Newbie from other side of the planet.

[Far Canal]

Hello. Just joined the forum as I bought a 1978 XS1100 special on a whim last week. Its in pretty fine shape and appears to be a genuine low mileage(10,000) machine. Its got leaky fork seals and a rock hard (old) tyre on the front but apart from that its ready to go. I would post some pictures if I were able but it seems I am not allowed to.
Anyway Tasmania is where I live. That little island off the bottom right hand side of Australia. It's not the end of the world, but you can see it from here.
The XS has a few other old bikes to snuggle up to in the shed, a couple of old Honda fours,old moto guzzi and wifeys 76 Bonneville.

[jjz28]

I would name it the Tasmanian devil. lol Welcome and you are at the right place.

[donebysunday]

78 Special ?

Welcome ! Ask and you will get the best there is right here on this forum !

Yamaha did not release a 78 Special over here, 79 was the first year. Or are you going by the build date ?

Hello. Just joined the forum as I bought a 1978 XS1100 special on a whim last week. Its in pretty fine shape and appears to be a genuine low mileage(10,000) machine. Its got leaky fork seals and a rock hard (old) tyre on the front but apart from that its ready to go. I would post some pictures if I were able but it seems I am not allowed to.
Anyway Tasmania is where I live. That little island off the bottom right hand side of Australia. It's not the end of the world, but you can see it from here.
The XS has a few other old bikes to snuggle up to in the shed, a couple of old Honda fours,old moto guzzi and wifeys 76 Bonneville.

[Far Canal]

Just going by the date that's on the sticker/plate on the steering stem.

[xsilerating]

Welcome to Channel 11, Far Canal. You will find a wealth of information here that will/should enable you to tackle just about any project you can think of related to the XS/XJ1100. And, if you can't find what you are looking for, just ask. There's bound to be someone on here that will be able to help you out.

Good luck with your latest acquisition.

[donebysunday]

79 Special

Just going by the date that's on the sticker/plate on the steering stem.

The sticker tells you when it was built and the build date is 1/2 year earlier than the release for sale date. So that should make it a 79. Can't wait till you can post some pics, it'll help identify your bike.

[Far Canal]

Well then, it seems my bike is a 79 model.
So what do you have to do to be able to post pics?
Do you have to post a certain number of threads or something?
One question that immediately comes to mind is "Where abouts on these bikes would one expect to find the kick starter lever"?. It certainly is a novel idea to have them anywhere else but on the end of the kick start shaft!

[jjz28]

you have to use something like photobucket for photos. The kicker is between the back of the engine and back tire. There is one of those nuts with wings on it and you unscrew it and pull the kicker out. Hopefully yours is still there.

[natemoen]

Welcome! We have a small bunch of Aussie members and a few New Zealanders (if you care about them ) here. The Aussie guys also made a forum of their own as well, but we love having you guys here too!

For the kick start lever. It is stored under the battery. If you look right behind the kick start shaft on the engin there is a wing nut holding a black cap onto the upright frame tube. Unscrew that and you will she the kicker and can pull it out.

For pictures you need to use a separate photo hosting website (saves server space and cost this way) and then you upload your pics to that website and when you want to put a pic here you use the provides IMG like that the photo site gives you and put it in the text of your post.

[Far Canal]

Okay, I'm not overly sharp on computer skills here so this might end up a boo boo.
Just tried to upload pics via photobucket.

[Far Canal]

Hmmm.Obviously nothing happened.
Any tips on how you do this would be appreciated.
I did manage to upload some images to photobucket.
Just not sure how to get them on the page here.

[bikerphil]

Copy the IMG link of the picture you uploaded to Photobucket and paste it here in your post.

[Far Canal]

http://s1313.photobucket.com/user/bambambessie/library/

[Bellerophon]

Damn, nice looking Special! Very well preserved. Great find! I can't say I'm a big fan of the horn though.

[donebysunday]

Nice

You take care with that bike !
The 79 was a comfortable straight line bike, when it's running right it's easy to loose control of it.
Get used to it slowly, don't go nuts to soon, REALLY !!!!!

Done };~)