Chopper builds

[jetmechmarty]

Some you folks building the choppers have a tone in your posts that comes off as rubbing our noses in it. At least, that's the way I read them. It's as if you enjoy the negative reaction. Maybe it's me, but that's what I see in many of the chopper posts.

Yes you can get XS1100 help here, and you're welcome to it. Why torture us? You can get much more and better chopper building help at any of the many chopper sites. Of coarse, I'm speaking for myself. Having said that, I feel a little better.

[madmax-im]

Some you folks building the choppers have a tone in your posts that comes off as rubbing our noses in it. At least, that's the way I read them. It's as if you enjoy the negative reaction. Maybe it's me, but that's what I see in many of the chopper posts.

Yes you can get XS1100 help here, and you're welcome to it. Why torture us? You can get much more and better chopper building help at any of the many chopper sites. Of coarse, I'm speaking for myself. Having said that, I feel a little better.

Yeah Marty totally agree its like they're waving their middle finger at us...why dont they take it to their own forum of like minded cut ups... and stop asking us what we think when they know full well that the majority opinion will be negative

[RJFort]

It is just a bike.

[madmax-im]

It is just a bike.

herein lies the problem.......

[EricHa]

It's just an image platform to many. Flat black paint, rigid frames, etc. Image means everything when you're younger. A lot of young guys want to be "different", and make chops/bobbers just like everyone else their age. I've been there, and chopped up an old Shovelhead Wide Glide back in the day. A lot of great old bikes make the ultimate sacrifice for it, but this has been happening for 60 years. You don't see any old Z1's or CBX's being chopped, as they are too valuable. I'm sure that our Eleven's will be as well someday, after enough of them have been slaughtered.

If you don't have any history of these bikes, they are just a hunk of steel to be cut on. Like for me seeing a local guy do a tire smoking launch and 3 gear wheelie in front of my high school in 1980. Man I wanted me an XS1100! I personally would love to save every cheap Eleven that I see on Craigslist/Ebay, and be the old coot that died with 127 XS's in a barn, but that ain't gonna happen.

Now, should I mention hacking up an original 1972 Kawasaki H2 to make into a cheap dragbike back in 1985? Only paid $500 for it. No I better not mention that.

[RJFort]

What is it if it is not just a bike? an ICON? hardly. Been dealing with bikes, not fixing them, but around bikes for a long time and very rarely did I hear of this bike mentioned. The smaller versions MUCH more. If it were a Norton or BSA or even a CB then ok, but this is just a bike. Granted it ran well through the years, but one there is nothing overly impressive about the looks of the bike. I tried to be nice to everyone and no matter what I still got flack. I have a modern cruiser, and I love it, but you know what? It is just a bike. Who cares if someone wants to light their bike on fire. If that is what they want to do then that is their issue. It is not that we are throwing it in your face, we are just sharing what we are doing and trying to be part of the community and all we get back is aggression. We come to this site because no matter what we do to the bike, it is still an XS11 and no matter what we still ride the same kind of bike as you do, same motor, wheels, brakes, carbs, the main components of the bike. You need to be a little more open minded about eveyone elses views when they differ from yours. The sentiment here on this site is worse than a Harley guy giving a metric guy ****, and we have THE SAME BIKE. You need to recognize that. Do you treat all people in your life who disagree with you or see something differently than you the same way? I really do not think so because eventually someone would pop you in the nose. You can do that here because of the anonymity that the internet gives you. Just give people the same consideration that you would like. It is just common sense guys, really.

You wont hear too much more from me as I asked to have my account deleted. Good luck with everything and I hope yo uguys can TRY to see things from a different perspective next time you want to disparage an idea contrary to yours.

[EricHa]

An XS Eleven is an iconic bike. At no other time in motorcycling were there so many new and different approaches to Superbikes as the late 1970's:

Kawasaki KZ1000
Suzuki GS1000
Yamaha XS Eleven
Honda CBX

Much of this is forgotten in the era of crotch rockets and cruisers, Harley boutiques and chromed out Busa's.

[Schming]

It's a win win...

...situation. The "Young Guns" get to spend quality time honing their under developed, mental and physical, shop skills whilst the misguided "Creative Juices", due to no fault of their limited awareness at the time, flood the market with sometimes that unobtainable piece a purist may have been searching eons for. We have all been down this path and some are still trudging the road to happy destiny, myself included I happen to enjoy the creativity and looks of a well done modification.

The knowledge We all gain from testing uncharted waters isn't without a cost.

ie: A overly crowned twisty road, PA's and NJ's highways and any other, pick your favorite, challenging road unless tabletop smooth will not lend itself to be user friendly and won't permit a rider to safely unleash the magnificent power of a well maintained, tuned XS11 engine, if it is to be ridden unsuspended.

These bikes, in their stock form, demand respect in regards to handling characteristics. The addition of "Progressive" springs, fore and aft, along with a fork brace and tires of ones flavor are a big help in letting a rider safely enjoy the roll on power coming off the apex of their favorite twisty.

