New '80 Midnight Special

[Midnight80]

Hey everyone this is my first post. I just bought a 1980 XS1100 Midnight Special. So far its a great bike, lots of fun. I'm relatively new to bikes, but really want to learn and work on this bike myself. Its currently running pretty decent, however its not idling unless I have the choke half way on. I'm planning on buying some parts for it, nothing major but I want it to run at its full potential. I was thinking:

1) 54mm Pod air filters
http://www.oldbikebarn.com/search;js...20air%20filter

2) Carb rebuild kits
http://www.oldbikebarn.com/Yamaha-XS...2&category=126

3) Accel Coil Kit
http://www.oldbikebarn.com/Accel-Sup...r-CDI-Ignition

4) NGK Iridium Spark Plugs


Are the stock sized main jets ok for this type of set-up? Or with the new filters/coils/plugs will I need bigger? I plan on leaving the stock exhaust for now. Also, I live in Denver so 5200+ altitude. Does that carb rebuild kit come with stock sized jets?

Here are a couple pictures of the bike:

http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/a...4-18190958.jpg

http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/a...4-18175258.jpg

Thanks in advance for all the help!

[ebock112]

i don't know about old bike barn i ordered some parts from the a couple of months ago and took them about a month and a half to send them to me i couldn't get a straight answer from them after phone calls and email i finally got a response i would never deal with them again. i would suggest mikesxs.net a lot better quality parts and are fast with shipping

[ebock112]

oh and after checking out your pictures i would keep the air box there that is one sweet bike and i would keep it as stock as possible it almost looks like it rolled off the show room floor

[3Phase]

Its currently running pretty decent, however its not idling unless I have the choke half way on. I'm planning on buying some parts for it, nothing major but I want it to run at its full potential. I was thinking:

Welcome to XS11, Midnight! Okay, don't think so much.

That bike looks clean and still has the original exhaust pipes, there's not much you need to do to make it run better except clean the carburetors.

Are the stock sized main jets ok for this type of set-up? Or with the new filters/coils/plugs will I need bigger? I plan on leaving the stock exhaust for now. Also, I live in Denver so 5200+ altitude. Does that carb rebuild kit come with stock sized jets?

You really don't want to do all of that, at least not until you've tried cleaning the carburetors first. From the pictures it looks like that's all it really needs, that's a nice bike!


Regards,

Scott

[scalded dog]

Wow, where did you find that? Later 'Dog

[DGXSER]

I gotta agree, that is about the cleanest most stock midnight XS1100 I have ever seen. That is one sweet looking bike.

On the carbs, I would say if you pull them off, and clean them up, especially the jet in the bowl which serves the enrichment circuit, and the pilot jet in the bowl and its circuits, I bet you will find it purrs like a kitten. The coils are not a bad dea, or the plugs. But unless you feel your oging to be spending ALOT of time in the carbs, which you should not, the pods will cause more trouble with tuning than they will help. JMHO.

[81xsproject]

I'll try to beat the crowd on this one; the XS is a big bike with lots of power. That said, I don't think that it is necessarily a bad bike to learn on. It is very stable and smooth. Just take it slow and keep your wrist under control and grow into all that power slowly.

[trbig]

You might post where you live. There may be other members around that could help and teach you a few tricks of the trade. Most work for a couple "Beverages" of choice and maybe a meal.

PLUS... if you go ahead and post the town you're in, we've got your address off your trash can already, so someone can come rescue that sweet MNS if you start abusing it... lol. This is a very good group here and I am just kidding. Congratulations on your find... a very rare one at that in that shape.

I also agree that you should leave this bike as close to stock as you can since it looks so good. BUT... it is your bike.


Tod

[XS1100 Newbie]

Makes me jealous. I wish my 80 MNS looked that good. It's a keeper. Like has been said, just do the carbs and see what you think.

[CatatonicBug]

Makes me jealous. I wish my 80 MNS looked that good. It's a keeper. Like has been said, just do the carbs and see what you think.

