clutch behaviour

[scotto]

On the very day I picked up my new (old) xs1100e, it left me stranded after I made a stop and found the battery flat. "No big deal", I thought, "I will roll start it". No hope at all, the clutch just seemed to spin and did not turn motor over at all. The bike has been running sythetic 15W50 oil since a rebuild 15000km ago. Should I be regarding this clutch as faulty or is this normal kind of behaviour for this beast? Thanks.

[DiverRay]

Did you try SECOND gear to start it? The clutch may be bad, as the springs tend to go bad from years of compression. Do a search on "clutch", and you will find a few threads. They may help with any questions, and fixes you may need.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Scotto,

We don't want to get into another Synthetic vs. Dino oil discussion, there's plenty of threads on that already, PLEASE do a search for Synthetic Oil, you'll find plenty of info!

But a note about push starting it. When the battery is too low to turn the starter, there's a good chance that the voltage will be near or below 10volts. The TCI will NOT work or fire when the voltage gets that low, so either pushstarting or kickstarting it won't do any good!

Have you checked the charging system to verify that it's putting out the required 14.5 volts at 2500 rpm?? Yes, batteries do die, but they can also be assisted with a poor or non working charging system!

Also check out the ADDING CLUTCH PLATE tech tip in the Mods, Engine section FROM THE MAIN FORUM PAGE, not the yellow column. If you're going to be going into it to rebuild, might as well add one to bolster it up!
T.C.

[scotto]

The clutch does not seem to slip during riding so I am inclined to leave it for now. On the day, I just removed battery and gave it three hours charge, then later ran it for 1800km. The battery was flat because the bike was sitting for a long time with previous owner. It has charged up OK and no more probs. Just doing my first oil change on her at this very moment, but won't mention what I am putting in it....

I spent hours last night dredging through old posts and discovered the parts finder. Amazing! Encouraging to see that much support. Will read on up on oil posts, as suggested.

Thanks for the response guys.

[mro]

78E roll start

Behind right side cover (and in rear) should be you kick start lever.


Have played with kick starting an XS. Third kick when cold, just one when warm.


mro

[strom]

One kick cold or warm. The 78E. The 1.1 has no kickstarter and I do miss it sometimes.
The 11 is easier to kickstart than an old MZ 250 I had.

LP