XS1100 Standard for $1.00

[TheRev]

Hello All

I bought this bike for $1.00 from a friend. He said once he got married his wife wouldn't let him ride so his bike has been sitting in his mother's garage for 16 years. Unfortunately, he left the bike filled with gas and everything congealed into sludge. I told him I would like to see it and he said I could have it for a dollar if I move it out of his mother's garage. What a deal. Here is where the bike has been sitting for the last 16 years.

[TheRev]

So I loaded it up on a trailer and brought her to my friends place. This bike is a beast. It took us a while to get her on the trailer. I couldn't help myself. I pulled over to take some more pics. My wife thinks I am nuts since I have never rebuilt a bike before. Thanks to this thread I will have plenty of help. I started this project this past summer and I am just getting around to posting my progress.

[TheRev]

Here are some of the things that were most apparent when I began my preliminary examination.

Brakes were frozen
Tires were dry rotted and flat
Mice had been living inside the Vetter Fairing
Side panels were missing
Battery had exploded
Tank was painted black with a paint brush
One side luggage was cracked badly
Forks were leaking everywhere
Chrome was in bad shape
Seat was rotted and cracked
Mice made a nice nest in the luggage
Handle bars were bent (must have been down at some time)
Shocks were rusted badly

Over all I was very pleased. Sure, it looked like crap but it was only $1.00. Plus, I like challenges. Why not learn by rebuilding one of the greatest superbikes ever built!!

[TheRev]

Oh yah, I also found three cassette tapes (Van Halen, REO Speedwagon, ACDC Back In Black) What a friggin deal!! Now I just have to figure out how to play the damn things.

Anyhow, so I started by taking off the carbs and sending them out to be sonic cleaned. I removed all the fairings and luggage. Apparently whoever owned this bike prior to my buddy knew how to weld because the mounts for the fairing were very custom. The fairing was a Vetter fairing for a Kawasaki not a Yamaha. He also welded mounts for some driving lights and what looks to be some hardware for a side car. Either way this bike has a story that would love to know. By the way it only has 29,000 miles.

I also took off the tank and cleaned the inside. I used a kit that took out all the rust and then creamed the inside. I also cleaned out the petcocks so they would at least let gas flow. I will buy rebuild kits later.

[TheRev]

I received the carbs back a week or so later and it was time to see what I had. After checking compression, which was awesome I installed new fuel lines with some inline fuel filters. Who knows what other crap was lingering around. I jumped her from my car and she started right up. The starter sounded very strong. My biggest mistake was starting her inside the garage. That was dumb because she smoked more than Hannibal on the A-Team.

[TheRev]

After moving her outside I let her run for a while. Of course she was runny quite rough, however all cylinders were going so I was pleased. I checked all the seals and gaskets and was pleasantly surprised that there was absolutely no leaks. WOW! I checked the timing and all was good. After a few more trial runs I began to dismantle and get her ready for her rebuild.

[TheRev]

The wiring was an absolute mess. Everything seemed spliced together and since I wasn't going to use the fairing I decided to look for a new harness rather than try to repair the "chopped" one. Luckily I found one on ebay.

[TheRev]

So I began to fiddle with the seat. Here is what I would like my seat to look like.
If any of you know a place to buy seat foam in that shape please let me know because my attempt (documented below) was a complete failure.



So since I had a king and queen seat that was totally trashed I decided it wouldn't hurt to hack it up and try to shape it into something better. Well, when I say it wouldn't hurt I didn't take into account my wife's reaction to chopping up a rotten, mice eating seat on our kitchen table. I tried to tell her it was a perfect place to work because of the lighting but she wasn't going to have it. That argument was a little painful, but the actual shaping of the seat wasn't too bad.

So I took the seat cover off and began to shape with an electric knife. The pictures should do a good job documenting my procedure. Enjoy!































As you can see I am not an artist. I hacked up the seat pretty good. Perhaps I should just pay the damn money and have someone else do it. Anyhow, if you know of someone good please let me know. I won't need a seat until spring.

