New XS11 owner

[Willoughby]

I got this bike from someone that just wanted it gone. After a couple of trips to the DMV (one with the bike on a trailer to confirm vin #'s) it is mine. I just did the math, and this is my first bike in 30 years. My street bike (CB360T) I sold right out of high school, and I traded my dirt bike for something.
I was not even considering this bike until I checked the web. This site and others convinced me it is a good bike and some of the modified versions are amazing.
It's pretty obvious this bike spent most of its life outside. The following are my preliminary findings:
Tires- There are 43k miles on the odometer so this may be the third or fourth set. They have like new tread depth but the rubber is so cracked I may just do a burn out to failure, then replace them.
Brakes- The inboard pads are wearing much faster than the outers.
Forks- Leaking oil.
Engine- The head seams to be leaking oil. I could not see a leak from the valve cover but there is a gunky stain that starts from the head area?
Carbs- My boots are really cracked up but I saw on the repair area how to test and deal with that. #1 an 2 piss fuel as soon as I open the petcock. There is a nasty stain on the left side covers indicating this has been goin on for many years. The leaking stops after the bike runs for about 10 sec. Unfortunately it will not run for more than about a minute. It starts strong, then rapidly looses the will to live. The semi-clear (yellow) fuel lines are a joke. I bought some to replace the dry old ones and they kink like crazy.
Electrical- I could not get it to acknowledge my existance until I broke out my remote starter (great tool!). Then all of the lights lit up. It cranked. It was beautiful..... I tried to crank it after I did some tear-down and nothing. I broke out the remote, and it just got really hot!! Turns out it was getting it's ground through the tail-light grounds. This explains the cooked wires on the aux. light unit (I hope). After replacing the really green and brittle battery to frame ground, that issue seems to be resolved. The wiring seems to mostly in good shape but the plastic connectors are starting to powderize.
Missing stuff- Headlight. Headlight ring (bezel) that holds the light in place. Blinkers. This bike has square holes for the headlight/blinkers. Left side cover.
Cosmetics- Any suggestions on getting the stains out of the aluminum wheels. It looks like it sank into the mud for a few years.
Wish list- Mike'sBikes pods. 4 into 1 headers, I have a 2.5" inlet Supertrapp muffler.

Any and all suggetions are greatly appreciated. I have absolutely no intentions of restoring this one. I feel it is too far gone for that. I do think there is some life left though. The maintenance area has already helped a lot.

[Macamon]

I got this bike from someone that just wanted it gone. After a couple of trips to the DMV (one with the bike on a trailer to confirm vin #'s) it is mine. I just did the math, and this is my first bike in 30 years. My street bike (CB360T) I sold right out of high school, and I traded my dirt bike for something.
I was not even considering this bike until I checked the web. This site and others convinced me it is a good bike and some of the modified versions are amazing.
It's pretty obvious this bike spent most of its life outside. The following are my preliminary findings:
Tires- There are 43k miles on the odometer so this may be the third or fourth set. They have like new tread depth but the rubber is so cracked I may just do a burn out to failure, then replace them.
Brakes- The inboard pads are wearing much faster than the outers.
Forks- Leaking oil.
Engine- The head seams to be leaking oil. I could not see a leak from the valve cover but there is a gunky stain that starts from the head area?
Carbs- My boots are really cracked up but I saw on the repair area how to test and deal with that. #1 an 2 piss fuel as soon as I open the petcock. There is a nasty stain on the left side covers indicating this has been goin on for many years. The leaking stops after the bike runs for about 10 sec. Unfortunately it will not run for more than about a minute. It starts strong, then rapidly looses the will to live. The semi-clear (yellow) fuel lines are a joke. I bought some to replace the dry old ones and they kink like crazy.
Electrical- I could not get it to acknowledge my existance until I broke out my remote starter (great tool!). Then all of the lights lit up. It cranked. It was beautiful..... I tried to crank it after I did some tear-down and nothing. I broke out the remote, and it just got really hot!! Turns out it was getting it's ground through the tail-light grounds. This explains the cooked wires on the aux. light unit (I hope). After replacing the really green and brittle battery to frame ground, that issue seems to be resolved. The wiring seems to mostly in good shape but the plastic connectors are starting to powderize.
Missing stuff- Headlight. Headlight ring (bezel) that holds the light in place. Blinkers. This bike has square holes for the headlight/blinkers. Left side cover.
Cosmetics- Any suggestions on getting the stains out of the aluminum wheels. It looks like it sank into the mud for a few years.
Wish list- Mike'sBikes pods. 4 into 1 headers, I have a 2.5" inlet Supertrapp muffler.

