New member, new project to share.

[Bderum]

Hello everyone,
I’m thrilled to finally be part of the group. I’ve been reading old threads for about 2 months now researching some of the modifications I’ll be making to the bike I just picked up. I’ll be sharing the project with you all as it progresses.

It’s a 1980 xs1100 midnight special. I scored pretty hard on it, I only paid $200! it looks like the last owner knew well what he was doing and did most of the mechanical work already, so I’m left with all the fun parts of the build.

I’m going to be building a tank and seat from scratch as well as possibly fabricating an air box. though I’m not quite sure if that’s going to happen or not.

anyways I’m excited to share with you guys and get feed back as the project moves along. I’ll keep you guys posted

cheers
Brian

[Radioguylogs]

Welcome Bderum!

We'll look forward to watching your project.

It's nice to see a picture of the starting point.

[Bax]

Welcome Bderum, Looks like a really nice find with the 80LG

---Bax

[Eastcoaster]

Welcome!! Where are you from? If you are on the east coast I have lots and lots of spare parts!

[Bderum]

Haha I’m about as far from east coast as it gets. I’m in South east Alaska. I appreciate the offer though I’ll definitely contact you in the search of parts.

I’ve been trying to get my shop Put in order. that’s sort of the biggest project I’ve got goin on right now. We’re building a mezzanine over the entire thing so I’ve been preparing for that. Trying to get it straitened up enough to bare disassembling a motorcycle in without loosing my balls.

Once the shops complete though, probably in a few days or so, I’ll be able to start putting in some actual wrench time on the bike. I’ll try to keep some good photo records of the project so you guys can weigh in.

[DiverRay]

Those of us on the West Coast may be able to help! I don't have a lot of spares left, but I do have a few things.
Let us know how things are going, and what questions you have. Do try to ask BEFORE any major changes, as we've all made mistakes and try to keep others from doing the same thing.

[Bderum]

Yeah roger, You guys will be in the loop as soon as work starts in Ernest. It looks like all the parts are there and in great shape short of being cleaned. The electrical needs quite a bit of work and I’ll be doing a lot of customizing but mechanically it looks very promising.

[DiverRay]

For anything with the wires: http://www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/ Tony has been a member here for a LONG time. His reg/rec is a LOT better than OEM, just so you know. Mostly it's just clean, clean, and Deoxit for the grounds.

[Bderum]

Yeah I actually already reached out to him. I’m pretty excited to have a chance to use his parts. Nothing like having something made by hand with the intentions of building a good part.

[Bderum]

And so it begins

ive got it torn down to mostly the frame and engine now.

the carbs look great, they’ll need cleaning but mostly because the last owner fogged the engine before shutdown so their coated in oil.

I took come pictures inside the intake and exhaust ports. I’ll post them in another post in ascending order
cyl 1 in, cyl 1 ex/ cyl 2 in, cyl 2 esc.. let me know what you guys think. I’d like to avoid taking off the head

the cylinders look awesome from what I can see. Clean and coated in fresh oil.

the wiring harness is a mess but I think it’s salvageable, still I’ll be replacing a lot of it. It looks like someone already modified the fuse block. I’ll be improving on that as I’m not a fan of exposed glass fuses.

does anyone have an idea of what kind of exhaust this is. I don’t think I’m going to replace it but I’m curious what to expect.

I put the New progressive suspension rear shocks on they fit awesome and they should lift the rear end up about an inch. I’m going. To have to build or buy a few .080 bushings though. the mounting holes are a little large.

I read somewhere that the brakes on this bike are tied together in such a way that when the rear brake is applied one of the briny calipers will also engage. From what I can see that is not the case here. Could that have been a modification that the last owner made or did some modes come that way and other not.

cheers everyone.

[Bderum]

[Bderum]

[Bderum]

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there,
Okay, the PO(Previous Owner) may have separated the front/ rear brake link, if there isn't a brake hose splitting off and going towards the front from the rear MC, then they are NOT linked. Okay, rechecked and you said it is an 80 LG, they/Yamaha didn't link the brakes until the 81 LH and the 82 XJ11. Next, hate to burst your bubble, but all of the aftermarket exhaust pipe makers have essentially drop support for our bikes, they are now too old and too few. The pipes you have are aftermarket 4-1's, look like might be Kerker but could also be MAC. Their design is similar to my Black Mac 4-1's where the large collector pipe is bent and routed to be able to fit under the center of the bike and still allow the centerstand to fit and work, you just have to have a stop bracket mounted on the frame left side to catch stop the centerstand from going to far when it folds up. I couldn't see one on there, and you may NOT want one permanently attached, but you could still use one temporarily for maintenance tasks, then just take off when done.

Do you have a compression gauge, that would be the thing to do to tell you if you would need to take the head off. IIRC stock compression is around 140 psi. should be within 10% of all cylinders. However, might want to check and set the valve clearances IF out of range first, otherwise that can negatively affect the compression test. The oversize rings for honing or small incremental bore changes are also essentially non-existent, YAMAHA also stopped support years/decades ago. IF the compression is real low and not due to valves, then to freshen the engine, you would need to get a BIG BORE kit. Wiseco used to make 2 flavors 1179 and 1196 cc's, The latter takes the cylinder to it's maximum thinness so no more room for any more boring. HOwever how many miles on engine? These were severely overengineered, and many folks have reported 100K+ miles capable, so if only has 20-30K, then it's barely broken in! Hope you have downloaded or purchased a service manual.

The special handlebars are a real PITW(Wrist) due to their extreme angle(s), Although JetMechMarty likes them, most of us have swapped them out for either later year GoldWIng or similar makes 7/8" with similar rise/spread, but have more ergonomic wrist angles than the Rototiller style of stock! The single best brake upgrade is to put Braided Stainless steel lines on at least the front, but also the back if you have the $$.

Okay, have fun. BTW there's a guy in Canada that we've used for getting quality used parts from, AndreasWeiss.

[Radioguylogs]

I like the Special handlebars, but I like them adjusted low, so they barely clear the gas tank. In this position, my wrists are like a handshake, and I can sit back in the seat instead of leaning forward like the standard bars.