new owner in KC, MO area needs help....

[savcage]

Hi everyone,

i just bought a 78 xs1100 from a buddies dad that had been sitting around for several years. I got a new battery for it, cleaned up the spark plugs, drained the carbs via the bottom nuts but didn't take the carbs actually off. It started up and was running pretty good, but was leaking gas and oil from the air filter fast. I have looked around on here and seen that it is possibly my floats are stuck or the petcocks. I am asking for any pointers. I bought a clymers manual on ebay, but it isn't here yet. I had the petcock on prime part of the time, could that have been the problem? I don't know enough to do it myself, so i am thinking about trying to take it to someone here in the kansas city, mo area. How much should they charge and does anyone know anyone i could take it to by chance? Also, the mufflers didn't start out smoking much, but by the end was smoking alot of white smoke. Thanks for any help.

[excess11]

Carb help!!

Most bike shops will not work on a bike as old as our vintage ones here on Xs11. You might find a Classic Jap bike shop that will do the work. There are a growing number of them with the popularity of Vintage or Classic Jap bikes. I would think the problem is dirty carbs,stuck needle valves. They will have to be removed and disassembled to inspect and clean them. If you have any mechanical ability you can likely do the carb work your self The Xs11 croud is always willing to help if you get stuck on something. The smoke is probally oil contamination. The extra gas you see pouring from the air box is also finding it way into the oil pan and is thinning out the oil with gas. This is allowing the oil to get pushed past the rings producing smoke.

[trbig]

Honestly.... please consider doing the work yourself. If you read through the steps you are going to take a couple times before you actually do them, it's a pretty easy thing to do. The gratification of learning about the bike you ride, as well as knowing that when you are cruising down the road... it's YOU that made it run so good.
You will also see time, after time, after time, of people on here taking it to shops.... only to end up doing it themselves AND buying parts the shop tore up.
Don't start it any more until you get the carbs cleaned and the oil changed. The gas in the oil will wash your bearings and ruin your motor.
It may seem a little daunting because you don't know where to even start on pulling the carbs... let alone getting into them... but it really isn't hard. Just remember the steps (Not very many) and do it in reverse to get them back on. Your manual (Or others in here) will help you. You may also do a search about whatever you need to do... take a little time to read up on it (Don't forget the tech tips on the sides for little helps and cheats... along with step by step instructions on many things.)
Good luck and congratualtions on being the owner of the first year of XS1100! Keep us informed and send some pics!

Tod

[mro]

Hi ya savcage

Surprised you've slipped past one of the gurus here.

Check out the teck tips to the left.
Minimum...... you will need to clean the carbs and set float height.
Remove fuel line(s) from pet cock and watch as you turn the handle to it's different positions when fuel comes out. ("prime", fuel should flow, "reserve" or "on", fuel should flow only when engine running (or you apply vacuum to small hose to petcock).
((redneck way, suck on it )

If petcock not working properly will need to either clean/repair or rebuild em.

Before running bike agin should check that no gas has entered crank case from the "leaking condition".

Should change all fluids, including brake fluid. Should be in tech tips too.

White smoke after bike warms up sounds like condensation in pipes and should go away after few minuets.



mro
btw
welcome to XS land

[TopCatGr58]

Guru Checking In!

Originally posted by mro
Surprised you've slipped past one of the gurus here.

White smoke after bike warms up sounds like condensation in pipes and should go away after few minuets.

mro
btw
welcome to XS land

Hey Mike,

With great assists from guys like you and Tod, "we" don't always need to butt in! Yes, Savcage, these bikes aren't that hard to work on, and most shops won't work on them, or they'll have a guy that's younger than your bike really mess things up!!!
In the tech tips, MISC section, you'll find thead on what to look for in a neglected XS11, will tell you what things to do for your check off list to get it road worthy!!!! Go to the MAIN FORUM page, and scroll down to find the tech tips aside from clicking the link in the left hand column!

And Mike, I know we sometimes feel like doing a victory dance when we figure out and fix a problem, but I think that's going a bit too far!!
T.C.

[Meatloaf]

As someone in the same position as you let me share my recent experience.

I would advise that you work on the bike yourself unless you have a vintage specialist in the area. I wasted a month and more money than I'd care to admit at a Yamaha dealer that never did get mine running properly only to have the local vintage specialist take 20 minutes to tell me I needed new coils, (something I suspected but never followed up on because I was obsessed with the carbs). The bike is running perfectly on a borrowed set he had in stock and a set of used coils is on it's way.

My problem was that I didn't want to miss the season and had hoped to speed things up by dropping it off at a dealer right after I bought it not running, in the hopes that they would whip it into shape quickly. That was a mistake.

These bikes are a labour of love and unless you're prepared to do the wrenching yourself you'll either drop a ton of coin into it, or get frustrated and end up walking away. Vintage Japanese bike specialists are often "true believers" and may work with you to empower you to slowly take over wrenching duties as long as you give them some business and don't become too much of an irritant.

Whatever you do, DON'T take it to shop that sells new bikes, you won't like how it turns out.