Any and all suggetions are greatly appreciated. I have absolutely no intentions of restoring this one. I feel it is too far gone for that. I do think there is some life left though. The maintenance area has already helped a lot.

Hey Willoughby, welcome to XS11.com. Yep you got it, this place is great if you own one of these wonderful bikes. I would like to address what I can about your post:
Tires- Check the date code it is in an oval shaped indentation on the tire and indicates like this example 1109 ) 11** the week manufactured and **09 the year of manufacture. If the tire is over 6 years old definately replace it. Brakes- "The inboard pads are wearing much faster than the outers." These brake pads are wedge shaped. As you can see the caliper rotates on a pin on the fork leg. If you were to remove and inspect the pads you would find both pads have a thin side and a thick side. You may be doing fine on the front brakes. You will need to remove a small access clip on the back brakes to inspect them.
Engine- I would simply use a detergent such as purple power and rinse with cold water to remove what you can. Then keep an eye on it. Most likely the oil is coming from the cam chain adjuster (In front of engine between the 2nd and 3rd cylinder pipes).
Carbs- There is a good chance that the fuel is coming from the octopus valve above the 1 and 2 carbs; and may need to be replaced the fact that the fuel flow stops when the engine starts verifies this; it is exactly what happened a couple months ago to my bike. "The clear yellow fuel lines" don't sound like they are original but you do need a fairly rigid fuel line which resists kinking.
Electrical- You will want to hook up with "TC" Topkat. He has a replacement fuse block that is easy to install and looks really cool, not to mention converts to the standard sized flag fuses which are easy to change and readily available.
Stains on wheel- 00 steel wool would be my suggestion you would be suprized what it can make look better
Parts- Ebay!!
These are amazing bikes, I'm on my second one now. If you put some time into it I'm sure you will like what you wind up with. Keep coming back here for advice on what you are stuck on. There is an amazing wealth of knowlege among the membership here.
If you decide to dump it, I'm sure you will find a happy home for her here as well.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

non restore

I got this bike from someone that just wanted it gone. After a couple of trips to the DMV (one with the bike on a trailer to confirm vin #'s) it is mine. I just did the math, and this is my first bike in 30 years. My street bike (CB360T) I sold right out of high school, and I traded my dirt bike for something.
I was not even considering this bike until I checked the web. This site and others convinced me it is a good bike and some of the modified versions are amazing.
It's pretty obvious this bike spent most of its life outside. The following are my preliminary findings:
Tires- There are 43k miles on the odometer so this may be the third or fourth set. They have like new tread depth but the rubber is so cracked I may just do a burn out to failure, then replace them.
Brakes- The inboard pads are wearing much faster than the outers.
Forks- Leaking oil.
Engine- The head seams to be leaking oil. I could not see a leak from the valve cover but there is a gunky stain that starts from the head area?
Carbs- My boots are really cracked up but I saw on the repair area how to test and deal with that. #1 an 2 piss fuel as soon as I open the petcock. There is a nasty stain on the left side covers indicating this has been goin on for many years. The leaking stops after the bike runs for about 10 sec. Unfortunately it will not run for more than about a minute. It starts strong, then rapidly looses the will to live. The semi-clear (yellow) fuel lines are a joke. I bought some to replace the dry old ones and they kink like crazy.
Electrical- I could not get it to acknowledge my existance until I broke out my remote starter (great tool!). Then all of the lights lit up. It cranked. It was beautiful..... I tried to crank it after I did some tear-down and nothing. I broke out the remote, and it just got really hot!! Turns out it was getting it's ground through the tail-light grounds. This explains the cooked wires on the aux. light unit (I hope). After replacing the really green and brittle battery to frame ground, that issue seems to be resolved. The wiring seems to mostly in good shape but the plastic connectors are starting to powderize.
Missing stuff- Headlight. Headlight ring (bezel) that holds the light in place. Blinkers. This bike has square holes for the headlight/blinkers. Left side cover.
Cosmetics- Any suggestions on getting the stains out of the aluminum wheels. It looks like it sank into the mud for a few years.
Wish list- Mike'sBikes pods. 4 into 1 headers, I have a 2.5" inlet Supertrapp muffler.