Agreed!! That is one NICE Midnight!! Clean the carbs, maybe change the plugs, change the oils (all 3), check the age of the tires. You might want to replace the fuse block with TC's upgrade as well. After that, take an MSF course, and enjoy that bike! Baby those black pipes - new replacements don't exist. I can tell the seat's been re-covered (not the stock seat cover), but other than that, it looks like one of the best MNS's I've ever seen!

[tadtl1]

like they said

Hi,

Ive just done my carbs, and these guys told you right about cleaning those specific jets. New carb kits from georgefix on ebay would be fine, but not at all imperitive. Carb teardowns require separate keeping for the parts for each carb, critical issue. Dont mix parts from one carb to another. When cleaning the carbs, you can prolly get away with using generic spray cleaner, but if you end up dunking them for a thourough clean, get the yammie cleaner for twelve bux a quart and use it straight up, without the recommended two additional quarts of water. Yammie cleaner is supposed to protect the small plastic throttle parts, ordinary commercial cleaner dunks, will ruin them and it cant be fun to have to replace those seals. Better check all vacuum connections too, the ignition advance is to go to the number two carb outlet,, not the manifold outlet like it was originally on mine. The octy vac line goes to the number two manifold vac outlet. It wont hurt to change all vac lines on a thirty yr old bike.

There is a file here under Kats name that is specific to carb cleaning, its best to read that and the other carb cleaning stuff before doing it if you are brand new to it. I wouldnt do a full tear apart, those springs and throttle working parts are a little intricate. If dunking, your vacuum slide parts have to come out completely. If you dont have a service manual, get one now but if there is a contradiction between what the manual says and what the gurus here say, prolly best to follow the gurus.

I have a nice looking air box here for my mns, but I went with pods from georgefix and am happy with them. Some people have had trouble tuning using pods, they say the airbox helps maintain vacuum or something. Dont know about that, but if you go with pods, you will need to carefully reroute your crank breather to direct outlet. I still havnt actually figured what to do with mine in that regard but the stock setup doesnt work so hot without the attachment to the airbox, fumes rise when your standing at a light. My airbox was very difficult to remove, so I went with pods, carb takeoffs go from easily an hour to about fifteen mins at most now. But, there should be very few takeoffs once youve got em clean and synched.

That is one new looking MNS, I can only wish mine looked that good, wow. Those new looking pipes, are like gold, except, you can buy gold freely.

[Midnight80]

Thanks for the quick replys and all the compliments on the bike. I actually got this bike here in Denver for $600. Its bigger than what I planned on buying, but I'm finding that its comfortable and the power is lots of fun. And no worries I did take the safety course awhile back and I used to own an 1100 Honda cruiser. I like this better for sure. All I've done so far is put in a new Interstate battery. I will try to clean/soak the carbs first and replace the air filter. If I got a K&N filter for the airbox, would that be ok? And do you think the coils/plugs would be a rather simple yet effective upgrade?

[CatatonicBug]

WOW!! You got a crazy good deal on that bike! It could easily sell for $1k more than that. Especially since it's in running condition.

I did the same thing when I got mine, except it was my first bike. It's heavy and powerful, but I didn't want to get something that I'd have to upgrade later on. The K&N filter would be perfect. It's the preferred, and more expensive option. Coils are a good idea. You may have to play with the bracket to mount them properly though.

[dpotter58]

Very nice bike. Clean the carbs, drop in the new air filter, adjust them and try it out before making any other changes to it. They look and run great stock... My son learned to ride on one; here we are on fathers day a few years ago...

[trbig]

Don't try Berrymans, don't try STP, or any other brand of fuel additive. Before you tear apart your carbs, go to your local auto parts store or Wally World and buy a can of Seafoam. It's in a white pint can somewhere between 8-10 bucks. After you get your other fluid levels checked out, pour a half can of that in the tank with some fresh gas and ride it. It may clean and fix up what's ailing you.

Many on here scoff at that and insist on a teardown and clean... but why, if it's running well? It could save you a lot of time and even money, and definately won't HURT anything to do so. It may help clean things up anyway if you do end up into the carbs. Just don't spill any on your tank's paint when putting it in.

And as a side note, most people on here don't dip their carb bodies. Simply spraying out all the jets and orifices well will usually take care of any problems.


Tod