into it again tomorrow. The ignition switch and the tail light assembly have already been completely rebuilt and the rear wiring has been replaced from the tail light up to the Light Checker module. That Oil/Tail Light failure light works just fine.

Very rough shaky-cam picture of my 1979 XS1100SF Special with its 1981 Honda CB900C headlight.

[3Phase]

Today I rolled the '79 into the garage to get it out of the rain and it looks like the Arizona trip's not happening this weekend.

As I took the bike off the side stand and got ready to take a ride to the store, I turned on the fuel taps and the one on the right-hand side of the tank started to leak around the lever.

I took it apart and the rubber gasket that goes under the lever is bad and there is no way that it can be coaxed back to even a tiny bit of life. I don't have any spares that will fit the Special fuel taps, just Standards, so it's back to riding Columbo again until I get a couple of repair kits.

Oh well, maybe I'll be able to run over to Hansen Dam on Sunday after all. If not I'll just stay home and sharpen the points on my growing collection of broken speedometer and tachometer needles.

[crazy steve]

I've actually started the process of doing the 'modder' bike; after working on all the sub-assemblies, I started prepping the frame for powdercoating. Smooth the factory welds a bit, a few repairs, and I'm relocating a bunch of the electrical components. I'm moving the regulator to under the neck (in place of the OEM single horn) to get it into the airflow, re-did the coil mounts for the Dyna coils I'm installing, and moved the headlight relay to where the regulator used to be. I've also installed a new 'ground' point on the frame for the negative battery cable as well as removing/filling the fairing mounts. I'm waiting on my new in-the-mail high-low horns before fabbing new mounts, then it's off to the coater...

I'm also planning extensive mods to the wiring harness to both match the new/relocated bits and to upgrade the various connectors. I'll post pics of this build once it's along a bit....

[petejw]

fitted a new rear tyre, a shinko 230 tour master,
its a v rated tyre suppose to be suitable for heavy bikes,
heres a pic to compare to the cheaper shinko fitted on
my parts bike.

[3Phase]

'79 Special Seat Pan Rust Removal

Today I finished cleaning the seat pan for my '79 Special. Now I all have to do is figure out the best way to repair the bad edges, then have the bolts re-welded. After a good paint job and some new plastic edge-protector trim it should be better than new!

As usual, click to enlarge:-

1979 XS1100SF Seat pan top.
Rust removal and cleanup.

Four days of electrolysis.

One day of alternating between brushing and soaking with dilute phosphoric acid.

Five minutes to rinse with soda ash (sodium carbonate) to neutralize the acid.

There is no flash rust but a few of the edges of the seat pan are almost completely gone.

The welds on the four mounting bolts had rusted and the bolts had begun to pull through the pan.





1979 XS1100SF Seat pan bottom.
I managed to save the OEM sticker showing the fuel hose routing.

[motoman]

The Bentley got the joy and duty of participating in the annual ToyRun here today. Never ceases to amaze me.......damn thing sits in garage very patiently for two+ months waiting its turn. Had went to the trouble of removing tank(under seat) on the ST to get at the two hoses going into each head to tighten hose clamps as it was leaking vital green fluid........that was a couple months ago and this morning starting it up to warm up it started peeing coolant out from underneath, so it has given me the joyful task of removing carb bank off the top to get at the two hoses and likely the two alum. elbows that will need replacing. So, back to the ole' reliable Venturer that has a questionable 6yr.old Interstate battery that will drop to 11.6V if scoot sets for a couple months, and carbs needing a emulsion tube cleaning(ever so slight stumble in pilot circuit). Amazingly it fires right off as if it had been started five minutes prior, runs super smooth after the short stumble, and is the only XS in a 5-700bike ToyRun! I have to give these 11's credit.....even as crappy as it has run on different occassions.........over thirty years never has left me stranded.......always runs even if it is not happy doing so, least until I decide to correct whatever issue going on. Well, it getting the nod to go today cause of the newer bike's issue just goes to show the general all-around reliability these scoots have.......reliability is still just as good as it was when I bought it new........being 'needy' on occassion is its right to passage that comes with age............

