New to site. Hello!

[BratRat]

Greetings from western Pennsylvania!
I'm new to the site and figured I'd give an introduction, so here goes nothing.

I'm 25 years old, and I'll be honest, I haven't been riding long. I bought my first bike, a 1973 CB750 back in April on a whim. Sadly, transmission troubles brought that bike to a halt quickly. It is currently awaiting a rebuild. But that bike captivated me to the world of vintage bikes.

Fast forward to this past Saturday and I'm the proud new owner of a 1979 XS11 Special! I found it on Craigslist a few hours away, and immediately fell in love, so I made the journey and low and behold found this beauty.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

After I looked over the bike (using information I found on these forums), I asked the PO to start it. He turned the key, barely touched the starter button and viola! She fired right to life. He was very kind to it (proper maintenance, heated garage kept, etc) and I knew I wanted it. So I bought it.

The bike came with a few spare parts that came off it, an extra exhaust and a cover for $700! It was a steal. It runs a little rough currently, but with new sparks, carbs cleaned and fluids changed, I'm sure it will run like the day it was made.

The PO spoke of the fellow who owned it before him, so I'm at least the 3rd owner. It has about 38,000 miles on it. The current customizations are not those of my own. I know many on here are probably purists (I saw a thread where a member tore up those who modified these bikes) but I believe in customization. I plan on keeping it rough looking, while clean at the same time (if that makes sense), but making sure the engine will run strong without a hitch. I also plan on adding drag bars, side mirrors, and a brat style seat. I would like to add aftermarket mini gauges, but apparently the ratio makes that difficult. Someday I will also add a smaller battery, hide the wires, and open up that gorgeous frame triangle under the seat.

I'm already in love with this bike. I am open to, and looking forward to, learning all that I can about these bikes. Comments and questions are more than welcome. I also hope that the purists here will realize the situation with this bike and my hopes for it's final look. I look forward to furthering my activity on this site. Thanks!

[James England]

There are purists on here but then again, many aren't. It's a bit of a hot topic. That said, even purists realise that some bikes are too far down a non OEM route to restore. Personally, I don't like to see someone take an original, good condition bike that's lasted 30 years intact and then bobber it or whatever. Especially when more suitable bikes are so readily available over there. But, as I've said in other posts, you have so many of them available in the US compared to a little place like the UK, that it probably doesn't make much difference what bike you customise.

Your bike would cost at least $1600 here, by the way....

[BA80]

Sitting speechless in disbelief

[BratRat]

BA80- Could you expand as to why you are sitting in disbelief?

James England- I would have to say I agree with you. I myself wouldn't take a perfectly original bike and chop it up. Thank you for your reply.

[BA80]

BA80- Could you expand as to why you are sitting in disbelief?

Nope. If you don't know you'll never understand.

You're on your own....

[IanDMacDonald]

Come on Greg . . . He only wants to change-out the handlebars, mirror and the seat. It already has a choppped rear fender, chopped seat, aftermarket handlebars, and Mac turnouts. So, he's only re-doing what's already been modified.

By the way, very few of us have straight from the showroom bikes. Many mods on most bikes here. Even aftermarket exhaust takes away from the purity of the bike. So, do what makes u happy, and the bike running and not sold as a chopped bike on CL.

[BA80]

It also has Standard front forks.

It would take very little to put it back as it should be.

It's his bike and he can do as he wishes as I can have my opinion.

How many modified, not upgraded, modified XSs that are actually RIDDEN do you see last?

[madmax-im]

Welcome BratRat...sorry you stepped into a minefield...I'm prolly the purist you mentioned above...however in your case what has been done to the bike before you got it is certainly not of your doing therefore you cant be faulted ...Its really a fine line between enhancing certain components over stock if they actually improve performance...while still respecting what this bike is keeping it in as close to stock form as possible... What is disturbing to me is that too many younger folks new to riding and the XS's pedigree dont respect what it is and dont have any inclination of doing so...most of these members arent here for the long haul either...in the meantime more and more of our beloved classics get bastardized. Again not blaming you ... this is now your bike and hopefully whatever you do wont be
permanent ..meaning it would still be possible to return things back to how they were.... Good luck with your endeavors

[BratRat]

Thank you madmax-im. Anything I do to this bike will be purely bolt on and easily reversed if the desire ever arises to return it closer to stock. I have no plans on bobbing or chopping it, in fact I don't understand why people do that in the first place. I love the lines of a vintage machine and hope only to enhance them, not permanently destroy them. If ever I could afford a purely stock XS, I would pounce on it. I love these bikes and the history surrounding them.

[BA80]

Running those Standard forks with the Special triple trees will throw the front trailing off. It will be unstable with that setup.

