To buy or not to buy 79 XS1100

[buickyouth]

So there's a guy who lives pretty close to me that has a 79 XS1100 for sale.
He's not asking a lot of money for it and has a bunch of extra parts and luggage for it as well.

Here's the hitch. He says the trans will need to be replaced.
I haven't ventured into transmission troubles in any of my bikes thus far.
So, I turn to you seasoned veterans to inquire what level of expertise, special equipment and tools etc. etc. would be involved in doing a job like that or getting a mechanic to do it for me.

I plan on seeing the bike this evening and will bring my camera to take pictures of what I see.

More later.

[DiverRay]

If you go to the "tech tips", you can find the thread on the transmission repair. Most of the time you don't need to remove the engine or split the cases! The "second gear fix" is about an eight hour job, plus some "grinding time" on the gears. If the bike is cheap, go for it! With the extra parts, you can probably get some of the money back through ebay!

[CatatonicBug]

Definitely! If it's cheap, the fix is relatively easy. Just don't tell the seller that!

[lvrsnr]

by all means buy it the economy needs a boost.. just kidding, but for me restoring one of these is good therapy

[D. P. Larmee]

If you need a hand flipping that old gal over, or just an extra set of eyes, drop a line.

[D. P. Larmee]

Also, don't know if you saw it, but this one was posted the other day and it is right here in Evanston:

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22217

I thought about picking it up, but I don't have room in the garage at the moment. From the picture, it looks like that is the bulding where Sheridan hits South Boulevard. It will also probably need some work, but maybe a bit less.

[buickyouth]

I just got back from checking out the bike and I'm in.
Deal was sealed with a handshake and I'll most likely be picking it up this weekend. The seller is a really nice guy who (since we're so close geographically) even offered to come over to help me replace the trans and do anything else I might need a hand on too. Speaking of which, Dan, there will be some beers to be had in my backyard for sure.

He's got the whole touring package and a bunch of extra parts as well.

I'm so glad that I found this one and am really happy to actually be 'home' again with the rest of you wrench heads.

Here's some pictures I took of it in the garage.
The flash is less than flattering, but I think you can still get the gist of it.

Couple questions after the first once over.
My eye might be off, but the rake looks more like a special to me.
The pipes also appear to be special as well.

[DGXSER]

Congrats on a nice lookin bike! Hopefully it just needs the gears fixed as seems to be the norm for these bikes!

Those pipes do look like they are "special" as in they stop short of the rear axel which is a mark of the Special model IIRC. Not sure on the rake issue. I was not aware that the rake changed but I have read on more than one occasion about special versus standard triple trees though. The forks are definitely standard though as is the rest of the bike to my eyes anyway.

[John]

The pipes are from a Special, or an 81 Venturer, but the forks are from a Standard.

[tarzan]

Headlight and gauge cluster are standard too.

[fredintoon]

Couple questions after the first once over.
My eye might be off, but the rake looks more like a special to me.
The pipes also appear to be special as well.

Hi Buickyouth,
Standards and Specials have the identical steering head angle (aka rake) of 29.5º and the identical steering trail of 5.12" The Standard's under the slider axle and longer 'trees vs the Special's front of the slider axle and shorter 'trees are strictly cosmetic differences.
Yeah, looks like a Spacial exhaust. At least you can remove the rear wheel without needing that wire rat-trap thingie to compress the rear suspension.
BTW, what diameter rear wheel does it have? Standard = 17"; Special = 16"

[petejw]

Nice bike,
that'll clean up nicely.
It all looks like a stock standard,
other than the exhaust.

[buickyouth]

Everything is moving along as expected and I'll be picking the bike up this Sunday!