XS1100 Standard or Special

[e.m.vans]

I bought a fender off ebay that said XS1100 1979. It looked right, but when I got it the thing it doesn't quite fit. Then I REALLY looked at the photos and then noticed the spedometer indicators were square and mine are round. The photos he had posted were just of the bike stripped down to frame engine and tires. No tank or other type indicators. I emailed and asked why the fender wont fit and asked him to make sure his was a XS1100 special. He said his was 'standard' not special and it was a XS1100.

So... is this correct? Does he have a XS1100? Or does he have a XJ1100 as I suspect? Doesn't the XS1100 MEAN Special edition? Or is this fender mislabeled and I need to have him return the money? The ebay number is 4577098741 and you can check for yourself... if someone could help me with some info it would be appreciated!

Thanks
Eric

[John]

Square guages are on a Standard, and the round ones are on the Special. Sounds like you got a Standard fender.

[randy]

e.m.vans;

Before you send it back, how is the condition? I've been looking for a PRISTINE standard fender for a couple of years. If it's right, I'll buy it from you.

[RiskyBusiness]

Just to be more verbose, EM:

There are two types of XS1100s for most (all?) years. There is a special and a standard XS1100. The special is easy to pick out because it has the round headlight, round guages, and rounded gas tank. The standard has a more squared off tank and square headlight and guages.

Here's some pics to make it easy on you:

79 Standard

and

79 Special

You can find more pics here.

[andreashweiss]

Are you talking front fender or rear. I have a complete rear special fender with tailight assembly,two standard rear fender no tailight assembly. one with hinge assembly one without e-mail to andreashweiss@yahoo.com

[randy]

andreas,

I am talking about a front fender for a standard.

[e.m.vans]

Its a REAR fender from a standard XS1100

I need a XS1100 SPECIAL rear fender. This fender doesn't help me... also, where the taillight is connected it is dented in... could be smoothed out as there are no cracks, but it DEFINATELY didnt show up in the photos.
Thanks

[CheckMark]

Specials and Standards of 1979

I have a Special the one I bought the fuse block mentioned elsewhere in our forum for. It has the round meters.

I also came upon a Standard of the same year with a bad frame and wanted to know if the frames might be the same. Good to know while shopping for a replacement.

Also if anyone has a frame I might be interested in buying if I can register it with DMV as I would like to ride my Standard as a backup bike while the Special is being serviced.

[crazy steve]

...I also came upon a Standard of the same year with a bad frame and wanted to know if the frames might be the same. Good to know while shopping for a replacement...

This was a old post, but to answer your question, no the frames aren't the same. While all the frames are very similar at a glance, there's numerous differences between the standard and special frames, and even differences between the various years, so if you're trying to replace a bad frame and use all the parts off one bike, you need the 'right' one.

'78-79 Standard frames are the only two that are the same, all the rest are one-year-model-only. Some differences are minor, some major (you can't swap original exhaust systems between '78-80 standards and specials for example), so depending on what parts you're trying to use, it can make a big difference. Generally speaking, very few parts behind the motor/fuel tank will interchange between standard frames and special frames. The '80-81 special frames are very close and can be swapped, but you'll still find some slight differences in some bracketry.