1980 xs11 special has a new owner

[92eh2]

My fiance` bought this beautiful but semi-neglected xs11 for my Birthday/engagement gift (my gift to her was the ring). My last bike was an R6 so this is whole new world to me (especially with the carbs). I have some great ideas on restoring the bike with a little flare. I'm not sure what way I'm going to go but I think I'm going to go with the cafe racer style. Anyway enough with the blabber on with the pics.

How I got her.



Love the radio and the wind screen but they had to go.

And the best part

I dont have that many tools so i had to stop with the screen and radio. Next the saddle bags, sissy bar, seat and cargo bars. Thanks for looking. I'll update this slowy but with a little bit of elbow greese and hard work this will come out wonderfully.

[DGXSER]

Nice looking bike, I am guessing its an 1980 Special. In which case the rotors have been replaced.

Anyway, good luck with your renovations!!

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Looks like the rear rotor has been replaced but I think I see the slots in the fronts Don.

Nice aquisition 92eh2 5200 miles...hmmm... I wonder what all the saddle bags and racks are for. Groceries?

What's all the stickers on the windshield?

BTW.......Welcome to the site.....lotta knowledge here about you new toy.

we're glad to help.

[DiverRay]

Nice start! The speedo say's it's an '80, the mile on the odometer says it's been around one time! My guess is the bike has 105K miles, but don't worry. some members have put over 150K miles before doing a rebuild, and some members have gone over 200K!
The down side too the special is the front brakes. You have front left, and front right disk pads! and no they don't fit much else. when you buy one set, make it two of each. that is what I will be doing for my 1980 Midnight Special.
Look up TKat, and send an email for a fork brace. it will be the best thing you can do for the handling on that bike! They are less than $100 delivered, and take just five minutes to install.
Welcome to the madness, and yes, the bikes WILL start to breed if you let more than one in the garage!

[fredintoon]

My fiance` bought this beautiful but semi-neglected xs11 for my Birthday/engagement gift (my gift to her was the ring). My last bike was an R6 so this is whole new world to me (especially with the carbs). I have some great ideas on restoring the bike with a little flare. I'm not sure what way I'm going to go but I think I'm going to go with the cafe racer style.

I dont have that many tools so i had to stop with the screen and radio. Next the saddle bags, sissy bar, seat and cargo bars. Thanks for looking. I'll update this slowly but with a little bit of elbow grease and hard work this will come out wonderfully.

Hi TJ and welcome,
that had better be with a little flair. Flare involves dropping a match into the gas tank.
It's fathers day tomorrow so most hardware and tool stores will have 50% or better reductions on socket and wrench sets to boost your tool collection.
Your double bucket touring seat looks to be the J.C.Whitney pad & cover conversion to the stock seat pan.
The pad & cover can be removed and a flat seat & bumstop added.
If you can't stand to look at that silly 85mph speedo, an earlier one from an XS650/750/850/1100 will fit right on and read correctly.
Most likely a replacement won't have the super-low mileage reading and speedos are deliberately built to make rolling them back extremely difficult.
To go with the cafe look, the larger Standard tank will fit on, too.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey TJ,

Welcome to the madness, and don't ever LOOSE that girl!!!!

Fred, JCW also sold complete fiberglass panned seats by Travelcade for the XS11...I know because I got one due to my OEM being totally rusted out. You just transferred the hardware from the OEM to the new fiberglass one, so he might have that type!?

I also noted a HANDYCAP sticker on the shield, but the bike does have a moderate # of mods...so I would also think that it has more than 5K miles!
A compression test would be in order to check on the general health of the machine. Fine username Catatonic Bug's posts or his profile from the Members List, so you can download the manuals you'll need.

Check the engine # against the list in the MISC forum to verify that you have an 80SG vs. some other year/model....folks tend to mix and match over the years! Lots of info here both in Tech Tips and the forums/threads!

T.C.

[fredintoon]

- - - Fred, JCW also sold complete fiberglass panned seats by Travelcade for the XS11...I know because I got one due to my OEM being totally rusted out. You just transferred the hardware from the OEM to the new fiberglass one, so he might have that type!? - - - I also noted a HANDICAP sticker on the shield, but the bike does have a moderate # of mods...so I would also think that it has more than 5K miles! - - - T.C.

Hi TC,
FWIW, the seat also looks just like the JCW conversion that I put on my XS650 Special seat pan.
Whichever it is, that two scooper really does not have the cafe look.
And yeah, if that 5,000 number is true, they must have been really hard miles.

[92eh2]

The mileage is correct but it has flipped once so its at 105k. As for the seat its a total replacement and has the letters GC embroided in the back I think, as I have the original in my new parts bin. I'm looking to get some new bars but I'm not sure on what to get. I've seen some on JCW for 20 and I like the superbike bars but not sure how much comfort I'll lose.

As for the brakes maybe I dont understand whats bad with them. The engine and tranny have been replaced and have about 50k on them. I have already browsed most of this website and feel like I'm ready to tackle this project from all this information.

T.J.

[psycoreefer]

There isn't anything really "bad" with the special brakes, they're just a crazy design. If you look you'll notice that the calipers pivot on a single bolt that goes up through the center. The pads (when new) are angled, very thin on one edge and thick on the other, like this \ /. They work OK, as well as most 70's or 80's brakes, but because of the crazy design are hard to "upgrade" to newer style brakes if you ever wanted to.

[MindWebs]

the special brakes are fine ya big whiners...

weird yes.

but they work fine.

a nice upgrade is the stainless steel brake lines.
just email him and tell him you want the double banjo bolt too.
(that the only bolt he doesn't give us in the kit)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Stain...Q5fAccessories

nice machine!

keep'er between the ditches

Webs

[92eh2]

some new updated pics. I ordered some new bars but those won't be in till next week, along with my helmet and jacket.




Now... how would I get rid of this white stuff? And is there too much rust here to just sand off?

[fredintoon]

some new updated pics.
Now... how would I get rid of this white stuff? And is there too much rust here to just sand off?

Hi 92,
take the aluminum oxide off the head with a wire brush that's skinny enough to fit between the fins.
The only hope for the fork ears and cross-cover is to sandblast and paint them. If they are painted to match the tank and sidecovers it won't look too out of place.
Warning!
If the fork tubes are rusty in where the fork seals slide the rust will wreck the seals allowing fork oil to leak onto the brake pads.