79 XS1100 Special, a few issues...

[PalmSpringsXS]

I just bought this bike for the lofty price of $500, and the moment I saw it, I was in love. The only bike I owned before was an older Hyabusa, so I have never had to turn wrenches on one. Its in great condition, no brake stick, nice chrome, very small ding in the tank.

My problems are a mild knock (jackhammer sound: noticeable, but not loud) from the lower left engine area (near the cover) and smokes until warmed up from that exhaust pipe, and the #4 cylinder doesn't seem to fire (no heat from header).

Bike starts with starter in 2 seconds tops and the only obvious leak is from the carbs (drips on kickstand, not upright). The bike was stored for 10 years and has about 17K on the odometer. I have a Clymer's on the way but would like to know what I should check first. From this site, I know carb issues are my #1 concern.

Thanks for your help in advance.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Phoenix,

Congrats on a great find...hopefully?? That hard knocking isn't a good sign! ALso, the fuel leak on it's side may be contributing to the development of that knock! Here's why!

The carbs can develop leaks, and aside from leaking out the airbox, the gas can also flow forward into the intake, head, and thru an open intake valve, and down into the piston chamber, and past the rings, and down into the oil, contaminating it, thinning it out, and then when you run the engine, it damages the bearings, they can spin, etc, and then you can develop a KNOCK due to a spun bearing and wearing out of parts!!

But, you might get lucky, the knocking may also be that the PO has the vacuum advance plugged into the wrong port, it goes on the #2 carb BODY port, not the Intake Manifold port. IF it's attached to the Manifold port, it's getting too much vacuum, the pulses are so strong that it can cause the vacuum pot to vibrate with intake pulses and cause a knocking noise! Let's hope it's the latter!

You can pull the timing cover off and check the vacuum advance that way, it's just a dust cover!

Would be best to drain the oil, or at least check it with a stick stuck down into the filler cap, remove it and try to light it with a match/lighter. IF it lights, then it's got gas in it, and you need to drain it, the filter, but before replacing, you need to FIX The carbs, petcocks, so that they don't LEAK, or you will have the Gas-Oil problem again!

Go to the MISC forum, and check out the What To Look For In a Neglected XS11 thread, it'll tell you what to check to get your machine road worthy, mostly, brakes, electrics, tires, etc.!!

Then, in the LINKS Forum...again, SCROLLING DOWN from the MAIN FORUM PAGE, not just the links in the left hand column because many NEW links and threads are NOT linked from the LEFT, you will find threads about ONLINE manuals that you can access from a college library in the US!

Good Luck! T.C.

[wingnut]

If that thing has been sitting 10 years and it starts at all you are a lucky man Save yourself some frustration and pull the cards now. It all starts there. TC's reference to all the tec tips and information available here will be your saving grace. Hopefully that jackhammer noise isn't 2 serious. Pull a compression check. It may save you some time on the #4 cyl but its most likely carb related. The smoke may be that the rings are gummed up from sitting. Lots of folks have had smoke when the first started the resurrection process and after some miles it goes away. Welcome to the site and where are the pictures of this new find?