Vader lives!

[OneHand]

Finally got all the jets etc. into the (once again!) cleaned carbs. Diaphrams, needles all OK. Took everything out, cleaned, again, and blew out with compressed air.

Problem seems to have been the stuck pilot in no 2. Wasn't actually stuck! Was completely loose, and turning around. Fell out when I turned the carbs over. DOH! Felt like a complete idiot! Float levels to 25mm from the bowl's lip. (Anyone got a pic?)

Also, replaced the needle valves with the ones Pggg sent me, but kept the 140 weber mains I got locally( I think I'll replace with stocks when I open again). Did the syncing by eye as suggested, which seemed to work fine.

Small problem still with starting, does not really like the choke, but once warm enough to idle, does so smoothly.

Went for my 5mi run, and seems to be OK. No hesitation etc, but I think its not pulling quite as well between 4 and 7k as it was before the changes. (Floats could be too low now?) Quite impressed with hte low end torque, but still a bit flat under 2.5K.
Will pull the plugs tonight to hav a look. (Replaced with BP7ES)

Anyway, the handling of this beast scares the cr@p out of me... Anywhere from about 4K rpm up in 5th (No speedo yet) it feels as if the front end is floating in the air. Any rut in the road makes it worse. Bad tyre maybe? Michelin Macadam 50. Should be firm on the road as I weigh 300 odd pounds.

Can't wait for the next ride!!
1H

[DiverRay]

Send an email to tkat@tkat.com. He builds THE fork brace for these bikes, and it WILL make a huge difference. I know the cost is $85 US, so I would think it will be about $110 US with shipping and taxes. It is NOT the "tube" fork brace, but a billet aluminum brace machined to fit the XS. You will need to tell him if yu have the standard,(axle on the bottom of the fork) or the special (axle on the front of fork tube).
Ray

[OneHand]

Fork brace

Hi Ray,

Had a look at tkat's brace, what a piece of enigineering! BUT, with the exchange rate to the US$ from SA currency, it makes it about as expensive as a whole bike (well, allmost!) On a very tight budget like most other guys!

I work for a small engineering company, and will ask one of the machinists to attempt a copy for me on a milling machine or CNC. Should not cost me anything but a couple o' beers or bottle of scotch. Will probably not be as pretty, but should work. If not, I'll have to save up for 'the real thing'

BTW - Is that feeling normal? the front end feels slippery, as if riding on oil (in a straight line from +-60mph)??? I thought it might be the tire pressure, but I'm running at 2.3 - 2.5 bar in front, and 2.5 - 2.8 rear. I cant recall if it did that before I had the fork seals replaced, as I didn't ride a lot before that. Maybe I could try loosening all the bolts on the front end, and tightening all again. Read somewhere that it helps. Any specific order? Or maybe dropping the forks in the clamps, as its sitting high?

Thanx all for the help and advise..
1H

[Ken Talbot]

You might also want to check the steering head bearing. I've seen some very odd handling from this being too tight. Use the search button at the top of the page to look for 'steering head bearing' and see if that sounds like what you're experiencing.

[mro]

Hi 1H

How old are your tires???

Old rubber can get hard and effects handling.
Was pleasantly surprised how much better my 80G handled with new tires and not all new tires handle the same. Had put on Continentals front and rear and was very pleased. Night before last had to change rear and put on a Bridgestone split fire. Did a 137 mile run yesterday on the freeway and was surprised agin that the new rear tire made a difference in that the front almost does not track with grooves in the pavement. Best bike has handled to date.


mro

[Dragonrider]

Yep. Steering head bearings most likely. Remove, clean, grease and install to specification (preferably replace the bearings).

Good tires will help too...

[baldpuki]

In taking off the forks to change my seals, I found the reason for my squirrely handling at low speed. The PO left the 4 bolts on the lower fork pinch bars FINGER TIGHT!! Please guys, if you buy someone elses bike, go over it with a fine tooth comb. Fortunately, I had only driven the bike about 60 miles just to get it home.

[OneHand]

Have to replace the tyres, rear one is Chinese cheap sh!t Shenko, almost completely bald in the middle. Front Macadam 50, not too bad shape, but will replace. Best deal around here is Bridgestone SII. Will check steering bearings, tripple tree, forks etc this weekend, but carbs will have to come off again.

Pulled the plugs last night. Float levels not right at 25mm. most plugs running a bit black. No 2 still wet, beginning to suspect a faulty float or coil, but there is definitely spark. Will check them in water to see if it floats differently to the others. Will set them to 27 - 28mm again, seem to have been better. Currently starts without the choke (Choke just kills it) Black (fuel) smoke out of pipes when revved a little. Way, Way too rich.

Report back later

1H

[pggg]

Onehand if they're 42.5 pilots and 137.5 main jets the bike should be super-powerful, more towards lean than rich, so you'd be looking at checking float levels,slide needles,emulsion tubes, airfilter, blocked exhaust. One wet plug - not firing, might be plug leads/caps or similar electrical faults.

[OneHand]

When I took the carbs off last time, emulsion tubes, needles, diaphrams all OK, actually in very good nick.

Only thing still not std are the mains. I put in 140 Weber mains. Thread similar, but hte head is much smaller. I'll have to go back to std 137.5's, set float levels again. Pilot circuit seems to be 100% now that I've put in the new pilots, float needles, needle screws, and cleaned all again.

No 2 has got spark, I checked it with the plug earthing on the head. However, the 1 and 2 spark leads are not in the greatest of shape. Covered with insulation tape. Will go look for same new caps this afternoon. 5KOhm right?

Cant at this stage say that the power scares me. Not bad, but maybe I'm expecting too much. Got much higher thrill factor on my mate's VFR800. The blackbird scared the cr@p out of me...145hp on rear wheel!

1H

[skids]

I use 5k ohm caps. I believe I have seen between 3 k ohms and 8 k ohm caps on the bikes from the previous owners of 4 different xs11's. I go for 5 k ohm caps in case I have to get resistor-type spark plugs.

Originally posted by OneHand
Will go look for same new caps this afternoon. 5KOhm right?

[OneHand]

Could not find any caps at the auto spares shops around town. Spent the whole saturday morning driving from one to the next. No one seems to stock it any more. All have got the complete 'Bougi cords' Carbon leads with moulded on caps.

Will have to send out the big guns - Auto electician mate. Maybe he can procure some from NGK or such.

1H