XS1100 Rescue Mission in Progress

[essjay]

Gday all from Australia. Long time bike rider, first time XS owner. Also, long time reader, first time poster (be gentle, its my first time!)

Three days ago i bought myself an XS1100 to be my main mode of transport. I work anywhere in a 200km radius (yes, metric system) and sometimes have to go from one end of that to the other in the same day. Bike is my best option, rain hail or shine, much of the travel is through stop start city traffic. Well, stop start for the suckers in cages.
I have always had sports bikes, but the wife is finally interested in bikes and riding, so I got the XS after she was having back pains being pillion on a CBR.

OK, boring bit over, XS bit now -
I bought a 1980 XS1100 for a whopping $800 aussie. Thats like $50 american right? :P Bargain i thought. 500m down the road, number 3 spark plug brushes my knee as it shoots from the head, and an almighty noise follows. Stripped thread - no problem, trailer bike back to my house, repair spark plug thread, new plugs all round, hurray, mobile again.
No.
Thise time got about 20kms of riding, before a minor rattle had me pull over and thumb the kill switch. I checked everything i could, i let her cool down, i got brave and thumbed the starter - "THUNK"


Engine is locked solid. Trailer ride number 2.

I have had 'words' with the previous owner, and found that when he put 'rebuild engine' in the advert, he really meant ' taken apart and put back together then sold it to you lol lol lol rofl'


Long Story Summed Up:
Me - not too bothered, i like building bikes.
Wife - furious i spent money on a bike that doesnt run.
Bike - Extremely lucky to be out of the hands of such a **potty words**


Stay tuned, photos of the 'before' and the progress to come. I should have known from seeing her initially that there would be issues, but i went for a 200m test ride and i was hooked!!! She will live to ride another day, i will get her there. Mission is, most reliable bike on the planet, thats my aim with her after all this. Rebuild her better than ever, and keep her forever.

[natemoen]

Thats the same end game I am shooting for! Good luck!!

[DGXSER]

Welcome to the fountain of XS knowledge!! Between this site and some stuff on the UK XS11 site, I doubt there is anything you could need and not find.

Sounds alot like many of the POs we hear about. In fact we had one local member her some time ago, bought an XS and took to a local "mechanic" who supposedly built alot of XS650 bobbers. Well, shortly after he got it back he was riding and heard this tinny clinking sound. Pulled over, did not hear it, so back on the road. Sound came back and he kept riding to destination. Then road home. On the way home it started worse and missing badly, then oil came out the exhaust pipe. Well, the head on no 3 exhaust valve came off the stem, got beat about inside the cylinder and killed the head and blew a hole in the piston.

Sooo, he bought a used engine in "good" condition from the same "mechanic". Well.....after we found the oil pump idler gear sitting inside the clutch pan, fixed the tranny gears, and replaced a bent valve, the engine was finally in "good" condition.

Hopefully you'll open the tranny pan and find something came loose you can just re-install and be good to go.

[skids]

essjay, I would say that he should refund the 800 as a "disposal fee." However, I paid way more than that for a parts bike...

[essjay]

This truly is a faountain of knowledge! Well within three hours of breaking down I had trailered her home, torn her to pieces and discovered thet the bolts holding the cam chain sprockets are MUTILATED but tight. Oh, and calmed the wife down a bit (that was the hardest and most time consuming part, of course) SO i have to get something in there to get those suckers out. Have removed all head bolts to take tension off the gasket for now, just in case i have to reuse the gasket. If it is stuffed though will probably cut a new copper one for her myself.
Stuffed cam chain bolts would not help if i had to pull it down on the roadside, so i will remove and pull it apart anyway, and as these things go, while its apart i may as well give the ports a light cleanup.

Is pulling the pan off possible with the engine in bike, or should i get six strongmen to help me muscle the lump out of the frame? Fingers very muchly crossed in hopes that it is something simple and affordable to fix.

The $800 to me was worth it for a licence rolling frame, if worst came to it i would probably consider an engine swap or something but as i would eventually like to do some real distances (3000km + trip) my best bet is sticking fairly original (read: repairable)

thanks for the quick replies! when i sign up for some image hosting will post some pics. Seems a common problem that these POs sell us a P.O.S, but like my post says, to me this is more like rescuing her from certain death.

(on a plus note, i have the reciepts for the brand new primary drive chain, and brand new second gear here. On the downside, that means he could have stuffed the tranny too...)

[b.walker5]

Hi Essjay. It sounds like you've got a job ahead of you. If you cant find the info you need here then it cant be found, but just in case also check out xs1100.com.au for a bit of local knowledge and support, and xs1100.co.uk for some excellent parts fiches and even more knowledge (and proper English spelling)

[essjay]

I was lucky enough that he did give me a workshop manual with it, and after asking if he had and other bits, he said "oh, yeah, a box of parts, was just going to throw them out, no use to me anymore" so i took those too: complete spare set of carbs (1 stripped screw in #1), spare set of rims, the aforementioned workshop manual, spare light, indicator lense, spare mirror (no glass) - and best of all - a 4 into 1 exhaust sytem (bolted that up before my fateful ride, off again now.) So incidentaly i have a factory chrome 4 into 2 exhaust setup for the old girl if anyone wants, bearing in mind i am out here in Australia though... I was thinking of trying a cut & shut on the equalisers on that system in the middle, make it into a completely seperate 4-2. Sounded too smooth and docile with that system on it.