[crazy steve]

Running those Standard forks with the Special triple trees will throw the front trailing off. It will be unstable with that setup.

Greg, it's the opposite setup that's bad; well, neither is good, but the other is worse (unless you're running a sidecar). Special trees/standard forks increases the trail, which helps with high speed stability. The downside is slower/heavier steering and a bigger turn radius, and at low speeds the wheel likes to 'flop' to one side or the other. With that said, a swap to standard trees would improve handling, but you have to chop the special headlight ears shorter and fab a headlight adjustment tab.

Brat, good buy on the bike by the way. A bit of a frankenbike, but there's plenty of those around here Not too altered, IMO some attention to detail and cleanup would make it very nice. One thing I'll point out; there is near-zero 'bolt-on' mods for these, so unless you're pretty sure of your fab skills, think before you cut.... For some inspiration, here's one I did... http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33841

And you might want to get rid of that exhaust covering; that stuff is famous for rotting out whatever it's wrapped around, and those MAC pipes aren't the heaviest-gage out there. It's no doubt covering rust, but a sandblast and paint job will be much better.

[BA80]

Greg, it's the opposite setup that's bad; well, neither is good, but the other is worse (unless you're running a sidecar). Special trees/standard forks increases the trail, which helps with high speed stability.

I could be wrong but I think YOUR backwards there Steve. Putting the Standard forks on there will be moving the axle back closer to the axis (less trail/caster).

That's why Fred put Standard forks on his Special rig, to make it easier to turn because he can't lean that thing. Just like putting less caster into the front end of a car makes the steering feel quicker and easier.

[crazy steve]

Greg.....
http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29583

[BA80]

Like I said.......

I could be wrong

[TopCatGr58]

Hey BratRat,

I say don't worry about the triple tree/fork combination.

Greg, you've seen my bike and me riding it, both thru the twisties as well as 75+mph on the highway return runs without any problems.

Brat, a little back story, I got pulled out infront of /across my path while going to work one morning, no where to turn/swerve, and not enough room to make a complete stop, ended up plowing into the front bumper/hood of the car, bent my forks into my engine case, but unbeknownst to me, the frame steering neck joint also got bent perfectly straight back which changed the rake steeper. I had the bike repaired, new 4" longer front forks(like the mild chopper look back then...20+years ago), and I noticed that my steering was a bit lighter/easier than it used to be. I didn't learn about the bent frame for almost 20 years later after I rebuilt/resurrected it and attended one of the many local rallies, and a fellow Xsives/bike mechanic was able to make the diagnosis.

I've calculated that instead of the normal/stock 6" of trail, mine has been reduced to 2"! I've taken it up to 110mph with no evidence of a tank slapper happening. So...with the swapping of the triple trees alone, you're probably only reducing it by about 1" of trail, and so IMHO that's not enough to make it anywhere unstable vs. the oem configuration.

You can measure your trail yourself....put the bike on centerstand. Mark a line directly straight down from the middle of the front axle on the ground. Then use a laser level or such and place it so it's in line with the steering neck housing and notate and mark where the laser hits the ground in front of the axle mark., and then measure the distance between them. I'd be curious to hear exactly how much Trail you actually have with that setup. And with the other narrower bars you're planning on putting on there, the slightly lighter steeing will be welcome because you'll be reducing your turning/steering handlebar leverage with the bars vs. the wider oem type.

As others have pointed out, it looks like a Special frame, tank, gauges, headlight, but with standard forks. Did you check your frame/engine VIN# against the Misc forum thread? The standard forks actually allow the use of the better calipers...they have flat pad vs. the wonky slanted pads of the specials, as well as easier to upgrade the calipers if desired with a fairly easy to make adapter plate. The Master Cylinder also looks to be a standard, it's not exaggeratingly slanted like the Specials, so the MC now works better for flatter bars....the special MC was more for the angled buckhorn bars.

I also noticed that it only has front turn signals(they are NOT OEM)....IF they are turn signals. The Standard's front signals were also running lights. The Specials were only turn signals. DO they even work? They look like LED type, and with the 79 Special..it only had a central turn signal indicator light that was shared between both L & R circuits, but that causes electrical feedback/bleed when trying to use LEDs, and so they usually both will light instead. Folks have to install DIODES inline to the wires that go to the dash indicator light so that the current from one side wont' bleed into the other side. The other thing is that the OEM flasher has to be replaced with a NO LOAD electronic type that will work with the very low load of the LEDs. The use of this type will cause you to loose the self cancelling feature.

Okay, I'll shut up now, congrats on your acquisition, enjoy your customization and your ride!

T.C.