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Ken Mills' XS1100E Story by Ken Mills
Ken Mills' XS1100E Story
Eight months ago I was 48 and all I had was a wife, 3 children and a dog. I still have them plus a 78 XS1100E. Bliss!!
I had been without a motorcycle for 9 years after deliberately giving them up as my two boys were showing an unhealthy interest in them. My feeling was that I didn't want their injury or death on my conscience. As my bike ownership had stretched nearly unbroken from the age of 13 to 39 I am well aware of the dangers.
Well once I reached 48 the call of the wild became too much. I started reading the second hand bike advertisements and over a period of months I decided that the time had come. First I had too get the boys to agree that they would not use my bike ownership as an excuse to get their own. As they hadn't shown any interest for a few years they readily agreed. Their sly grins showed that they thought their old man was going troppo. My wife reluctantly agreed after I pointed out how much we had spent on her new Pentium computer and Internet access. A bit of marital blackmail never goes astray.
Funds were scarce so a new Ducati 916SP or Honda 90 stepthrough were out of the question. I was reduced to looking at the "less than $2000" column.
Initially a 50's or 60's British bike was the aim but lack of funds and the realisation that I wanted to ride not repair set me thinking about a Japanese machine. I looked at a few eg Triumph 750 (trouble), chopped Honda K1 (messy) etc. etc. I did see a mint 79 Yamaha XS1100F but I went home and by the time I rang back it was gone.
Eventually I was blessed with wonderful luck. A 1978 XS1100 E which had been completely restored by the son of the original owner. He had hotted it up with a 1200 kit , smooth bore carburettors and high compression pistons. The outward appearance except for the exhaust was standard. It had been advertised for a month or so and the price had been dropping. I eventually got it for exactly $2000 which was supposedly much less than the restoration cost.
Riding it home the 80 kilometres through the country roads was pretty scary. Such a big ponderous beast! The tyres were bald and it felt as if the bike was jumping all over the road, the wheels reacting to every subtle imperfection in the poor quality bitumen. What made it worse was that the bike kept stopping which turned out to be faulty diaphragms in the fuel taps. I eventually got home wondering had I brought a lemon. The turn signals and brakes were erratic which a friend and I traced to a poor earth on the tail light.
The four into one muffler was shot and though it sounded raunchy was a surefire way of attracting adverse attention from Mr Plod.
Once I put on a new muffler, new tyres, repaired the fuel taps, fixed the leaking cam chain adjuster, new brake pads and a couple of other small items I was really into it. After the initial shock of riding such a big/massive/humongous/monolithic/neolithic machine I quickly got into the groove. I had already been pretty stoked with the power. In a word - fantastic. Initially the handling seemed a bit suspect but it wasn't long before the beast started to impress me with its surprisingly adequate scratching abilities. The new tyres were wonderful. Road tyres have definitely improved over the years. I now have no worries with handling except for the fear of wearing off all the bits that hang of the sides including the nice new aluminium muffler. Even on the curvy stuff its not a bad bike though it takes all my (admittedly above average) weight to switch a line. Straight line stability is wonderful, one can nearly have a sleep or make a cup of coffee on the big straight stretches of highway. The brakes are great too.
I love it. The family treat my infatuation with quiet amusement and some trepidation. Coralie has been on the back once and swears she will never again although I went very slow. I dont know whether its just the bike or it is the fact that machine is stirring up my remnant testosterone that scares her? How age changes, the first time I took her out was on a new Bultaco Matador scrambler to a water hole in the bush. She loved it then.
I spent the first two months popping down to the shop each night for bread or butter or any excuse. I have had a few great rides through the surrounding country side on Sundays and am planning an extended tour along the wonderful south west coast of Australia.
I am glad I got a XS11. It is a wonderful solid stormer. The massive square muscular appearance is attractive especially that wonderful headlight, tank and maroon paint job. It always attracts attention. Parked amongst the sleek, slick faired modern bikes it exhudes character. It is also a pretty bulletproof machine.
