Special Tank and Seat on an '80 1100G?

[jmailley]

Will a 1100 Special tank and seat fit on a Std G model? I have an '80 1100G that has the big tank and flat seat and would love to have that teardrop tank and saddle seat that comes on the special. Also if anyone knows where I can get the tank and seat. My bike is grey with tan stripe. Maybe the matching side covers as well.

[xs11bobber]

I'm pretty sure you can run a search for this on the site.

I don't know from first hand experience, but I believe I've seen the special tanks go on the standard, but not the standard fit on the special without some minor mods. Someone else feel free to chime in here so we can get jmailley helped out...

You can find them all over ebay. Run seraches for Yamaha XS1100 and if you need harder to find parts just try Yamaha XS. Chances of getting all three, tank and both side covers, to match are slim unless coming from a parts bike. Maybe try Andreas Weiss on this site.

[stoked]

ha, I have a special and have always wanted the standard take and seat.

[jmailley]

Trade?

Maybe we can talk trade. The tank had a repair before I bought it. Looks like resin patch repair on right underside. No paint over it but you can't see it when it's on the bike. A few minor scratches and 1 small shallow dent. Very repairable. Side covers have som of the silver finish taken off the emblems from age or wear but no cracks or dents. What about a seat? I would like the slimmer style saddle from the special as well.

[stoked]

I'll send you a PM later with what I got. It's all black. I'll send you pic of seat also. The tab on the left side cover on the bottom is broken so I keep it on with a zip tie. I would be interested in straight trades and I'm not picky at all, I'd just want to make sure you'd be happy with it before trading.

[Incubus]

I'm not sure a Special seat will fit a Standard and vice versa. The TCI mounts in a different place on the bikes, so the indent for it on the seat is also in a different place. The tank would work, I think, but I'm not sure about the seat.

Maybe one of the real experts will chime in.

Patrick

[thewiz]

Depends what you call 'Fit' ..

The closest match for the seat on a 'G' would be one from an 'SF'. Since the 'SF' has a teardrop tank, it's seat is narrower in the front than the 'G' and the TCI is in the same place.

Issue would be in the sidecover fitment ... that is altogeter different on all models except 'E' and 'F' which are the same.

A 'G' seat can be made to have a bit more of a step by a custom seat maker and that will probably give you your best look and function.

[xs11lover]

Wiz is on the money, standard side covers are flat accross the top, specials are slanted. SF mount slots are not in the same place as E or F either. I mounted my SF side covers on my 78E with zip strips at the top...they fit on the bottom.

You can put a special tank on a standard but you have to use the special fuel spliter too, the special petcocks need it. (Standard petcocks don't fit a special tank.) I have a special tank on my 78 E standard.
You could always mount a special seat cover and foam on a standard seat pan....I'd bet that would work....Anybody?

[jmailley]

Alot of info here. The main reason I am considering this is I like the lines of the Special tank and seat better than the standard. Also, I'm 5'10" and slim and the standard is pretty wide which makes me stand tip toed to reach the ground.

My thoughts;

If the Special seat pan doesn't fit, can I get a seat kit for the pan or get the special seat from stoked and transfer it to my pan? Never did that before. Is it that hard to get right?

I also want to make sure the back bolt fitting of the special tank fits the standard. Round post with grommet fitted in the tank tab.

Thanks for all of your input everyone. This has been a huge asset to me and I appreciate it.

[jmailley]

Anybody do custom seat work? I'm in the Medford area or S. Oregon. I'll check to see if anyone does it here but I doubt it.

[stoked]

jmailley, it sounds like there's a little more involved than you expected, hehe. I'm gonna get a standard tank one way or the other so don't feel pressured to swap with me or anything. Also, I was inspecting my tank and it has rust inside on the bottom surface. I run inline filters and I'm sure the petcock screens keep a lot out also. The outside of it looks pretty good though, but to me the inside is more important and yours may be in better shape there. As far as petcocks go, I just use the prime side and have the other port plugged. The octy is not on there. Not ideal, and some may be more anal about the way they like their fuel lines run.

Anyway, send me your info via PM or e-mail if you want to, jay_rsu@hotmail.com. I will see how much it is to ship the seat to you, and if it's not to unreasonable, I'll send it to you so you can mess with it. I don't use it, I use a Harley sportster solo seat myself. That way you can see if it's something you'd want to do or not. It is about the most comfrotable seat I've ever say on for sure. But it's a little too big for my liking. The front of it is very plyable and I don't mind if you mess with it, cause I have no plans of using it.

[fredintoon]

Hi JM,
I swapped a Standard tank onto my Special because it's a long way between gas stations in Saskatchewan.
You do know that an XS11 drinks like a fish and that the Special tank is 1.3 gallons smaller, right?
The tanks themselves swap right over no problem, the attachments are identical but there are things to know:-
The tanks have to swap complete with their own gas taps and filler cap because those parts are tank-specific.
There are fuel line differences to cope with but they are no problem.
The bitch is the fuel gauge sender.
The Special's sender will NOT work with the Standard's fuel gauge so you need to install the Standard's sender.
God knows why the fuel sender ports on the two styles of tank are on opposite sides, but they are.
This means you have to put the Standard's float-style sender into the Special tank backwards and I don't think it fits.
Well, WTF; you can always leave the thermistor sender in there to plug the hole and rely on the odometer, eh?
Other posts have said that even if a Special seat will bolt on the side covers won't line up and perhaps interfere.
I'd suggest you look into getting your seat foam re-sculptured instead.

[DGXSER]

Stoked,

Be aware that by running in PRIME you will use your reserve fuel also. As in, the PRIME port is off the bottom of the petcock and when you run dry, you have nothing, nada, zilch left in the tank. Alot of folks, me included, eliminate the octy and run strictly off the Run port of the petcock. This keeps your reserve function and still gives you fuel without the engine running or dealing with the vacuum valve.

[stoked]

ye, I just go off the red light anyway. I may be wrong but I figured prime was taking the gas from the lowest point in the tank like reserve. So instead of allowing all that sediment to build up there waiting for a day I use reserve, I figured let it out over time to bugger up my carbs instead of all at once when turning on reserve. But I could be totally wrong about that considering the petcocks have screens on them anyway.