Fried my bike last night

[jwhughes3]

Ed go for a Maxim 550 or SECA 550/650.

They are inline fours just like our 1100s and so similar you will feel at home. The 550 is 200 lbs lighter than an 1100.

John

[Poprock]

Dear Ed, So sorry to hear about your calamity with the bike, but glad you were only inflamed with passion for riding. Maxim 650-750 is a good ride, very similar to an 11 but with a very smooth transmission. Probably 150-200 lbs less weight depending on how your 11 was dressed out. Not much of a performance loss either.

[slow mo]

hi ed ! what can we do for you?? if and when you are ready to rebuild, post a list of things and parts you need!! all with spare parts could help ,,ride safe slow mo!!

[jetmechmarty]

Bummer, Ed. I set mine on fire too! Lucky for me, my daughter was with me and fast to grab the fire bottle. It happens quick, but she saved it. When there are fuel problems with these bikes (leaks) it's easy to set them on fire! Maybe we should have warnings posted all over this forum. I had one friend have it happen while he was riding! He got pulled over, then watched his GS850 burn to the ground.

Keep us posted as to what you decide to do. We're all here to help.

[Special Ed]

Here are some pics...

Again, thank you for the moral support!

Well lads here you go. These show the damage to my Skoot. If Ray and I can restore it to at least running condition, it will aquire a new name: the Phoenix!

[natemoen]

Could have been worse! Wish I had some parts its help you out.

[DGXSER]

Ed,

From the pics it does not look as bad as it could have been. It looks like the tank, seat, side covers, and probably most of the electrical from the battery forward is shot or burned up. But most if not all the drive train looks intact. Even the rubber boot over the U-joint area looks intact. I can see where the plastic windshield may be tough to pry off the handlebars and such. Your pics do not show it but I would guess the speedo/tach/ instrument cluster got fried as well. The spark plug wires and the carb boots look to be unharmed, like the fire was all above the engine area by the time it was that far forward.

The real questions I woudl have is did the frame get hot enough to cause metalurgical concerns, and did the engine and middle drive get hot enough to be concerned about any rubber seals in them? As the fire looked to all be above that area I do not think that will be a problem.

I guess I would start with getting the burned up stuff off of it, clean up the frame and get some paint on it, turn the engine over by hand to see how that feels/works. Pull the carbs and check the internals in there, may need new rubber components for those.

Anyway, it looks like there is work to be done, but it should be salvagable. Wish I lived closer to help you out with it, but I do have a number of parts left from the bike I wrecked so let me know what you need. I do have that SH wiring harness that I would be happy to send you if it will get your bike back on the road, but it may not be 100% compatible with your SF setup.

[DiverRay]

I have parts for Ed, but no time to help. I think I have just about all the parts he will need. The big thing is getting the bike moved to a location he can work on it. It will NOT be the "same" bike, as we are going to put on a Standard tank, dual bucket seat, and go from there.
Ed will let everyone know what he may still need, besides help. But the bike WILL rise again from the ashes.

[DGXSER]

Good to know your on the case Ray. Only wish I could come do the work to help out, or even offer a place to work on it. Welcome to bring it to my man-cave, but the commute will be a bit rough!

[LoHo]

Well, until she's the PHOENIX, you can call her the RONSON.

[Special Ed]

Thanks guys...

I must admit, the prospect of having to spend boukoo hours cleaning and wrenching are rather daunting. I was really tired of working on it to get the bugs worked out and was really looking forward to spending the rest of our rather extended riding season attending rally's and TT (tavern to tavern,) riding.

On a lighter note: before the melt-down one of my bigist worries was that I had painted the engine with a high temp paint that required a temp of 400 degrees to cure and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to heat the engine up enough to cure the paint. How ironic:I guess the paint is cured by now.

“The real questions I would have is did the frame get hot enough to cause metalurgical concerns, and did the engine and middle drive get hot enough to be concerned about any rubber seals in them?”
Good question. I hadn't given this much thought, but it is something to consider. And yes I will need Yamaha frame black paint. Any suggestions? Ray tells me that California paint sucks and that I should get paint from out of state. Any suggestions?

I really feel badly that Ray spent so much time, and turned me on to so many parts that the bike is really pretty much his, and to have it burn up like this is really a “double whammy.”

I have many thoughts on it: maybe a rat bike bobber, a la Roo; maybe convert it to a side car rig; the easiest thing would probably be to put the engine into another XS with engine issues; And thank you all for your suggestions regarding smaller bikes, which I am still considering. The 650 Maxim I have heard good things about. I am really curious about the 750 triples. I love the exhaust note: definitely different from a 4 or anything else! Does anyone know anything about them?
Special Ed

[haywardguy929]

I had a older 850 Triple last year, the middle pistons over heated and seized up on me. I was told a lot of them did. Poor design for air flow according to a mechanic I know.

[jetmechmarty]

I am really curious about the 750 triples. I love the exhaust note: definitely different from a 4 or anything else! Does anyone know anything about them?

http://www.yamaha-triples.org/ I'm sure these folks can tell you anything you want to know.

[b.walker5]

I had a older 850 Triple last year, the middle pistons over heated and seized up on me. I was told a lot of them did. Poor design for air flow according to a mechanic I know.

Pistons ?? As far as i know, there's only one in the middle.... but seriously, Ive had two triples, both 750's, and I loved them. A good three into one exhaust makes them sound just like a well tuned Laverda Jota (my favorite bike of all time btw). I have heard of the middle piston thing but ive never encountered it, on mine or anyone else I know either. Some of the early 750's, (D and 2D) had an oil pressure problem, which could lead to crank bearing failure (damhik) but is easily fixed by using an 850 oil pump. They're spec'd the same but the 850 pumps definately deliver a higher volume.

[DGXSER]

My very first ever motorcycle was an XS750D. It had belonged to a friend of mine who used and abused it badly and then left it parked on the street with no tag so it got towed off to impound. He gave it to me and I bailed it out of jail.

It had a front brake issue, that led to a wiring harness issue when I had to jump a curb onto the sidewalk with it when the front brakes failed on a steep hill. It was a good bike really, I just had no idea how to work on one then, and lacked the motivation as well, way to much time needed for beer and women and beer back then.