What would you change?

[mro]

chain chain change.....

50gary

I will de-rake the bike next winter, BTW.

PM TC, I think he has a tech tip on it

Would like better handling at high speed.
Seldom get over 100mph, but gets a little "squirmy" when it meets bad pavement.


mro

[Geezer]

Originally posted by 50gary
The thing that I think about changing the most is that huge 29.5 degee rake angle. 27 degrees would be more like it XS650 has 27 degree, so it was on theri mind at least? That is the most Harley Davidson like thing about the XS11... and very difficult to change. Guages and headlight are butt ugly minor item though. I must put in a comment about the Standard fuel tank I think it's one of the best looking large tanks ever on a production bike. The weight is way too much. I will de-rake the bike next winter, BTW.
Cheers, 50gary

The steering geometry was determined more with touring in mind that road racing. I think it’s just fine.

I also like the styling and that includes the instrument panel but I think the XS11 would have been better off with a mechanical tach like the other Yamahas of the time.

Geezer

[50gary]

Not to turn this into a debate but there are no modern bikes outside HD and clones that use the big slack angles. I know it's not a sport bike (23/24 degrees typical) and if I wanted that I would buy one. But the steering is slow and so much rear weight bias. I would shorten the front part of the wheelbase and de-rake to 27' and lower the steering head about one full inch. One of the reasons I chose the XS11 is because of the shaft drive, (I also have an old BMW) although you're right, the wheels are downright skinny.
Cheers, 50gary

[planedick]

Amperage...

Everyone complains about the charge rate, but 23 amps isn't bad. If it were more then everyone would complain about the HP it takes to run it.

[TopCatGr58]

A different "angle" of rake.

Originally posted by mro
50gary


PM TC, I think he has a tech tip on it

Would like better handling at high speed.
Seldom get over 100mph, but gets a little "squirmy" when it meets bad pavement.


mro

Good on Mike!
Gary, if you didn't catch my thread in the Member's Forum about my "Bent Frame", that's what he's alluding to!

But seriously, I'm with Gary in that I feel the stock 11's are very lumbersome, stiff and heavy to steer. I was reminded about that when I got to test ride several stock 11's at XS East. Both standards and specials felt very heavy.

Gary, you've got a Standard, a simple way to reduce the rake is to put a Special TT on a Standard frame, will bring the forks a bit closer to the frame! I've now got too small of a rake, so I'll be going the other way, putting a Standard TT on my Special to position the tubes a bit futher away from the frame. Due to my bent frame, I know it won't be back to OEM, but perhaps will get it just a bit more, so that it will be a little more stable, but still retain some of the ease in steering! Sorry I can't tell you exactly how many degrees the swap would provide, perhaps some of the more experienced wrenches here can provide the actual angles!?
T.C.

[50gary]

TC sorry about your bent frame, hope your "personal frame" wasn't also bent?
My understanding is Yamaha de-raked the Special by one degree to compensate for the smaller rear 16" wheel/tire that puts the special at 28.5 degrees the Standard at 29.5degrees. Without major surjury the combination would be, a special frame and slightly shorter modern forks or the standard forks with the forks slid up in the triple clamps bit by bit measureing angle with each small change and test ride. One inch longer shocks would help a great deal too. I'm going to read your bent frame post now. I also have a 17" wheel I'm thinking about but the down side to that is way less ground clearance up front, not good. But to counter that I have investigated the possibility of useing the R1 USD forks extending the sliders by 2" to make up for the one inch drop of the 17" wheel.
Cheers, 50gary

[pggg]

I've tried all combinations on this one with two pairs of Koni rear shocks, 13 inch and 12 inch. Konis have 4 damping adjustments and the usual spring notches. Then adjusting the forks up and down to see what felt best. With the forks poking out high, the steering's looser in corners. Slightly up is about right for tight twisty roads. Flush across is better for high speed on bumpy roads.

[xschop]

agree with maximan

I hated dealing with the seat. So I now have a seat that incorporates the side covers as a single fiberglass unit and uses NO BOLTS!

[audijunky]

Shaft drive for Belt
wider rims and tires
lower stance
guage cluster for a better looking one
handle bars for drag style
dual rear shocks for a soft tail type suspesion
Hideous king and queen sent for regular seat
And I am planning on trying a few of these things, wish me LUCK

[webbcraft2150]

I wanna know what they were smoking when they designed the seat! Other than that I have no complaints about my 26 year old rig. Sure, 11's had issues when they were new, but they still were the baddest rig for along time. Lets see how many '06s are still around in 20+ years. Short of a major accident, I plan on mine being around, even if my geriatric ass can't hold it up anymore.

[TADracer]

These bikes were state of the art

I agree with what PGGG said back at the begining of this thread. When these bikes were first on the market they were the state of the art. And remember, they were designed to be a solid performer in speed, handling and carrying a load and as such, I think were far ahead of their time. They are what they are....and ya gotta love em. Anyone can go pick up a crotch rocket with all the plastic and no personality.

[Geezer]

Most of the talk about the XS11 when it first came out was that Yamaha tried to please too many people with one bike. In some ways it was a touring bike that competed with the 1000cc GoldWing and it also competed with the sportier Suzuki GS1000 that was at the top of the heap for both handling and power for a short time before the XS11 was released.

The XS11 is a good bike that does a lot of things well but many of us Yamaha fans from way back would have preferred it if the XS11 had be released as a pure muscle bike that would have blown away the GS1000 and handled as well too.

I’m very fond of my XS11’s but I also plan to expand my stable to include something sportier and not one of these new twitchy sport bikes. The XS11 may handle a little slow but it won’t run off the road if you wiggle your butt in the saddle to get the kinks out of your shorts.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I still think there are few other Japanese bikes that look as good as a XS11 standard model. I’ve never cared for any of the specials but they sure were popular… I’d like to build a V-Max or a FJ1100 with XS11 like styling but I’ve often been accused of being strange.

Geezer

[stal871]

How about only one petcock, on the left side, with a larger valve of course. Would be much easier. Yes, octopus was a stupid idea.

[Geezer]

Originally posted by stal87
How about only one petcock, on the left side, with a larger valve of course. Would be much easier. Yes, octopus was a stupid idea.

Most of the really dumb thinks on the XS11 like the octopus and the strange front break calipers came to us on the Special. Personally I think the all the specials were a dumb idea.

Geezer

[skids]

Oh, oh... Here we go!

Originally posted by Geezer

Personally I think the all the specials were a dumb idea.
Geezer