delurking

[jdabreeze]

History of my XS
Bought by my FIL around 1990 he rode very little. In 1999 he was hit by a car (no serious injuries but some fork and frame damage) and parked the bike. For his birthday I bought an entire front-end (axle to toptree) to sit gathering dust in his garage.
In 2006 my xs650 started giving me troubles and essentially refused to run correctly. My FIL told me if I wanted the XS11 I could have it he wasn't going to ride it again. After taking 2 weeks to gently get the motor to run(thanks pbblaster/yamahcarb). I brought my welder over and In a week I had the neck cut and re-raked back to stock, new front end on and everything straight. Couple of quick rides around the block and all was good. Took it out that friday night and after about 150 miles I got hit by a deer(broken ankle/road rash/sprained wrist). When I could walk again another front-end went on and i finally got it home. Looking like this



rode it that way for a year then put on a sidecar


next year added factory fairing



and this year try to get it one color and repair some damage on the fairing.









I think it came out ok, with a decent color match to the factory color.

What you think?

[draketrumpet]

Welcome to the site!

Looks like a well loved bike I really like the paint on the fairing, want to paint mine sometime?

As for all the front end history, I suggest you ride backwards little harder to hit the front end that way.

[b.walker5]

Welcome aboard buddy, Fred's gonna love ya. The fairing looks like a good colour match, do you remember the colour name? You may be able to remove some of that dent with compressed air. You would need to make up a couple of plates to block the fuel tap holes and then a clamp arrangement and cap with a schreader valve to cover the filler hole. If you try, make sure you dont have a rust problem along the bottom seams because the air pressure will sure show it up.

[Wildkat]

Great story!
I love happy beginnings...

Well, I guess this would be more like the middle...
lol



Welcome aboard!

[fredintoon]

- - - rode it that way for a year then put on a sidecar - - - - next year added factory fairing and this year try to get it one color and repair some damage on the fairing.
I think it came out ok, with a decent color match to the factory color.
What you think?

Hi jdabreeze and congratulations on de-lurking, welcome to visibility on the site.
My own sidecar efforts can be seen here:-
http://s758.photobucket.com/albums/x...ntoon/XS11rig/
Some things I have done to my XS11SG to make it better suited to sidecar work are to replace the tank with the 5.3 gal Standard tank and to decrease the steering trail by swapping in Standard 'trees while keeping the Special forks.
BTW, I'd say that air pressure inside your tank would not pop the dent out (because of it's shape that dent is now the strongest part of the tank) but if pumped too high it would permanently warp the tank shape and higher yet, blow it up in your face.
Using water or hydraulic fluid pressure is far safer but I doubt that hydraulic pressure would work to pop that dent either.
Next step is a matching paint job on the sidecar?

[Fix]

Depending on the dent, maybe try this?

http://www.diylife.com/2007/08/01/ho...-your-vehicle/

[b.walker5]

BTW, I'd say that air pressure inside your tank would not pop the dent out (because of it's shape that dent is now the strongest part of the tank) but if pumped too high it would permanently warp the tank shape and higher yet, blow it up in your face.
Using water or hydraulic fluid pressure is far safer but I doubt that hydraulic pressure would work to pop that dent either.

Hi Fred, I've used air pressure to pop dents quite successfully in the past. Mostly on car fuel tanks but I have done it on a bike tank that was used on a go cart as well. You generally only need 20 or 30 lb and if it doesent go at that pressure then it's not going to. Not sure about your part of the world but it's a widely accepted practice amongst panel beaters down here. There's even industry standards written around it to ensure safety. I take your point about hydraulic pressure though, it would definately be safer at higher pressures, and the creasing at the edges of the dent may mean it wont all come out, but a lot of it probably would, reducing the amount of filler required to smooth over and reclaim some of the lost capacity.

[jdabreeze]

Welcome aboard buddy, Fred's gonna love ya. The fairing looks like a good colour match, do you remember the colour name? You may be able to remove some of that dent with compressed air. You would need to make up a couple of plates to block the fuel tap holes and then a clamp arrangement and cap with a schreader valve to cover the filler hole. If you try, make sure you dont have a rust problem along the bottom seams because the air pressure will sure show it up.

tank is dupli-color truck, van and suv t402 dark garnet red the fairing is t413 dark toreador M (metallic) I think this is a closer match I will try and get a photo of the factory side panel and the 2 colors in the same frame if it stops raining.
Dupli-color has discontinued their large(11oz) and touch up cans(4oz?) and have gone to a I think a 9oz I will have to find the clear I used because that was the new size can. I got the discontinued cans at AdvanceAuto parts for 3.25 a can instead of 6.99.


Thanks for the tips from everyone about the tank I may try and fit an old set of 5 gal fatbobs I have laying around to get more range. (27mpg with car attached).