Sidetracked there in a big way, have a bad habit of doing that.
Yes any info i think anyone could need on these bikes is right here, or yes i have checked out the UK site too.
As far as spelling, everyone will have to put up with my poor spelling, an "stayan" (read: Australian) way of writing/spelling things. Also, i work in Metric, though i use plenty of imperial at work, I just cant be having it when people go on about gallons and yards still lol

[essjay]

B.Walker - Just glanced at your location there - You come from quite a famous town! Worlds fastest indian! Aiming for worlds fastest xs1100 also there? :P wow what is it like, is it a town legend or just part of the history? i would think there would have to be a museum or something in his honour there... inspiring man, inspiring story.

[DGXSER]

Yep the cylinder head can be removed in the frame. Need to pull the valve cover, and the horns off, but it will clear otherwise. If you meant the tranny/oil pan, that can be pulled also. Not certain if the cylinders will clear in the bike though.

[essjay]

Great, handy to know. Know from the manual i can remove the head without removing engine, the trans pan though that is handy, that will be my next item off the bike i believe. Just to see. Rocker cover was first to come off (half the bolts came out by hand, no tools required) and head would be on my bench at work right now if it werent for four stripped bolts on the cam sprockets

As always i will just use it as an excuse to slot the cam sprocket holes so i can degree them while putting her back together.

Hmm i will use the search function to see if there are any mods for reliability - i already have a new fuse box for her ($14 Aussie) to fit, looks like the same part one of the mods sells on here. Maybe for another thread but there has to be some reliability mods we can do, things to improve upon etc. I suppose i am a teensy bit paranoid about repeating this exercise once it is fixed!

[b.walker5]

B.Walker - Just glanced at your location there - You come from quite a famous town! Worlds fastest indian! Aiming for worlds fastest xs1100 also there? :P wow what is it like, is it a town legend or just part of the history? i would think there would have to be a museum or something in his honour there... inspiring man, inspiring story.

Two museums honouring Burt. Ones in the public museum, the other ones here http://www.ehayes.co.nz/burtmunro/ in a local hardware store, whose owner owns Burts bikes, and numerous others.

It was just history amongst bike riders until Roger Donaldson worked his magic, now it's definately legend. I had the priviledge of meeting the old bugger a few times many years ago when I was a young apprentice, and he was the grubbiest old man you could ever encounter, but man could he tell some stories. I rode an old stepthru Suzuki 50 in those days and with a grin one day he gave me one of his unfinished pistons and said "it'll go better if you can fit that in there boy". I had that piston for years but it's long lost now. Wish i still had it.

BTW the reference to spelling was about the difference between 'our' English and US English, not a slur on your spelling.

[essjay]

Haha, cheers, i got the spelling reference, i was just apologising (apologizing? ) in advance for my Strayan which im sure will crop up any minute now.
Wow sounds like an excuse for a visit, would love to visit the town, see old Burt's shed, and now i know there is at least one other XSive there to boot. Wow imagine to still have that piston, at least you have some priceless memories there. The 3000km+ ride i referred to earlier, it has been a long dream of mine to ride from here in WA, down the south coast of Aus, and then ship it over to New Zealand for some more touring around. With the wife FINALLY interested in bikes it could be even closer now, though she would likely fly to NZ and meet me there. I restored a Honda XL500 top to tail previously, had my tool kit packed and ready to go, and on a test run of the bike some ****** wanted it more than i did. Steering locked, ignition off obviously, disc lock on the bike... I will be installing an immobiliser on the old XS when she is mobile again. The XL had to be hald the weight, but you know, just in case six burley men decide to lift her onto the back of a ute (im sure thats the only way the xl could have gone in the short time i was out of sight of her)

Sorry off topic again. Not even in yamaha territory here!

[DGXSER]

Essjay, might be worth the time for you to review all the tech tips. The most likely suspects I can think of besides the fuse box is the 1st and 2nd gear dremmel fix, and perhaps replacing the pickup coil wires.

You could also look in the FAQ for the post on what to look for in a neglected XS. Alot of good info there as well.

[essjay]

B-B-B-B-BREAKTHROUGH.
Found the culprit, as i originally suspected (too late unfortunately) the PO has left some big end bearing cap bolts loose. Result: number 2 rod dropped its main cap, rod fell to bottom of sump, bearing stuck on the crank fortunately and took the blow from the crank as it spun back around. Verdict: Only real damage is the cylinder skirt on number two, has a chunk broken off and floating in the engine, and cracked nicely all around. I will speak to my local machine shop in the morning (yes its night here) and see about machining it out and pressing in a liner, and/or will look into a used block i suppose. Fingers tightly crossed that i can find one! time to trawl through and see what blocks will fit for me - unless anyone wants to post some suggestions here for me?

I need: new/used/repaired block.
new big end bearings - might as well do em all while im in there
new big end bolts - might as well do em all, maybe convert to studs while im in there
gasket set
assorted sundries...

and some good luck for a change! Tell burt there is one more sacrifice to the gods of speed..

[DGXSER]

Woww...what a half azzed idiot that put that motor together. Never heard of a torque wrench I guess.

I know you can get the crank shaft bearings, do not recall anyone needing the rod bearings before.

Not that I suspect it will be worth it for you with the shipping cost involved, but, I happen to be tearing down a nice working engine due to an accident that busted the cases where the side covers attach and broke the cooling fins off one side of the head. I have the cylinders off with the matching pistons with rings, produced right at 155 PSI compression across the board. Will also have the crank and rods pulled as well soon.

Sorry to hear your PO sucked worse than most. Shame such a fool gets into one of these and kills the thing. Sounds like the right man is on the job now though.