Where you'll struggle is with diagnosing problems and that's where the guys in here can be a great help. With these bikes once you know what's wrong, fixing it isn't all that difficult as I have recently discovered

[mro]

Originally posted by TC
And Mike, I know we sometimes feel like doing a victory dance when we figure out and fix a problem, but I think that's going a bit too far!!

Nothing gets past you guys..lol
At least I thought my answer was "composed in a stately suite" worded for our audience. Was the tempo off?

when sufficiently imbued,......been known to dance like a white guy


mro

[Upright]

Don't forget about Merriam Cycle (aka XS11 Heaven). Since you're in KC it would definitely be worth a visit!

http://www.merriamcycle.com/html/begin.html

[Upright]

And regarding the "don't take it to a shop that sells new motorcycles" comment, I called Shawnee Cycle Plaza (a Yamaha dealer) about buying tires from them and having them mount and balance them. The service tech told me that they don't "work on bikes that old." When I stressed that I just needed tires mounted, the guy said "I don't think they even make tires for that bike anymore."

Yeah right.

[Brian_D]

Savcage,

For tires and other parts, I've had good success with Cyclops Cycle Products, 5435 Merriam Drive. Although I've never used them for carb work, they would be the ONLY shop in the area I would let touch my bike.

[jeffe]

I've said it before here, but I am blessed to have a guy about 2 miles from my home who only works on "Vintage" Japanese bikes. After buying my 78E which had sat for 5 years with gas in the tanks and carbs I knew it would need worked on. 3 Yamaha dealers said the bike was junk and not worth messing with. I called him up and he had me bring it in. Before he did anything he ran a compression check, for no charge. All 4 cylinders checked out ok and he then said lets do the work.
He is very honest and upfront with what he might find when he starts working on your bike. He takes the time to answer any questions you might have. He also is willing to offer advice if you are doing the work yourself. The only problem is he always has way more work to do than he can get done. So you can't get in a hurry.

[81XS1100-2006]

I've found a guy via e-bay who rebuilt/tune/synched my carbs for 150+ parts and shipping. He tunes them using his own xs.

I got them back within a week and a half and just popped them on and went like a rocket.

here's his e-mail: jesrbrd@netpenny.net

his name is Jim.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey KB,

Glad you had a good experience, but unless his XS is just like yours, same piston ring wear, same valve clearance settings, same size valves, same amount of wear/stretch in your cam chain, same air filter, etc.... his synching will NOT match your machine!! That's a decent price for rebuilding them vs. what Rob Reil charges at MOTORCYCLECARBS.COM....$400.00 for a set!

But....you'll still need to vacuum synch them to YOUR BIKE'S ENGINE!! Essentially you're getting a very good bench synch setup!
T.C.

[excess11]

What????

Originally posted by TopCatGr58
[B]Hey KB,

Glad you had a good experience, but unless his XS is just like yours, same piston ring wear, same valve clearance settings, same size valves, same amount of wear/stretch in your cam chain, same air filter, etc.... his synching will NOT match your machine!! That's a decent price for rebuilding them vs. what Rob Reil charges at MOTORCYCLECARBS.COM....$400.00 for a set!

But....you'll still need to vacuum synch them to YOUR BIKE'S ENGINE!! Essentially you're getting a very good bench synch setup!
T.C. [/
B]

Your reply really does not make sense. The idea of sincing the carbs is to make all of the butterflys in the carb operate the same and advance togeather so you dont have one cylinder outworking another. The idea that you have to sync each cylinder to make up for internal engine wear does not make sense. If you have to open one butterfly more than the anothers to make up for valve wear or ring problems in one cylinder. Are you really syncing the carbs? As long as the vacuum load was equal in all cylinders when the carbs were originally synced I dont see where it would make much difference. Your post sounds ultra critical. This is not a Formula one race car we are working on. I think close is good enough. A daily commuter will never notice if the vacuum is off by one inch from one carb to the other.

[Ken Talbot]

You're probably right there, Dan, about the daily commuter not noticing if he's got a carb off sync by as much as an inch. A lot of folks may not know the difference if they lose a few horsepower here and there to poorly balanced floats, inconsistent pilot screw adjustments, incorrect jets, plugged up baffles, underinflated tires, etc, etc. If you added it all up, threw in out of sync carbs, and maybe edded in a wee bit of brake drag, I'm guessing you could easily be down 20 horsepower. That much a daily commuter might notice, but again, only if they've got a benchmark to compare to.

Anybody who's ever ridden behind me will tell you I'm not a high performance rider who makes use of every last horsepower at my disposal. But, I sure do enjoy the 'thrill of the chase' so to speak, of tuning my bikes to the absolute finest level of tune I can achieve. I would consider sync balance within 1/4" as a good place to start.

I believe the problem with having a set of carbs sync'd on one bike, then installed on another, is that the vacuum load would not be the same from one engine to another. That is where small differences in engine condition, intake path, etc, etc, all come into play. Close? Probably. Close enough? Probably, for many people. Close enough for me? Maybe, but I'll still go in myself and make sure.

YMMV...