Who has brought the front end up (wheelie)?

[greengoon3]

Of course....
Anyone saying they haven't hasn't wound her up tight.

Wife doesn't like to be on it whaen it does.
Only thing keeping me from wiping out is the slipping clutch.

[Eveready1100]

Hi DGXSER, ain't anybody else hiding in there. Just li'l ol me and my camping gear



It got very crowded when my better half started coming out as well. That's why I built my keg to take the load off the bike.

[tantor]

Now that the clutch is tight, once the beast is warmed up, Yes she will rise to the occasion. I try not to do it often, but once in a while, it's fun.
But only on deserted roads.

[these2boots]

my father....

...back in ''79 when we first got it for MY MOM after trading in her xs650 (dad had a suzuki gs750) he scared the CRAP out of a six year old me by putting it up and riding it like a 1/4 mile...without warning me. i was used to being on the bikes since before i can remember, falling asleep at like 3 and 4 on the gas tank and my little cowboy boots would fall off and they would have to turn around to get them. but yea, i remember the terror as i held on for dear life. turns out, he was "showing her off" kinda racing a buddy down the road and it just went up on him popping the clutch, so he just rode it out. i'm thinking in the excitement/fear he forgot about me! hahaha. and now kids wear helmets on their bmx bikes. puh-shaw! hahaha.

i'm now 36 and the 1100 still lives! it has sat since 87 (with the gas in it..thanks dad.) iI just coated the tank and rebuilt the carbs last summer and she goes in for an electrical problem, carb sync and whatever else in a week! can't wait!

my mom is not so great these days and i cannot wait to make this machine mine. it will always remind me of her indomitable can do spirit and falling asleep on the tank riding with mom on both her xs bikes.

i'm going to definitely customize the hell out of it (next year), as the factory cafe style is not really my bag and will be asking a ton of questions from you knowledgeable gurus. thanks in advance!

[BlindogSmokin]

Hi Ho Silver

Yeah the XS will wheelie easily, more so at Sea Level.

My most memorable Wheelie was in San Diego in the Late 80's. I was on my way home from work and riding with a buddy. We were spitting the traffic on the South Bay Freeway at one of its few stop lights. My buddy was riding ahead of me on his Honda CB650, and had just come up on the line when the light went green, I was about 4 car lenths behind, and the cars began to move on both sides of me. I got a little nervous at that point and throttled up a bit to hard. The front wheel raised a little more than a foot off the ground. At this point I wanted to get clear of the cars, so I stayed on it. My buddy said he looked in his mirror in time to see the undercarriage of my bike about to plant on his back seat so he moved over just in time for me to roll by with the front wheel still in the air. When it finally reved out and the front wheel touched down, I banged Second and up she came again. By the time I shifted up to 4th, I couldn't even see a car in my mirrors, and my buddy was nowhere to be seen. A thought came to me that it was like those Lone Ranger shows from the late fifties early sixties, when the Lone Ranger called out, "Hi Ho Sillllverrrrrr", Silver would raise up on his hind legs and off he would ride. Well it was just like that, except my Silver was a 1980 XS1100 Midnight Special, which by the way I still own.

I still have every XS1100 I ever owned, I will not part with any of them.

My first was a 78 E.
I now have 2 78 E's, both in full Dress.
an 80 G in full Dress
and 2 80 Midnight Specials.

[XS1100 Newbie]

I would like to try to get the front off the ground, but i just know i would lose it, and i can't afford any fixes right now. Besides, i hate cleaning out my shorts.

[llwsgn]

I once had a 78 factory full dress, (w/o trunk). It's been about 23 years ago when my dad wanted to drag race my XS with his 83 Honda Interstate. I'm a little ashamed of my self....Pretty good rear wheel launch, he sure looked surprised....Honda had no chance.

[danteinien]

I thought I had posted this in this thread, but I didn't see it anywhere

This is me on my old 1100. Clutch wheelie in 2nd btw

[Rickrider]

Had to say no on the survey because I don't have mine running yet.