The "Oneness" feeling that is the result from building your own whatever it may be, house, car or bike is priceless and I've seen the reaction of that feeling in the eyes of the less experienced dwindle as life or death hung on the balance of a safety issue. I'm suggesting, to all who build, modify or restore these XS11's give some percentage of your own personal safety a factor in your design as these powerhouse engines coupled with the mediocre suspension challenges the riders controlability even on the best roads on the best day as one is ever so tempted to exercise the right wrist.

[fredintoon]

Some you folks building the choppers have a tone in your posts that comes off as rubbing our noses in it. At least, that's the way I read them. It's as if you enjoy the negative reaction. Maybe it's me, but that's what I see in many of the chopper posts. - - -

Hi Marty,
y'know, I've very nearly given up naggin' at the hardtailers.
After all, what they are asking for is advice and "Don't do that, you effin' Vandal" is not advice, it's a lecture.
So, chop away, you style-mad masochists, good luck to you and ride safe.
Any technical tricks that I've picked up over the years are yours for the asking.

[RJFort]

Schming,

I understand fully about the power a bike can have. I have a tuned VTX1800 as well. I am not really that tempted to turn that throttle all that much, but it is nice to have that power at hand when you need it, and I have had to use it once or twice to avoid a car bearing down on me. Scary, but teaches you something each time.

As to being a "young gun", I have a feeling that you all think that I may be younger than I am. While not old by any definition, I definitely am not a kid. I closer to 40 than 30.

[BA80]

To change the subject a bit, or at least send it in a different direction, I believe your going to find the inline 4 1100 a bit quicker than the v twin 1800.

Just sayin'.

[crazy steve]

Ah, opinions.... everybody's got one...

Let's all take a deep breath and think about this for a minute. First, go look at this statement that's posted below the XS site logo on the home page....

'Motorcyclists welcome here, Regardless of what you ride'

Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I read that to mean exactly what it says; there doesn't seem to be any qualifiers there. We've thrown the door open, put out the welcome mat. So you're going to get a variety of people coming in the door, many with different ideas about how they view the XS11; some will see a classic icon that shouldn't be blasphemed by heretics, some will see a block of metal from which they can sculpture their vision, some will see just an old bike that they picked up cheap and would like to get running. As to who's 'right', well, that's where the opinions come in . So those of you who are doing 'choppers' are going to get those opinions, but that's all they are. That certainly doesn't mean you won't get help here, but don't expect to get enthusiastic approval from everyone either. Personally, I've got no qualms about taking a sawzall or grinder to a bike and have done so, so I'll be one that will offer constructive criticism. But I'm firmly in the 'anti-hardtail' camp also, so I'm not going to tell you how great what you're doing is either...

The hardtail conversions do get singled out, but there is a reason for that. Many of us 'older' members have experience with hardtailed bikes, and until/unless you've rode one under all conditions you may not understand why they're such a polarizing subject. Hardtailing really does destroy the handling (I recall a 'chopper' TV show where they were riding one across country to a show and the rider hit a pothole on the freeway; it very nearly threw the rider off the bike, a very close call), and things like a bump in a corner can high-side you right onto the road or ditch. If you do the research, you'll find that many of the 'original' OEM hardtails did have a rudimentary 'suspension' with a sprung axle mount; while that didn't improve the ride comfort much, it did make the bike safer. And safety is one thing we do emphasize here.

I've seen it recommended that if you're contemplating a hardtail conversion that you fab/install some solid struts in place of the rear shocks and ride the bike like that for a while to see if this is really something you want to do, because once you cut it it's really hard to go back and your selling market for this bike will be extremely limited. While there is a relatively small group of hard-core hardtail fans out there, most riders want nothing to do them so the bike ends up unloved and parked, eventually being scrapped or parted out, something few of us here want to see...

[crazy steve]

Hi Marty,
y'know, I've very nearly given up naggin' at the hardtailers.
After all, what they are asking for is advice and "Don't do that, you effin' Vandal" is not advice, it's a lecture.
So, chop away, you style-mad masochists, good luck to you and ride safe.
Any technical tricks that I've picked up over the years are yours for the asking.

Geeze Fred, you're getting mellow in your older years....

[RJFort]

BA80, maybe you can enlighten me on something. Can you explain to me how the inline 4 1100 is quicker than a vtwin 1800. I get that there are more cylinders. the 1100 has 97 hp and i am not sure on the torque, but my 1800 has 120 hp and 140 torque. Both are shaft driven. What am I missing? Not trying to be a jerk, I really don't know what you mean. Sorry if that makes me sound stupid, just trying to understand. Still learning stuff.

[BA80]

No problem, got the subject changed didn't I?

I said that because I have a friend with an 1700 Yamaha Warrior and it is rated at 80hp I think. There may be more getting to the rear wheel with the belt drive as opposed to the shaft but I can still pull him.

I meant no disrespect. If yours is putting out 120hp maybe it's different but from what I've seen the big bore Vtwins take a while to wind up and are a bit heavier than our 600lb 1100s and aren't real quick because of those factors.

According to wikki the 1800 puts out 120ft lbs of torque (beats the xs hands down there) but 106 BHP at 5000 rpms.

If you put 96HP geared the way the 1100 is on a chopped hardtail frame you better be hangin' on. It might get a little scary.