If there are any other old men out their wondering whether to get back into bikes all I can so is - Go for it!!!!
Eight months ago I was 48 and all I had was a wife, 3 children and a dog. I still have them plus a 78 XS1100E. Bliss!!
I had been without a motorcycle for 9 years after deliberately giving them up as my two boys were showing an unhealthy interest in them. My feeling was that I didn't want their injury or death on my conscience. As my bike ownership had stretched nearly unbroken from the age of 13 to 39 I am well aware of the dangers.
Well once I reached 48 the call of the wild became too much. I started reading the second hand bike advertisements and over a period of months I decided that the time had come. First I had too get the boys to agree that they would not use my bike ownership as an excuse to get their own. As they hadn't shown any interest for a few years they readily agreed. Their sly grins showed that they thought their old man was going troppo. My wife reluctantly agreed after I pointed out how much we had spent on her new Pentium computer and Internet access. A bit of marital blackmail never goes astray.
Funds were scarce so a new Ducati 916SP or Honda 90 stepthrough were out of the question. I was reduced to looking at the "less than $2000" column.
Initially a 50's or 60's British bike was the aim but lack of funds and the realisation that I wanted to ride not repair set me thinking about a Japanese machine. I looked at a few eg Triumph 750 (trouble), chopped Honda K1 (messy) etc. etc. I did see a mint 79 Yamaha XS1100F but I went home and by the time I rang back it was gone.
Eventually I was blessed with wonderful luck. A 1978 XS1100 E which had been completely restored by the son of the original owner. He had hotted it up with a 1200 kit , smooth bore carburettors and high compression pistons. The outward appearance except for the exhaust was standard. It had been advertised for a month or so and the price had been dropping. I eventually got it for exactly $2000 which was supposedly much less than the restoration cost.
Riding it home the 80 kilometres through the country roads was pretty scary. Such a big ponderous beast! The tyres were bald and it felt as if the bike was jumping all over the road, the wheels reacting to every subtle imperfection in the poor quality bitumen. What made it worse was that the bike kept stopping which turned out to be faulty diaphragms in the fuel taps. I eventually got home wondering had I brought a lemon. The turn signals and brakes were erratic which a friend and I traced to a poor earth on the tail light.
The four into one muffler was shot and though it sounded raunchy was a surefire way of attracting adverse attention from Mr Plod.
Once I put on a new muffler, new tyres, repaired the fuel taps, fixed the leaking cam chain adjuster, new brake pads and a couple of other small items I was really into it. After the initial shock of riding such a big/massive/humongous/monolithic/neolithic machine I quickly got into the groove. I had already been pretty stoked with the power. In a word - fantastic. Initially the handling seemed a bit suspect but it wasn't long before the beast started to impress me with its surprisingly adequate scratching abilities. The new tyres were wonderful. Road tyres have definitely improved over the years. I now have no worries with handling except for the fear of wearing off all the bits that hang of the sides including the nice new aluminium muffler. Even on the curvy stuff its not a bad bike though it takes all my (admittedly above average) weight to switch a line. Straight line stability is wonderful, one can nearly have a sleep or make a cup of coffee on the big straight stretches of highway. The brakes are great too.
I love it. The family treat my infatuation with quiet amusement and some trepidation. Coralie has been on the back once and swears she will never again although I went very slow. I dont know whether its just the bike or it is the fact that machine is stirring up my remnant testosterone that scares her? How age changes, the first time I took her out was on a new Bultaco Matador scrambler to a water hole in the bush. She loved it then.
I spent the first two months popping down to the shop each night for bread or butter or any excuse. I have had a few great rides through the surrounding country side on Sundays and am planning an extended tour along the wonderful south west coast of Australia.
I am glad I got a XS11. It is a wonderful solid stormer. The massive square muscular appearance is attractive especially that wonderful headlight, tank and maroon paint job. It always attracts attention. Parked amongst the sleek, slick faired modern bikes it exhudes character. It is also a pretty bulletproof machine.
If there are any other old men out their wondering whether to get back into bikes all I can so is - Go for it!!!!