Any and all suggetions are greatly appreciated. I have absolutely no intentions of restoring this one. I feel it is too far gone for that. I do think there is some life left though. The maintenance area has already helped a lot.

Cracked tires, replace them, the burn out idea, not so bright, could come apart in an ugly way

Inboard break pads ware, check for locked up caliper pistons, rebuild a ness. new pads are cheap also.

Forks leak, new seals, cheap also, some labor, change Fluid.

Head stain, could be many things, exaust gasket leak can stain the head (that would be the easyist fix) clean/degrease the motor and see where it shows up 1st as you continue to work on bike

Carbs, 1 and 2 piss fuel Need more info on pissing fuel, from where / petcock/carb ect, I would also start with a carb R/I and reboild before much more is done, you not want to dump gas down the cyl's and make all for not

Electrical, do the fuse box mod on here, cheap fix, clean and chack all contacts, and I would check the electronic eng wirers, easy check/fix

Alum wheels, you can clean them with alum cleaner and steel wool as you are not restoring the bike, easy way to make them look better, you and spray them with armorall to bring back the black also

As to missing parts, check here and on ebay, everything is advailbule

[Ken Talbot]

Brakes- The inboard pads are wearing much faster than the outers.

The front pads on a Special are tapered right from the get-go like this:



That groove down the middle is your wear limit indicator. When the groove is gone, it's time for new pads.

[Eveready1100]

Sounds to me that this lads bike is a Standard, not a Special after reading the bit about the missing lights at the front being square. So maybe an inspection of the fuel tap diaphrams might be a good start, plus the brake pad wear will probably be due to sticking caliper pistons, so a good clean out & service will be needed for sure.

Willoughby, what's the Engine / Frame prefix eg. 2H7 , 3H3 etc to be certain what we're dealing with here.

[Ken Talbot]

Sounds to me that this lads bike is a Standard, not a Special after reading the bit about the missing lights at the front being square.

I thought that at first too, but he lists a 79 Special in his profile. May be another Frankenbike. Good call on asking for a serial number.

[Eveready1100]

Tis the only way to be sure, for sure.
Mine's one of those 1979 SF Frankenbikes, though not by choice.

[crazy steve]

Yeah, it sounds like he has a standard.

Brakes; also check to make sure your calipers can 'float'. Sticky pistons is a common problem, but if the caliper can't move on it's mounting bracket, that can cause one pad to wear more than the other.

For the plastic wiring connectors, a member here (Geezer) sells new replacements. Send him a PM for more info...

Parts: another member (Andreas) is a good supplier. He has a posting in the 'parts for sale' forum. The square headlight is hard to find in good shape; that may take some hunting. You can install a 7" round in it's place if you don't have a fairing.

Cleaning aluminum; I use roloc scotchbrite pads on a die grinder (see here: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...inum+polishing. I wouldn't recommend steel wool as that can embed in the aluminum and will show up later as rust. Another option is sandpaper; start with 400, go to 600, 1000, then 2000. This will give nearly a 'chrome' finish, but does take time. Some of the 'staining' you're probably seeing is where some of the original clearcoat is still left.

