How many miles can I expect out of my motor?

[Racer X]

Here is the deal:
'80 1100SG.
This is my second bike. I bought it from the original owner. (My boss!) It was in PERFECT shape with 19000 original babied miles. I was afraid to get it wet because it looked like it had never been out of the showroom.
I take good care of it and don't race it.
How many miles can I expect from it before it needs a rebuild? I read in another post that somebody was looking for a chain that they don't make any more. What are the top two or three pieces that I need to keep in reserve?
Is this a reliable machine? It does not leak like my friends HD's all do, thats for sure.
It seems that it's like owning an old Duesenberg. At some point it sounds like I'm going to have to start making my own stuff. I'm a machinist, but some things are beyond that.
(Maybe I should start an XS wrecking yard on my patio, the wife would LOVE that.

[Jerry]

Merriam Cycle, premier restorers of XS/XJ bikes, has seen several with over 100K without rebuilds.

[Dennyz]

My "F" has over 80K miles and has never had any internal parts changed. It still runs strong and is extremely reliable.

[dragxs11]

With moderate riding and meticulous(did I spell that right?) maint. It will be a couple decades before you have to worry about it. Get it warm at least once a week, adjust the valves every 10-15K miles. I think the thing to look out for is rubber stuff getting old. If you read the owners manual I think it even says something about changing out rubber things after so long.
If it's stock, I wouldn't mess with it. I like tweaking on mine, but if you just want to ride and have fun, just leave it alone. Some japanese guy in a white shirt and a little tie probably spent years engineering it. He was good at his job.

[dragxs11]

common annoyances
trip and/or odometer breakage

faded guages from sun exposure

fuse box melt

2nd gear weakness; only if you ride hard
klunky transmission requires that you be fairly deliberate in your shifting.

Keeping rear tires on it

early reviews common complaint was choppy suspension. Thats true- on earthquake warped West Coast freeways this gets annoying.

I will be big boaring this winter at 60K due to shot rings. But I tend to get on my 80 sg. I think the former owners did too. 1200cc pistons are all thats available unless the're custom made.

[Racer X]

Other than a set of flatter bars I'm going to try to keep it stock.
It gets a lot of compliments. I hear a lot of "Wow, I used to have one just like it, except mine was a 750."
Explain "Fuse box melt".................that does not sound good at all.
I would not know about the rear tire. I just put one on last year..............the other one was the original I believe.

[dragxs11]

It does get babied, doesn't it! My tire life is usually 5K if I'm lucky.

About the fuse box;
The contacts for the fuses get loose, I think. The spring tension of the fuse holders makes bad contact with the fuse itself. This causes heat to build up due to all those little electrons trying to fit through a small space. In short, it's a poor design. The hot connectors start to melt the plastic fusebox that they are, stupidly, mounted directly in. You may be able to avoid this problem by making sure your fuses are good and snug if you replace one. Mine was already bad when I got the bike, so I made my own. If you ever fine yourself in my position. The guys here know where to buy one. (a better one). Geeze I'm long winded!

The bars are easy enough. Bare in mind, however, that your master cyl. reservour will be tilted on flater bars. Thats ok, as long as you watch the level close. I went the hard way, and got one off a standard from ebay. Had to get it rebuilt, but it looks like it belongs. cables and brake lines will be a little long. Same for them-- usable, but standard parts will do it right. Check out my ride further down this discussion under "you guys gotta see this" It turned out alot better than I expected.

[dragxs11]

Just looked, guess you already saw it. Sorry, I'm a bit proud of it. It's my first restoration that I think I can finish.

[sixtysix]

I have 88K miles on my G, I did replace the timing chain about 5K miles ago. The compression on #2 and #3 cylinder tend to get out of range quicker since they don't get the cooling. My #2 cylinder has been out of the 10% spec for 20K miles......still runs good. I got a big bore kit, but have not installed it, I think the low compression cylinder may be the reason I get poor gas mileage.

[strom]

I wouldn't worry bout the internals. All the consumable stuff can still be obtained at a yamaha dealer, if you cant get it cheaper elsewhere.
I have a 78E... have new camchain installed, new primary chain.... and thats bout it that the chains go on these bikes.
I don't know bout 2nd gear, but I got a new set with the bike, and the old one could be black&decker fixed if I ever need it.
Just be sure and change the oil filters and oil on a regular basis, and you'll be just fine. The bike has no milege, and these old brutes were made to last. The materials werent that good then and the quality had to be better. I wonder if 25 years from now there's gonna be as many GSXR1300 on the road.

LP

[xssiveone]

Originally posted by Racer X
Explain "Fuse box melt".................that does not sound good at all.

Check this thread for examples of fuse box replacement. Not a difficult task. Fuse Panel