Greetings from Tucson!

[Sol]

Hi all!
I just birthday gifted myself a 1980 MNS. It is moderately cosmeticaly rough, and has a few things that will need to be addressed (more on that further on).
I am somewhat new rider having had a 1981 GL500 as a starter for about a year and then jumping in way to deep on trying to return a 1980 GL1100 STD back into service but the further I got the more problems came to light. Never having gotten the thing running I had to admit defeat. Now some time later I'm just getting to toss my leg back over the saddle!

The good:
It got me back home over aprox. 150mi from the point of purchase in Pheonix. Just got it legal with the title and plate yestarday.

The bad:
No speedo or cable, I'm trolling Ebay and I know from the search function that the other sx models should work. is the ratio that uncommon?
Someone used the front fender as a bumper stop.
it leaks gas out of the 2nd carb (from the L when seated on the bike) when left on the kickstand (temp fix is to park it on the center). looks like it might take a few things going wrong to let that happen. which is the lowest hanging fruit to get that taken care of? diafram, petcock, other?
I have to run off to work now sorry to make it so brief. Glad to be here!

[natemoen]

Welcome, happy birthday, and congrats! Be glad that you got to ride yours home. probably 90% or more of use could not do that!

Speedo can be had reasonably easy. the XS 650s use the same round speedo as the xs specials. www.mikesxs.net has them or i am sure someone on here has some spares laying around. Fender, dont know, never delt with a special fender.

The leaking gas, does it still leak when the petcocks are turned off? and is there still a little square thing mounted to the top of the #2 card (carbs are numbered left to right when sitting on the bike) with a mess of hoses coming off it? If yes to all of those then your petcocks leak, your octy (the name given to the little square vac fuel shutoff thing) is leaking and your float needles are leaking. Kits for those can be had reasonably from a seller on ebay named georgefix. reasonably priced and decent guy to deal with, and an easy fix.

When you get a chance post some pics, we all like to see other peoples bikes!

[jwhughes3]

Welcome!

As nate said - post pics. Always nice to see bikes transform.

John

[fredintoon]

Hi all!
I just birthday gifted myself a 1980 MNS. - - - - Glad to be here!

Hi Sol and welcome,
150 mile first trip with no insurance? Dodgy.
Be glad you need to get another speedo, the 85mph stock speedo on an '80 XS11 is plain silly. Earlier XS speedos run 120mph (XS650) 140mph (XS750/850) and 160mph (XS11) they all read true speed & distance.
The Special's speedo cable has a weird bottom end.
Dennis Kirk stocks them or even the Yamaha dealer.
A front fender from an XS750/850/1100 Special is a straight bolt-up and cans of black spray paint are available everywhere. A fender from any Standard XS or any kind of XS650 will NOT fit. OK, they'll bolt into the fork but the blade will be in the wrong place to match the wheel curvature.
Gas leaks because at least one carb float needle & seat combo is not sealing; that or the float has sunk or is jammed up.
Fixing malfunctioning gas taps is a good thing but the fix only masks the carb problem, it don't cure it.
Note that leaking gas can find it's way into the oil pan.
You do NOT want gas in your oil.

[Wildkat]

Welcome aboard!

and yep... what they said... pics please

[Sol]

It's great to have a common interest comunity to come to!

Thanks for the info!

I agree on the uninsured driving but it was Sunday and it was ride it home or nothing. I can't stick it in my jeep!
I chased my GF back and she kept it (and me) a little under the speed limit.

Here are some pics

http://img708.imageshack.us/g/1010018.jpg/

you can see the leaked gas from the morning after when I left it on the kick stand overnight.
Yes, the petcocks where "off", which appears not to mean much at the moment...

I'll be ordering me some fix it stuff this weekend and we will just have to wait for it in the mail. Just to check: I would be wanting the MikeSX "Smiths"
60MPH=2,240 RPM speedo Part #03-0760 correct?

I will have to search out the tach repair thread as well as I have the wonky weeble wobles too.

Thanks for your interest!
I got to take care of some off topic stuff now. I'll keep you posted.

[tom clisham]

Nice MNS

Some guy has a lot of midnite special parts on ebay right now.
You should shop there for youe speedo, tach etc

I'm pretty sure the MNS stuff comes up soon if you punch newly listed

Great looking bike. I saw that on CL in phoenix. I've got family there & get there a lot, so watch that CL

[jwhughes3]

why does it say UNI

on your sidecovers.

I assume that is a sticker the PO put there - is it because of pods?

John

[Sol]

The stickers

are not my doing - and since I don't see individual air filters - perhaps whats in the box is aftermarket. you got me - I'm thinking some goofing the off of might be in order

I found the speedo cable, or the last 2" of it, still attached to the snail.
I can't seem to rock the bike back on the stand, spin the wheel, and stick my head under it all at the same time in order to see if the stub rotates or not
I think I will be getting the jack out tonight. In the meantime I'm ordering some parts.

[slow mo]

hi and welcome Sol! that bike looks to be in fine shape,,your lucky!if the price was right and you could drive it home your off to a better start than most ! ride safe ,,slow mo!

[Sol]

I won't be braging about price.

It seems like my area is one of those places where bluebook has not too much say in things used. -(personal perception only)- Instead lets say: out of the other offerings in its price range it seemed like I really wanted to get a bike - that I could get home.

[Sol]

ebay - join the cargo cult -

I spent monies - but in a good cause - it had to be done - really.
From various sources the following items should be coming via the brown truck of off season gifts:
petcock rebuild kit - good for 2 petcocks + 1 diaphram (where is that pesky spell check?) but don't have the tank to petcock seals. hope I won't need them.
speedo cable - new
front fender - used but better then I have. sand and spray (XS850 MNS)
speedo and tach + housing unit- used
a set of mirrors - aftermarket (I was missing 1 and I would like to match)
I hope to get this stuff on as it arrives.

Oop got to run!

[Larrym]

Tucson: Population 2

Sol,

Congrats on acquiring a "runner".

If you use the site here you'll likely find the technical info and "how to's" needed to not just keep your MNS running but to bring it up to fully functional/safe condition.

Should you need real world tools/test equipment and someone who knows how to apply them to an XS: I'm a PM away.

Plus... it might be nice to have more than one XS riding through the sweepers on Picture Rock Road or Cruising Sandario...

[Sol]

Nice to know I'm not alone!

Thanks for the offer! We will see how deep into it I have to get before I impose.

Not much to update on as I am waiting on the above stuff to arrive.
So lets borrow some trouble:
once the petcocks get what they have coming and I change the oil (anyone know if that filter and or for that matter the air filter is a readliy available or scarce-ish part?) I should be able to ride it some (I think). But to truly get it up to snuff on the fuel leak I need to get into the carbs. I don't really know if it is just the #2 (it was the only one that had gas dripping on the outside most of it was coming out the air box) or if the others are getting into the act as well. How involved should I get into those? the only carb experiance I have had is of doing a total tear down on a GL1100 carb rack that had gas leaking into it for 12 years and don't look forward to that sort of thing again. Just go in with 4 sets of O rings and a float bowl gasket or.....

Also the tank has a little orange in it I'll see if I can get some pics of that while we are waiting.

Thanks!

[natemoen]

NAPA still has the oil filter. K&n has an air filter.

Personally, I would pull the carbs apart and clean them good so that I KNOW they are clean. In the tech section search for a thread titles "carb cleaning 101" by member wildkat. It's a good step by step carb disassemble and clean with pictures. The carbs are not hard or anything just take your time, and don't rush.