Chopped n dropped.

[Rstyduck]

Cant wait to get the new to me 80 Special home.
Start checking it over, get it going strong and start mapping out the winter job of Chopping it up and giving it a hardtail and lower the seat as far as i can get it.
Man im looking forward to it.
I can hear the grinder and saw already.
Beer, gotta have beer.
And tunes. Must have shop tunes.
MMM BEER.

Ill need a gas tank. Hmm... Maybe the Special tank will work?
Four straight open headers?
16" rear wheel be nice. Spoked.
Ive got a 21" spoked front wheel here off an old dirt bike.

Chop, cut, hack, weld, grind, weld, hammer.
Hmmm...........

[CatatonicBug]

I'll be the first to offer my grumbling to the idea of destroying your new bike. I'm sure there will be several more folks echoing my sentiment...

There are, however, a few things to keep in mind when planning your assassination. There are very few wheels that will bolt onto the existing setup, and only one front spoked wheel IIRC, but it was only ever sold in Europe, and almost impossible to find these days. I'm sure, with enough chopping, you can make just about anything work, but just be aware.

Also, these engines don't like straight (open) pipes. They require some back-pressure to operate properly.

[Rstyduck]

For the most part im messing with ya.
But, it will get done.
Ive also got other parts laying around plus im a welder and i know machinists.
Back pressure is kind of over rated at WOT. Lol.
Ill ride it as is, sort of, till i get everything dialed in.
And i get a bike running for my wife.

Then ill take a winter to do the conversion. Go for that bobber rat bike thing i love so much.
Screw paint n chrome.
Function and balls to the wall riding.
Did he really say that?

I love the power of these bikes. In a light weight rigid chassis and low center of gravity.
Set of drag bars. OH OH OH.
Rear shocks are such an annoyance.

[DGXSER]

Rear shocks are such an annoyance.

Not to bust your umm....chops...yeah..chops...but that hard tail, as you may know, for longer distance rides could well bust your...uhhh...low hanging fruit...and your butt...and spine...and kidneys. Again, do what you want to your new toy, and enjoy the fruits of your labors!

Oh yeah, the XS650 I believe had some wire spoke wheels through the years that are a direct replacement to the XS1100 front wheel, I am fairly certain the rear wil not work though (without a fair amount of machine work and such). Through the time I have been here the only solution to a spoked rear wheel has been making one, or I think a chanin drive conversion could open some options. Do a search on spoked rear wheels.

On the back pressure issue, alas, it has been reported by more than a handful on here that reaching WOT or upper end RPM range can be almost impossible with that setup. VERY tough to tune the carbs to work with it if it works at all. More than a few have tried and went back to add some form of back pressure in the system. It is kind of like the little japanese four banger cages. Had a Corrolla once (yeah I know, it was my wifes when we got married though if that helps any ) that was leaking in the exhaust prior to the cat convert, it lost all kinds of what little power it had until that was fixed and then it was back to its one rat power again.

My only wish is that you had gotten here before I tossed the bent frame from Thunderstruck so you could have used it to trash instead of what sounds like a perfectly good straight frame. Oh well, timing is everything.

[Rstyduck]

Ya, my 71 XS650 was rigid. Was very comfortable.
In fact i still have the original solo seat and P pad from that very bike.

I know ya lose power. My 650 had open headers. Ran like a banshee. Loved it.
I'll probably just do something like weld washers into my stock headers.

Bushings, shims, spacers etc will take care of the front wheel. Probably end up with a drum brake or no brake.
Rear wont be too bad. Building a whole new tail section. Just make it fit the wheel i have already then do the chain conversion thing.
Either buy Chops or machine my own. Think id rather buy one.

Kinda go for something like whats in my avatar.

[DGXSER]

Sound sliek you have alot of experience with this stiff, much more than me. But the no fornt brake idea on these heavy suckers is kind something I'd lose sleep if I did not advise you against. From experience, and having some titanium pieces added to my skeletal structure I can tell you these things do not stop on a dime with the system they have.

Again, not trying to call you out or anything, just getting it off my chest so I can sleep tonight.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Imho

IMHO, if you want to make "noise" change the pipes or bastard the Oem;s. If you want to make it "fast" keep the OEM and tune the damm thing! Yamaha spent millions on R&D (A bunch more then MAC or any other after-market Co.). "ALL" the oem eq. were tested and made to work togather, change one thing and who knows what else it will effect?

[mro]

Chop, cut, hack, weld, grind, weld, hammer.

Mikesxs has spoked wheel kits available (16" to 21").
Not sure about how much work it is to adapt to an 11.

Post some pics as you go.

mro
BTW, no front brake ...
Since you'll have it rideable before you chop it,
try stopping it just with the rear a couple times.
Scary when the rear starts whipping side to side or when the rear wheel trys to pass the front.

