New (to me) ride

[WSL91]

Found this on line tonight and owned it 2 hours later. Supposed to be a 79 but I've not confirmed. Runs good, has a pretty clean Kerker and short drag bars. Seems to run lean on the low end but gets pretty aggressive around 3000 rpm, quicker than my XJ. The luggage rack will be for sale and it has a removable sissy bar. Also came with another Kerker head pipe as the muffler was rotted out. Also has a Corbin touring seat which will be for sale shortly. Needs a few repairs, tach bounces, Speedo doesn't work owner thinks its the drive piece as a replacement speedo doesn't work either. Sounds like front brakes have been known to drag so no big deal, pull the calipers and clean em out. Learned a lot on the XJ over the last 2 months but then I'm not new to bikes.

[ddragon63]

if the first 3 digits in the vin are 3h3 it is a 79 SF... looks to be in good shape. Good find

[WMarshy]

Appears to be a nice 79 SF as the engine has the kick start shaft on the engine. Matching numbers? How much did you have to sacrifice for it? Got pictures of the seat? I might be interested in it...

[ddragon63]

Appears to be a nice 79 SF as the engine has the kick start shaft on the engine. Matching numbers? How much did you have to sacrifice for it? Got pictures of the seat? I might be interested in it...

didn't even look that close... that IS a pretty easy way to ID it

[Joab]

Great looking find!

[WSL91]

if the first 3 digits in the vin are 3h3 it is a 79 SF... looks to be in good shape. Good find

Yes the frame and motor match and begin with 3h3

[WSL91]

Appears to be a nice 79 SF as the engine has the kick start shaft on the engine. Matching numbers? How much did you have to sacrifice for it? Got pictures of the seat? I might be interested in it...

I should have photos of the xtra parts tonight.

[xs11lover]

Very nice! Does the paint have little gold flecks in it?...good factory paint and no dents are getting hard to find.

[WSL91]

Appears to be a nice 79 SF as the engine has the kick start shaft on the engine. Matching numbers? How much did you have to sacrifice for it? Got pictures of the seat? I might be interested in it...

I paid less under 1400 for it. The owner was pretty knowledgeable about what he had and the value of the xtra parts. He had several other bikes and you could tell he knew his bikes. The regular seat he just bought off ebay and is flawless. He was really good about telling me everything about the bike both good and bad and the maintenance history. The carbs were cleaned and boots replaced not long ago and it runs like it although I'm guess they were not re-jetted for the header. The bike shop is an old non-franchise shop that works on old bikes. It has a new sealed battery. The removable kick starter is on the bike.

I don't try to beat everyone down to nothing on price, I try to be reasonable but shave a few bucks off. I did that also on the XJ which turned out to be a good thing because when I went to transfer the title there was a problem and the PO was more than helpful in getting in straitened out even though he lived 300 miles away, could have easily ignored me. I'm somewhat of a believer in Karma and I've sold my share of used vehicles and tractors. I hate people that want your stuff for nothing.

I should have photos of the xtra parts tonight.

[WSL91]

Very nice! Does the paint have little gold flecks in it?...good factory paint and no dents are getting hard to find.

Yes it does has a little metal flake, I didn't realize they had metal flake and was wondering but it didn't look like a re-paint

[DGXSER]

Definitely 79 based upon side cover emblem, seat, brake light placement, footpegs, solid rotors. Nice looking SF for sure! Good deal at that price!

I had a guy have me ride 10 miles to meet up to buy a speedo from me, we had agreed on $20, when I get there he complains about the tripometer reset being tricky, which I had told him about previously. Offers me $5 for it. Obviously I left without saying a word or delivering the goods.

Not sure about the Standards, but the Special models all had metal flake in the black paint. Gold for 79, Red for 80, and Blue for 81.

[tom clisham]

Very nice SF

I've got a speedo bottom end for you. Are you still going to Pecatonica on the 28th? Maybe I'll see you then.

The metalflake paint suggests original paint & the seat is for sure 79 vintage. Be careful, it's an obsession

[WSL91]

I've got a speedo bottom end for you. Are you still going to Pecatonica on the 28th? Maybe I'll see you then.

The metalflake paint suggests original paint & the seat is for sure 79 vintage. Be careful, it's an obsession

Still going to Pecatonica as I already paid for the WJ. Kind of stepping back a moment and re-evaluating bike strategy due to latest acquisition, it was a quick 2 hours from discovery to ownership, didn't figure it would last long. Probably still looking to do a handlebar conversion on the XJ but now I have an XS to look at. The XJ will retain the fairing for sure now that I have the XS for a non-fairing version so no longer hunting for XJ headlight and ears. I'm sure I'll get a chance to look a little closer this weekend.
Thanks
John

[WSL91]

I've named the '79 "Chewy" in honor of it's apparent previous caretaker Chewbacca. Everything that I've fixed looks like it was last worked on by Chewbacca or a Gorilla.

I pulled the drag bars 'cause I didn't like leaning forward. Have some standard bars on it now but in order for them not to kill my wrists I have to lower them quite a bit. I have a set of new shiny strait CB750 bars coming from Parts and more.

The tach was loose in the bucket due to a damaged gasket. I added some shims to the studs and was able to get it to stop rattling for now. The tach was bouncing bad but I cleaned all the connections in the headlight bucket today which resolved 95% of the tach bounce. Found some clear grease stuff in the tach connectors.

Throttle wouldn't return on its own. Found it interfering with the Vista Cruise which I pulled. Also lubed the snot out of the throttle cable and adjusted it proper.

Installed a 160 Speedo. I'll have to get used to seeing the needle over on the far left.

Front brakes were dragging/not working due to gunk behind the piston seals. Cleaned and working good now. The only way I could get the pistons out was to connect each caliper to the MC and them pump them out. They were really stuck tight. The replacement MC that Chewbacca installed has no brake light switch........

Took the longest test ride yet on the bike today, Actually went out of town with it and well it runs like a 1100 with stock jets and a Kerker......... I have a complete stock XJ Exhaust on hand that I'm going to hang on it next weekend and see how it responds and I didn't rob it from my XJ its an extra set.