'78 Special in AZ...

[gringojason]

I saw this on eBay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamaha-xs-1100-Motorcycle-does-run-or-for-parts-bike_W0QQitemZ230453959956QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_motorcycles?hash=item35a8205d14

A 5-6 hour drive from my house. I emailed him to see if he would meet me halfway. Can you guys gather much from the pics? It is missing the carbs...anything else stand out to you as an indicator as to what it would take to get it up and running? Thanks...

[foreda]

Not missing carbs

It's not missing carbs, it is missing the air box but you could easily put some pod filters on it. I certainly hope it has not been ran too much without filters!!
Overall it does not look too bad. You'll need side covers which are getting harder to find.Good luck!!

[tarzan]

No title.

That should be a deal breaker unless you want to use it for parts.
You may be able to get a title but it could require a lot of effort and time.
You could pick it up and find a new frame.

[Larrym]

A desert rat???

I second the "no airfilters" caution. Looks like the PO was in to "use-and-abuse" mode. I lived in AZ and have taken apart bikes that did have air filters and found scoring on the cylinder walls. If you do get a chance to look at it in person bring a spark plug wrench, look for oil fouling on the plugs, and stick your finger inside the exhaust pipe. If it comes out black and slippery you'll know it'll need internal engine work.

I second the "no title" caution too. Thing is that in AZ things don't rust a lot so the frame will likely be a real keeper/prize. Without a title though that prize will be hard to claim or use on another project. This comes from someone (me) who lost a bike due to this issue after owning/working on the bike for a year and a half. Nothing I could do. No options available. No way out of it either. It Royally sucked. Did I mention that it happened in Tucson, AZ.?

I'm uncomfortable with the missing covers and overall "minimized" look. To me it shows that the PO chose to make sacrifices/shortcuts along the way. The bottom line of this mentality being "keep it on the road and running" so anything like greasing bearings, fluid changes, or other "non-critical" services might/might not have been attended to. So a six hour ride at expressway speeds might just not be a good thing to do on dried out wheel bearings.

If you do go for it I say you'll have more than enough to keep your hands busy for quite a while. But hey, I've been through Kingman, AZ so going there for the purposes of looking at that XS1100 up close and personal isn't a bad thing if you can pull it off.

For that matter, driving a few hours and looking at any XS1100 is worth doing.

Best of luck.

[fredintoon]

I saw this on eBay...
A 5-6 hour drive from my house. I emailed him to see if he would meet me halfway. Can you guys gather much from the pics? It is missing the carbs...anything else stand out to you as an indicator as to what it would take to get it up and running? Thanks...

Hi Jason,
that "Special" is a Standard with a bunch of scenery missing. (grabrail, seat cowling, sidecovers, airbox, reflectors)
plus the tank has been refinished and the tank badge mountings filled in. What there is of it looks OK though.
It should run "as is" but as has been posted, it's a bad thing to run it with no air inlet filtration.

[mxmikie]

thats about 160 miles from me......

[dbeardslee]

Doesn't look like it has the original seat or pan either, so I'd figure on acquiring one of those, too - the area forward of the fender hinge is pretty unsightly. Hopefully the po hasn't boogered up the mounts.

[gringojason]

See...I knew you guys would find all of the missing pieces. Since I am looking for a bike that I can start riding pretty soon, this one isn't right for me. Too many parts missing and issues. The search continues. Thanks for all your help!!!