[3Phase]

Very Special Seat

Today I finally finished the long rebuild process for the '79 Special seat pan and foam, then fitted the new vinyl cover I got from SFSPECBIKER79.

The corroded, lacy, parts of the seat pan were cut out and replaced with the good metal cut from a shattered '79SF "high rise" seat pan. The patches were bolted in place and held fine but the pan squeaked! I added some Liquid Nails urethane sub floor adhesive and that got rid of the squeaks, then l primed and painted the pan.

The seat foam was in good shape but I had to remove a few layers of solid rust that had stuck to the foam. I soaked the foam in phosphoric acid for a few hours, then neutralized and rinsed. Air drying the 70lb chunk of wet foam took more than a week because, naturally, it started to rain almost as soon as I started to clean the foam. After the foam dried I did have to repair a few small tears made by wringing it out like a giant sponge but the foam looks great and it is clean!

I think it turned out okay and I did manage to save the O.E.M. Octy' hose routing sticker!









Thanks, SFSPECBIKER79, for the seat cover!

[natemoen]

Very nice Scott! Where do you get those rubber bumpers on the bottom of the pan?

[3Phase]

Very nice Scott! Where do you get those rubber bumpers on the bottom of the pan?

Thanks, Nate, those are the originals. They were rusty, hardened, and flattened when I removed them from the seat pan but by pure accident phosphoric acid came to the rescue. I have only a very vague idea of how the chemistry worked but I do intend to find out more about it.

One of the the cats knocked the tray with the rubber pads and a few other small plastic parts off the work bench into the tub of dilute acid I used to soak the seat pan. They'd been in there for a few days by the time I found them and the acid had removed the hardened, oxidized, layer of rubber and rust and made them soft and pliable again. They're still a little mis-shaped but nothing like they were before the accidental soak.

[bikerphil]

Nate, MikesXS has some that might work, towards the bottom of the page...

http://www.mikesxs.net/products-17.html#products

Seat looks good Scott, hope it fits good up around the tank/sidecovers. I've always had trouble getting the Special seats to fit/look good.

[jwhughes3]

Most of life's great discoveries..

One of the the cats knocked the tray with the rubber pads and a few other small plastic parts off the work bench into the tub of dilute acid I used to soak the seat pan. They'd been in there for a few days by the time I found them and the acid had removed the hardened, oxidized, layer of rubber and rust and made them soft and pliable again. They're still a little mis-shaped but nothing like they were before the accidental soak.

Seems like you join the ranks of those who discover wonderful things accidentally like Alexander Fleming (pennicillin), Frank Epperson (popsicles), and the crazy Welshman who realized Viagra was good for more than angina!

John

[3Phase]

Yeah, John, I just wish I had the bucks Viagra man made off his discovery....

Like vinegar (acetic acid) the phosphoric acid dissolves the rust embedded in the rubber and I think it also dissolves the sulfur that leached out of the oxidized rubber. It leaves a black slime on the surface of the rubber that washes off with a brush, soap, and water. It leaves the rubber clean without drying it out like alcohol or solvents but doesn't add a protective layer or plasticizers like some of the better custom-blended rubber cleaner/protectors.

I've since used it straight out of the jug at ~40% in a glass jar to clean up a few other oxidized, grungy, rubber parts like brake and clutch lever covers, side cover grommets and other little bits and pieces that I was going to just toss and replace. I honestly don't know how long they'll last so they'll have to be replaced eventually but they're good enough for now. At least they don't shed little rubber crumbs everywhere or leave black carbon streaks on anything that touches them any more.



Nate, the part numbers are still good for the seat pads/bumpers at Yamaha and boats.net but they're a little spendy so you might get a better deal from Mike's like Phil suggested. You need six bumpers/pads all together but the rear two are a little taller on the Special seats.


The part numbers are from Yamaha and the prices are from boats.net:

(Standard Seats)
1L9-24741-00-00 PAD, SEAT $4.52 $3.39 6
Total: $20.34

(Special Seats)
1T4-24741-00-00 PAD, SEAT $5.43 $4.10 2 = $8.20
1L9-24741-00-00 PAD, SEAT $4.52 $3.39 4 = $13.56
Total: $21.36