[dentat2]

Go ahead and chop it up. Ive got an 80 special and I chopped and hardtailed mine and I love it. I took the stock exhaust cut it where the 2 goes to 1 and put on $25 muffler minus the baffles, wrapped it in heat tape and it runs loud and fast. Im also the other psycho freak that doesnt run a front brake. And honestly ive been in a couple tight spots and my rear disk break did a great job. Ive put more miles on my bike in the last 3 yrs than I have my truck and no trips to chiropractor yet. So have fun and throw up a couple of pics when ya get somewhere with it.

[Rstyduck]

Jury is still out on the front brake. Ive got a 21" wheel here that has a drum brake. I may use it. I may use the stocker too. Time will tell.

It'll be winter before i start chopping.
I loved my old hardtail. For those of you that have never ridden one, you really cant have an opinion about it. Not to be a pecker about it but....
Ive never ridden your woman, I cant say if she's any good or not.

Im still thinking about leaving the drive shaft on it and just losing the shocks, rework the frame to bolt into the shock holes on the swing arm.
Not sure about that but cant see too much wrong with that except the transfer of stresses into the center of the bike (main post between the tank and seat).
Stronger there anyways than out back where it is now.
Dontcha think?

My 71 XS650 was just steel struts replacing the shocks. Lowered that sucker till i barely had room for the tire under the fender.
Mufflers had to come off, they hit the ground on corners.
Open Headers dumped out just under the foot pegs.
Center stand had to come off, it hit the ground on corners.
Foot pegs got the bottoms worn off, they rubbed the ground on corners.
I had highway pegs out front so i wouldnt rub my feet on the ground.
I even had a suicide shift on it. The shifter was just under my thigh. Reach down and grab a gear.
I may just put the same on my XS11 and incorporate a foot clutch this time.
I just shifted the 650 without a clutch.

I got pulled over one morning on the highway, going home from my night shift job at the time.
It was January and -30c. Cop asked me if i knew how fast i was going, "Nope", the needle had fallin off the peg and was laying in the bottom of the gauge.
Cop laughed and told me to knock it down a couple hundred RPM and i should be close.
He said "Nice Triumph" I said it was a 750 Tiger, Lol.
Anyways i kicked it to life on that dark frozen rode and the headers barked there disgust and i continued on my ride home.
35 miles one way.
When the bike is all you have and you have to work. You ride.

[DGXSER]

For those of you that have never ridden one, you really cant have an opinion about it. Not to be a pecker about it but....
Ive never ridden your woman, I cant say if she's any good or not.

Actually, opinions are had by one and all, their just not experienced based.

And what about if I did ride your woman.....er...that is....ridden that tail.....ummm....I mean ridden a hard tail....bike that is. Still does not change your experience, so if you've tried it and like it, then have fun.

[GTXS1100]

Gotta love the sound of Grinding metal!!!

im thinking of chopping my 81 standard i have three so i would love to see some pics so i kinda have a better idea of what others have tried also i was wondering if any one has ever tried getting rid of the electornic ignition and went back to a distributor style system it was just a thought plz let me know

[81xsproject]

For the record, there is a very elusive rear spoke wheel that bolts on only sold in the east. I don't remember the year/model, but if you are really interested you can go check out the UK site/mods section/Vultures? rebuild.

[cywelchjr]

Go ahead and chop it up. Ive got an 80 special and I chopped and hardtailed mine and I love it. I took the stock exhaust cut it where the 2 goes to 1 and put on $25 muffler minus the baffles, wrapped it in heat tape and it runs loud and fast. Im also the other psycho freak that doesnt run a front brake. And honestly ive been in a couple tight spots and my rear disk break did a great job. Ive put more miles on my bike in the last 3 yrs than I have my truck and no trips to chiropractor yet. So have fun and throw up a couple of pics when ya get somewhere with it.

Don't bring it to California without front brakes, they WILL impound the bike, as they require all vehicles to have brakes on all axles with just a few specific exceptions, and bikes aren't in the list of exceptions.

[cywelchjr]

im thinking of chopping my 81 standard i have three so i would love to see some pics so i kinda have a better idea of what others have tried also i was wondering if any one has ever tried getting rid of the electornic ignition and went back to a distributor style system it was just a thought plz let me know

I can't think of why anyone would want to go to a breaker type ignition from electronic. I have had both, and hated the constant adjusting of the points to keep the dwell close enough and the constant shifting of the timing. I'm not aware of ANY advantages of a breaker type ignition over electronic (well, just maybe the ability to do some repairs on the road) that isn't way overcome by the increased reliability, spark level and stability of an electronic system. For that matter, the most common mod on older bikes it to convert to one form of electronic or another to make the bike more reliable and get more power (less spark means less power).