[TheRev]

So a lot of work has been put into this bike that is not documented in photos. I striped everything off the bike including the engine. I have bought various parts from e-bay and other places. I made another mistake by cleaning all the parts off in my laundry tub (another argument with my wife). Apparently I am a slow learner. I don't really understand why women care. It's not as if I was going to leave everything a mess. In fact the laundry tub is cleaner now then before. Anyhow, I digress.

I purchased new parts for the forks including new springs, gold valve emulators, and a TKAT Fork Brace. I have R6 calipers that I am going to use for my front brakes. I also have rebuild kits for the master cylinders. I built a nice engine stand thanks to help from this forum and as of this week I have the engine up and ready to be taken down.

The pipes are being ceramic coated this week and over Christmas I drove down to my fathers shop and media blasted everything (Glass Bead). I have the frame being powdercoated and the tank, side covers and cowl will be custom painted within the next few months.

I am not quite sure what I want to do to the engine. Of course I will check the valves and simple stuff like that but I don't think I want to mess with it too much. It kind of scares me a little.

I am not sure if I want it to look completly origional or if I want to make some simple mods like better signals, painted fenders, different bars and mirrors, etc. I like the short rear fender and look of this bike.



Anyhow, let me know what you think. Suggestions are always welcome.









Thanks for reading.

[MaximPhil]

Hey Rev,
When your wife said NOT on the kitchen table she probably did not intend for you to move to the dinning room table
If you had just bought a seat we would not have had such a good story to read I thought the first picture looked pretty good.... who knew ( besdies the PO) what horrors lurked below
Good luck with your new ride. It will be great.
Phil
PS buy her some flowers that will please her

[Phoenix Rider]

I received the carbs back a week or so later and it was time to see what I had. After checking compression, which was awesome I installed new fuel lines with some inline fuel filters. Who knows what other crap was lingering around. I jumped her from my car and she started right up. The starter sounded very strong. My biggest mistake was starting her inside the garage. That was dumb because she smoked more than Hannibal on the A-Team.

When I first saw this picture I thought it was just bad exposure, but it was smoke. That's funny. My XS sat for a lot of years before I got it too. I had a local bike shop pick it up to get it started there. They said it smoked so bad that it cleared all the guys out of the shop as well as the customers up the front. Too funny.

Wayne

[TheRev]

The smoke was very bad. It also blew a bunch of black crud out of the pipes. She was pretty ugly when I first got her. I think she is going to come out looking better than new. Thanks for the comments.

Jared

[CRXSi90]

It's looking like it's coming along nicely. Are you going to have it ready for the Slimy Crud Run in the spring?

[haywardguy929]

Looks like things are progressing nicely and I think thats the best dollar you ever spent. Lots of work but lots of great experience and winter project.
Hope everything else goes good and your riding this spring. They are great bikes. Go Pack !!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Rev,

Great pictures and story. I know the OEM fuseblock looks pretty decent, but those GLASS FUSES are a real weak spot, along with the flimsy brass spring clips, and it's really suggested to replace it with the ATCO style fuseblock and fuses. I resell them for COST which just covers the expenses incurred by me getting them and then resending them out,ie paypal, shipping, etc.!

The Pod filters look like the cheap EMGO brand, see the tech tips...MODS, carbs, regarding pod filters and velocity stacks. There was a recent thread regarding same concerns regarding performance with PODS vs. the OEM airbox and such.

Check out the LED conversion tips for turn signals and running/brake lights and such. Our bikes have self cancelling signals, there are ways to preserve that feature with LED signals, some don't bother and just install a 2 prong electronic flasher and just turn the signals off themselves.

Folks will want to see your R6 caliper mod progress! keep up the good work, you'll have a fine ride when you're done for sure.

Also, just have to say you haven't said anything about any prior riding experience?? If it's been years/decades since riding, we recommend taking the MSF course.

T.C.