[Big Beadle]

3rd up up and away

I drained some 115 octane out of my race quad and put it in the xs11 and me and the wife went out for a night on the town, i came up to a yellow light in 4th dropped one and nailed it!! to get through it the ole girl stood straight up and down, Just about lost my wife off the back, I had to pull over cuz she was beating my helent so hard i could not see to keep it straight on the road. So ya ive put er up at least once

[Redshirt]

*hangs head in shame*
I have NOT pulled the front end off the ground, yet.
I keep hearing about the "yank you off the bike power" these xs11's have, but I am not aggressive on the gas/clutch. I do feel a slight slip at rapid RPM increases (around 7k and gunning it). My suspicions are on weak springs and maybe some worn friction plates. Might be why I just dont feel that "hang on for dear life" moment...ever.

[BA80]

*hangs head in shame*
I have NOT pulled the front end off the ground, yet.

PUSSY!

I keep hearing about the "yank you off the bike power" these xs11's have, but I am not aggressive on the gas/clutch. I do feel a slight slip at rapid RPM increases (around 7k and gunning it). My suspicions are on weak springs and maybe some worn friction plates. Might be why I just dont feel that "hang on for dear life" moment...ever.

+1 on the weak springs, I however doubt the plates are worn and causing a problem. Not to start another oil thread, but what are you running?

[cywelchjr]

PUSSY!



+1 on the weak springs, I however doubt the plates are worn and causing a problem. Not to start another oil thread, but what are you running?

I'd have to agree with Greg, as very few if any have actually found the frictions to actually be worn below spec, even though some have changed them anyways, but many HAVE found (ok, almost everybody) the springs to be below spec, and good HD springs fix the slip, and sometimes even just a change of oil type if using the wrong type or weight can fix a problem, as these bikes tend to not like oil less than 20wt on the bottom as the original spec was for 20w40, but most can't find that so go with 20w50 instead, but the main thing is to stay away from energy conserving oils, as they almost ALWAYS will cause clutch slip, and synthetic oils cause slip for many (but not all). If your running either of those, try a good quality MC 20w50 oil designed for wet clutches and see how the clutch works after a couple hundreds miles on it (it can take that long for the other stuff to work out of the clutch), otherwise, you may need new springs, but not very likely new frictions (it's possible, just not likely).

[BA80]

I'd have to agree with Greg, as very few if any have actually found the frictions to actually be worn below spec, even though some have changed them anyways, but many HAVE found (ok, almost everybody) the springs to be below spec, and good HD springs fix the slip, and sometimes even just a change of oil type if using the wrong type or weight can fix a problem, as these bikes tend to not like oil less than 20wt on the bottom as the original spec was for 20w40, but most can't find that so go with 20w50 instead, but the main thing is to stay away from energy conserving oils, as they almost ALWAYS will cause clutch slip, and synthetic oils cause slip for many (but not all). If your running either of those, try a good quality MC 20w50 oil designed for wet clutches and see how the clutch works after a couple hundreds miles on it (it can take that long for the other stuff to work out of the clutch), otherwise, you may need new springs, but not very likely new frictions (it's possible, just not likely).

Change the clutch springs anyway. The odds are the ones in there are 30 freakin' years old. They're cheap and simple to replace. http://www.phatperformanceparts.com/...14&Search.y=10

[cywelchjr]

Change the clutch springs anyway. The odds are the ones in there are 30 freakin' years old. They're cheap and simple to replace. http://www.phatperformanceparts.com/...14&Search.y=10

I agree with you Greg, providing you have any reason whatsoever to crack that cover open that is. If for any reason you open the cover, then yes, absolutely, change the springs. I was cheap, joe dirt cheap, I had a set of OEM springs that were up to spec, so I didn't put new in, and my clutch isn't slipping. That said, if I for ANY reason need to go into the clutch case again, I will almost certainly order new springs and replace them. But I'm not planning on going in there any time soon . If your already running 20w50 dino oil, don't waste your time with anything else, you need to replace the springs at least. If your running synth or something thinner than 20w oil or anything that says energy conserving, at least give 20w50 MC oil a try before talking that cover off, cause you don't even have to change the oil to put new springs in if that don't work . That's all I'm sayin, try the simple least work stuff FIRST, and THEN do the stuff we KNOW will fix it if the other doesn't. The springs aren't always bad (ok, so they are a lot of the time) but make sure the clutch is properly adjusted, good correct wet clutch compatible oil is in use and all FIRST, then recommend cracking the engine and replacing parts.