WOW! The okieSPECIAL got the 850 FD today!

[XJOK2PLAY]

Ride up to KC sometime Bob. Doesn't take long to do.

Thanks, Harry! I appreciate the invite.

Miles says he's got one that he bought to put in that bike before I got it. Only problem is... it's with him in Colo... so I either need to to take a trip up to see him, or wait 'til he needs to come down here. Not sure how much it would cost to ship... need to check that out. May not be as bad as I'm thinking...

Still not sure if I'm going to have to invest some $$ in the motor yet...

Ran great on the trip... best it ever has. It's developed some engine vibration lately... Tod & I wonder if it may have hurt the new crank bearings in Colo. last summer...

Looking at rebuilding if it decides to go South on me... but so far so good.

Really wanted to do the FD swap last thing...

[XJOK2PLAY]

The XJ has the same gearing as the XS?

You should take a spin.

Greg

AFAIK, yes. No difference.

I need to take you up on that! Maybe soon.

Tod's done it to his XJ... long time ago. He loves it.

[mro]

Tod & I wonder if it may have hurt the new crank bearings in Colo. last summer...

IF/When the mains go you run the risk of FUBARing the case


mro

[DGXSER]

Hey Bob,

FWIW, I just had a 750 FD shipped to me in SW Ohio from California. Cost $15 to ship it. Same price I paid for shipping from Louisiana to Ohio for a 750 FD.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Hey Bob,

FWIW, I just had a 750 FD shipped to me in SW Ohio from California. Cost $15 to ship it. Same price I paid for shipping from Louisiana to Ohio for a 750 FD.

I had the whole rear rim and FD sent to me from Nebraska for $28.50.

No excuses Bob.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Wow... that's good to know it's that reasonable.
Thanks guys.

[Geezer]

I think I paid about $40 with shipping for my XS850 Midnight rear drive. It saves me from painting it if I ever get around to painting the engine like I want to.

Geezer

[DGXSER]

Here is what the FD looked like when it arrived at my place..



Here is after a couple hours with sand paper and some rattle can paint and clear coat....





Cost = $0 as I had the cans laying about form a previous project.

[Codger]

No problem with copper.

I've got maybe 8k on the conversion now using the copper spacer- no problems- just a big smile on my face as I cruise 80mph at 4500rpms. As an aside- I get about 2 mpg better around town and at least 8 mpg to the good on long hauls at freeway speed ie- 70 to 80- depending on which way the wind is blowing. As mentioned by other members the new 4th gear ratio is the old 5th and the new 5th is an overdrive 6th. This has solved my only gripe about the Eleven- other than the gearbox-that being the constant search for the mythical 6th gear using the stock setup with the let down that resulted when I realized that she would'nt shift again being in fifth gear already. XSCHOP is the man- and this conversion is the best single thing you can do to increase riding pleasure on these old beasts- nuff said!

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Loss of low end power was my concern. I live in a hilly, curvey, low-speed area now (80 ft. rise in my .2 mile driveway, mts on 3.5 sides) and I really like the 850 conversion. Tod is right, 4th is the old 5th, and 5th is smooth as glass. I can cruise over the Coast Range in 5th behind a bunch of "safe" drivers and get 45 mpg. Maybe better than that now with the newly installed re-manufactured carbs. Kong is making power he's never had before.
Depends on your style of riding I guess. Works for me.

Nice having that extra gear when you get on flatter streaches isn't it?

[madmax-im]

OK I need a short explanation...are the 750 and 850 final drives the same? So either one will give the desired effects of lowering the RPMs and increasing MPG?

[XSokieSPECIAL]

OK I need a short explanation...are the 750 and 850 final drives the same? So either one will give the desired effects of lowering the RPMs and increasing MPG?

I asked that before I did the swap too.

Answer: They ARE the same part #.

Greg

[DiverRay]

Yes, they are both geared the same, and the conversion is the same. The 750/850 had a "taller" gear ratio, as they were Yamaha's "road bike" of the day. When they designed the XS1100, they wanted a QUICK road bike, so the lower ration in the rear end.
I have a conversion on the '79 that lost a trans, and it has about 20K on it with NO problems. I'm going to put a conversion on my new daily ride, and it's already done. I'm just trying to get the engine running a little smoother. If you do the conversion, and have a "little" problem with the carbs, it WILL rear it's ugly head quickly!

[madmax-im]

Alright guys...Thanks for that...I will read up more on this mod/swap....I would liike to gain some MPGs' on my XJ,so I will need to know exactly what needs modification. Curiously though the explanation that the XS/XJ is quicker than the 750/850 because of the final drive...doesnt seem to me its that big of a difference...if we use MAXIMAN's 'Zilla as an example of an XJ that had the 750 FD..yet that bike had scads of power and was no slouch either...just thinking outloud...I realize Cody did alot of engine tuning to get the power he had BTW but would a factory spec engine lose that much with this swap?

[DiverRay]

Have you ever ridden one of the triples? think of that with 20% more power, and your starting to get the idea. The XS1100 has MORE than the required HP and Torque to run the higher gearing. Yamaha DIDN'T do it because of the "king of the hill" thing.
When my first daily ride was loosing gears, I was able to ride up a STEEP driveway in third gear. This was from a dead stop at the bottom, after getting the mail!