XJ1100 cylinder head fin insulators

[mlew]

I had to remove the cylinder head off my XJ1100. After cleaning and reassembly I lost most of the rubber insulators that were in the head. They fell out and were never seen again. Since then the bike has a terrible vibration around 4000 rpm and up. I have been looking for some replacements but can't find any. Every OEM parts list I see lists them as not available. Does anyone know a source for these? How about interchangeability between other Yamahas like the 650/750 and 900 engines.

[soccer4m]

insulators

Hi, try Bikebandit.com,,,,I think there was a post way back that someone in the group used cut pieces of rubber tubing, like auto gas hose or vacuum hose and it worked just fine. Good luck,,,,Mike in S.Diego

[mlew]

I looked on bikebandit.com , not available for the XJ1100 or any model XS1100. I thought about rubber tubing but the head temperature would most likley melt them. I'll asume the head temperature is around 300 deg while running, maybe higher.

[motoman]

Being those choices are hollow........wounld'nt resolve the problem. Sure there's some sort of round rubber out there that you could cut into pieces.

[kjohnson]

I have a spare head lying on a shelf in my garage. I could take a look and see if it still has the bits you are missing and mail them to you if you like. If I ever use the spare head, I'd just transfer my existing to it.

[WMarshy]

I dont see why you couldnt use the XS650-850 ones... Might not get the correct number of bits you need but they might be the correct thickness...ya think?

[crazy steve]

I doubt those missing insulators are the source of your vibration; they were installed originally merely to quiet the bike. There's lots of XS11s running around with those missing with no ill effects. So I'd suggest looking for another problem...

'78E original owner

[Bullet]

I doubt those missing insulators are the source of your vibration; they were installed originally merely to quiet the bike. There's lots of XS11s running around with those missing with no ill effects. So I'd suggest looking for another problem...

'78E original owner

Yep, I never put them back on my bike, no noise of vibrations from my fins ..

[mlew]

What would be the source of a vibration in the engine when it runs 4000 + rpm. It did not do it before the head was removed and nothine else was changed or modified. The engine runs great and the bike has never been down.

[CatatonicBug]

I would look at the exhaust first. If the pipes hit the frame ANYWHERE that isn't a rubber mounting point, they will make a huge vibration issue.

[petejw]

im with steve, those rubbers missing wont cause
a vibration, u stated u had the head off, what work
have you done to the engine?
have u synced the carbs and tuned it correctly.

[crazy steve]

I'd start by looking at the exhaust system, particularly for cracks. From there, anything that came off when you pulled the head. Something is probably loose or rubbing.

'78E original owner

[mlew]

I had the head off to replace a bent intake valve. Stupid mistake on my part , rolled the engine to far durring a valve adjustment. The carbs have been tuned and synced. The noise it is making starts around 4000 rpm and gets louder to 6000 rpm then fades from there up. It is kind of a "whooshing or hissing" sound. I know I have a small exhaust leak at the left side muffler connection. It is not really noticable but it makes the muffler pop some when deaccelerating. The rest of the exhaust is good and tight

[crazy steve]

You may be hearing normal valve train noise. Noises are really tough to diagnose long-distance and I'm rarely good at it, but there's been several recent posts about similar issues and that seemed to be what was being heard. If you've re-done the head, I can only assume that you adjusted the valve clearances while you were in there. The valve clearance on these gets tighter as things wear (the opposite of what you'd expect), so a valve adjustment will tend to make the motor noisier.

'78E original owner