xs1100 restoration

[duc]

Good spotting guys. The bike behind is indeed a xs650. Its a 81 Special.

[duc]

So I have a choice of getting the engine blasted. At this stage, Im not sure if its going to be with sand, soda, glass or what.

Has anyone got their entire engine blasted ie assembled? Or should I just continue sanding and filing away at the engine manually and spray it VHT satin black?

I like the idea of a raw brushed aluminum look the blasting will give but I also keen on getting the factory black look.

Ideas guys?

[mharrington]

Thats a bummer you cant get the PJ1. It is not 100% gasoline resistant but it is very fuel resistant where other spray paints lift immediately. Even though my engines are done in PJ1 I lay down rags anytime Im to do work that may leak fuel or brake fluid- lots of rags. Powder coating is the best but also the most $$$ and I believe the components must be completely disassembled.

[duc]

Well, I still cant decide if I want to paint it or not. So I thought I would put the engine in the bike and see how I like it.

FYI it took the best bet of 1hr to put the engine in the bike myself. And then I scratched the **** of of the frame trying to line up the bolts to mount the engine properly. Good thing is its paint and not power coat so I can just touch it up.

With the engine in, I can see which areas are exposed more to the eye and which areas I can focus less on - if I was to polish it or paint it.

Tell me what you think.

[IanDMacDonald]

Paint what? The engine? By all means.

[donebysunday]

If your looking for a black like this...



Larry

I did not know the XJ came with a kicker ? ? ?

[fredintoon]

Well, I still cant decide if I want to paint it or not. So I thought I would put the engine in the bike and see how I like it. - - -
With the engine in, I can see which areas are exposed more to the eye and which areas I can focus less on - if I was to polish it or paint it.
Tell me what you think.

Hi Duc,
soda is the only media option if you don't want to tear the power unit down to individual castings for blasting.
You don't want even as soft a substance as crushed walnut shells finding it's way inside your engine.
But ask yourself, do you want a bike to ride or the world's most expensive Meccano set to play with?
Me, I'd polish the cover plates that came off easily, put the bike back together and go ride the bastard.

[BillyRok]

I did not know the XJ came with a kicker ? ? ?

I believe that's the '79 SF Larry built, last link in his sig.

But ask yourself, do you want a bike to ride or the world's most expensive Meccano set to play with?

Ohhh, you mean Erector Set, had to google that one!

You could go ahead and soda blast the whole thing, then put it back in the frame (get another set of hands to help) and see how it looks to you. Then compare to photos of other bikes on the site and decide if and what to paint and polish. There are good polishing tips in the "Finish" sub heading of the Maintenance section. All I know is that the original paint/finish on my bike was pretty durable, I discovered that trying to remove it, and whatever I do in my shop will be no match for what Yamaha did in the factory. Make it look decent, remember it's 30 yrs old and will never be perfect, and like Fred says go ride...it's almost spring time down under right?

[Jonesy]

G,day Duc
If you want the original look (for the Aussie market) go the VHT satin black.
What happened to the back end of the frame? Looks like about six inches or so has been cut off. taking the seat and rear guard mounts with it

[duc]

yes rear was intentionally cut. as i am going to put a loop in to tie the back end together. going for a cafe/flush style seat as oppose to the two-up seat that came with the bike.

[rdmcguy]

Seat rear light

Hello down under!
I don't know the look you are going for ,but if you view my post
entitled my first xs11 79 spec"you can see what I did.
even though I have not stretched the fabric tight on the seat.it works well for me,
it was a reasonably easy to fab.Also note r6 Yamaha taillight assembly.
Given to me from local shop. Got to mount it a little high or rear tire will attempt to eat it
You might not like the look. but seat and taillight assemblies cost me a
Whole $50 including new seat cover,

[TheRev]

Paint

I just blasted mine with garnet sand. Make sure you plug every hole. I then used a ceramic coating that will withstand heat like you wouldn't believe. It's called cerakote. It's super easy to apply with an hvlp gun. One coat is all you need. It's air cure, which takes 5 days to cure fully. However, once it is finished it will withstand all chemicals. I also use it on my guns. Works great. You will regret using can spray paint on engine. It won't hold up. It's best to take your time and do it right the first time. JMHO

[dcsmith]

This bike looks GREAT!

This bike looks great! I am in the process of building one XS1100 out of two extremely rough xs's, and the paint on my frame(s) was a real fiasco, and looks like.. um, not so good.
Where I screwed up was trying to use por-15 on the frames and make it look good. No matter how I tried to apply the por-15, be it spraying OR first brushing, I got nowhere near the finish that you did. If the por-15 was under a car, it would look great, but it is not, and looked like crap, since it wouldn't apply like normal paint. I would spray down one frame leg, then the overspray would screw up the areas that were already coated. What a mess. I finally gave up and put some Dupont 99A Enamel with glossy hardner over it to make it presentable. The frame on my KZ1000 still looks like crap. If I wasn't in a hurry to get it back together last spring, I would have stripped the por-15 back off of it. After all the work of makeing the frame and swingarms ready for paint, I put on por-15 and screwed up all that prep work. :-( It ran on every bolt hole brusing it on, and spraying it was almost impossible to make the whole frame look good at the same time. The overspray always screwed up the areas that were already coated.
I would post some pics, but I am not sure how. I just tried to upload some pics to flickr and it said soory, try again later. :-)