I'm new here...

[thetank2006]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to say hi, i have been looking at this site for a few weeks to get information on my bike.

I recently got a 1981 XS 1100 Special from my dad. My uncle used to own the bike 8 years ago but he gave it up due to a horrible crash that nearly killed him. He fixed the bike in his living room during his recovery period and then gave it to my father. It has sat in a shed behind our house for the last 4 years, and i finally pulled it out and decided to get it running again. I took the carbs off and had a local friend clean them up for me; we went through everything on the carbs. They were so dirty that it took us 2 weeks to get them completely cleaned. It took alot of time soaking to get some of that crap worked loose. I finally got the carbs back on about a week ago and took it for its first ride in 4 years. The bike runs GREAT, and is very fast! I am looking forward to the summer so i can ride it everywhere.

I just have one simple question. When it was involved in the wreck, the panel that covers the turn signals was broken and my uncle never replaced it. I know that the top two lights are the turn signals and the middle one is for oil pressure. What is the very bottom light for? I notice it just barely coming on every once in a while. If someone could inform me of that it would be great. I am not sure if it is somthing that is important or what it is for.

Thanks,
Jared Hansen

[mro]

should be green when shifter is in neutral

Welcome to XS land Jared

There was post week or two ago about getting new decals made for piolt box. Lost track how far they went, think it may have been "John" in Texas who was leeding it. Decal labels lights etc..



mro

[mro]

btw

Post a pic of your bike when you can.




mro
btw2
Glad uncle survived,
been lucky a few times myself.

[knewsom]

WELCOME, dude!

[dewibp]

Welcome Aboard! SW Iowa, where exactly as I spend some time in Omaha, NEB. from time to time? If you need help, this is the place to be.

[thetank2006]

thanks guys.


mro-the neutral light is with the tach along with the high beam light and low fuel light. It will just barely come on when im riding. I noticed it the first time last night when i was riding. It is too dim to see during the day.

p.s. i will post pictures asap.

[DiverRay]

Jared,
That may be the reserve lighting indicator. I notice that they seem to be on just a little at all times. I would try to pick up a Clymers for the bike, as it will help a lot. You can still get a new one from a good motorcycle shop for about $25.00.
Welcome to the XS site, and hang on tight, the ride is FUN.
Ray

[Bauer]

If its anything like my 80 special, which im sure its not too far off, its just the headlamp indicator, the light will come on if the headlight is not working and or the reserve lighting unit is bad. The light kinda flickers on mine too, so as long as the headlight works, I wouldnt worry about it.

[thetank2006]

thanks. all the lights and stuff work so im not going to worry about it. one more question. how hard is it to adjust the valves? it ticks pretty good when it is running. that is usually valves out of adjustment. if it isn't that hard i could do it myself, but if it is pretty difficult then i will probably take it to a shop and have them work on it.

[trbig]

Read the link on cam chain adjustment and try that first. Be careful and don't strip the bolt when re-tightening.
If you do want to do the valve adjustment, it's not that tough, but you will need a valve hold-back tool. Somebody else needs to tell you where to get them. I bought one from Partsnmore.com, and it wasn't worth a crud. You also need a good set of metric feeler gauges, and see if your local bike shop carries a good supply of 29mm shims that go between the cam lobes and the valve bucket.

You will find that most people on here will tell you to avoid letting mechanics work on these bikes unless they have been around a long time... long enough to have worked on them way back when. Most now won't work on them anyway, but if you find one, you hear all the time how they mess it up and you will have to do it yourself anyway... AFTER you have paid them good money.... and possibly made it WORSE!
There probably isn't a single thing you couldn't do yourself on that bike with these guys in here to help you, as long as you can hold a wrench and know "Righty Tighty Lefty Loosey"! Most things have been covered already if you just do a search for it.

Try the cam chain adjustment first. If that didn't work, I'd change the oil. You may have to try several kinds to find out what your particular bike likes. Something that runs great in one, might make the valves really noisy and the clutches slip in another bike. If you search for "Oil" , you will get about 20 million hits with everybody telling you their opinion. I think it all comes down to .. Any oil is better than NO oil, and if you pay attention, your bike will tell you the answer when you find the right one!

Tod

[trbig]

One other thing... if you are still on the tires that thing had while sitting that long... CHANGE THEM!!

Tod

[osmosis4b]

I agree with Bauer, on my bike (79SF) the top light is a single yellow labeled "turn", the second is red labeled " oil/brake", and the third bottom light is white and labeled "headlamp". It comes on very dimly, and can only be seen at night. The neutral (green) and fuel light (red) and brights indicator (blue) are on my tach.

[wingnut]

You will be assimilated!

JARED welcome to the world of the excessives. Be careful with the right hand twists on that thing until you get use to the power. And I could not agree more with the "GET NEW RUBBER ON THAT THING" comment. Old tires are hard as bricks and slippery when you don't want them to be. I have a 81 special that I got last fall that was sitting around for a few years. After getting it started the valves seemed noisy. I adjusted the cam chain as per instructions that are found on the site and changed over to the valvoline 20W 50 motoercycle oil. That quited it down enought so I could get some miles on it , let things settle in and then I'm going to adjust the valves. Good Luck with your new machine!

[thetank2006]

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome. I believe the tires are fairly new. If i can remember correctly the were replaced just shortly before it was put into storage. I took a close look at them today and they don't seem to be dry rotting. How much is a new set of tires? I was told that they can be pretty spendy, about 200 a piece or somthing like that???


P.S. Pics should be posted hopefully wednesday.

[xs650mike]

The headlamp indicator is always on very dimly, if it comes on bright it means that one of the headlight filaments has failed. When this happens the reserve lighting unit automatically switches the headlight to the other filament and the light comes on bright.

Welcome to the club, a great bunch here. Of course they have to be to have the exquisitely good taste necessary to own and love an XS or XJ Eleven!