Welcome, and good luck!

[fredintoon]

Sounds to me that this lads bike is a Standard, not a Special after reading the bit about the missing lights at the front being square. - - -

Hi Eveready,
read the post again, eh? Sez the headlight ring (implying a round headlight) and the blinkers are missing.
It's the holes that they go in that are square.

[cywelchjr]

I got this bike from someone that just wanted it gone. After a couple of trips to the DMV (one with the bike on a trailer to confirm vin #'s) it is mine. I just did the math, and this is my first bike in 30 years. My street bike (CB360T) I sold right out of high school, and I traded my dirt bike for something.
Engine- The head seams to be leaking oil. I could not see a leak from the valve cover but there is a gunky stain that starts from the head area?
Carbs- My boots are really cracked up but I saw on the repair area how to test and deal with that. #1 an 2 piss fuel as soon as I open the petcock. There is a nasty stain on the left side covers indicating this has been goin on for many years. The leaking stops after the bike runs for about 10 sec. Unfortunately it will not run for more than about a minute. It starts strong, then rapidly looses the will to live. The semi-clear (yellow) fuel lines are a joke. I bought some to replace the dry old ones and they kink like crazy.
Electrical- I could not get it to acknowledge my existance until I broke out my remote starter (great tool!). Then all of the lights lit up. It cranked. It was beautiful..... I tried to crank it after I did some tear-down and nothing. I broke out the remote, and it just got really hot!! Turns out it was getting it's ground through the tail-light grounds. This explains the cooked wires on the aux. light unit (I hope). After replacing the really green and brittle battery to frame ground, that issue seems to be resolved. The wiring seems to mostly in good shape but the plastic connectors are starting to powderize.
Missing stuff- Headlight. Headlight ring (bezel) that holds the light in place. Blinkers. This bike has square holes for the headlight/blinkers. Left side cover.
Cosmetics- Any suggestions on getting the stains out of the aluminum wheels. It looks like it sank into the mud for a few years.
Wish list- Mike'sBikes pods. 4 into 1 headers, I have a 2.5" inlet Supertrapp muffler.

Any and all suggetions are greatly appreciated. I have absolutely no intentions of restoring this one. I feel it is too far gone for that. I do think there is some life left though. The maintenance area has already helped a lot.

Ok, I notice that you show near Sacramento. That's the area I'm in and while I've not done all the stuff, I do have some experience with these carbs (ok, the ones off my 400, but their the exact same carbs) and such. If the carbs are dumping fuel, they need to have the seats cleaned at least, and more likely replaced with new ones. I've done the fuse box replacement and I've done the left side cover latch repair as well. So if your nearby, I may be able to offer some help. Not only that, it would be nice to have another XS11 owner in town as well, the closest so far IIRC is Lodi.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

steel wool

Yeah, it sounds like he has a standard.

Brakes; also check to make sure your calipers can 'float'. Sticky pistons is a common problem, but if the caliper can't move on it's mounting bracket, that can cause one pad to wear more than the other.

For the plastic wiring connectors, a member here (Geezer) sells new replacements. Send him a PM for more info...

Parts: another member (Andreas) is a good supplier. He has a posting in the 'parts for sale' forum. The square headlight is hard to find in good shape; that may take some hunting. You can install a 7" round in it's place if you don't have a fairing.

Cleaning aluminum; I use roloc scotchbrite pads on a die grinder (see here: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...inum+polishing. I wouldn't recommend steel wool as that can embed in the aluminum and will show up later as rust. Another option is sandpaper; start with 400, go to 600, 1000, then 2000. This will give nearly a 'chrome' finish, but does take time. Some of the 'staining' you're probably seeing is where some of the original clearcoat is still left.

Welcome, and good luck!

Hey steve, not trying to but this guy wants to burn the back tire till fail, dont think he is worred about steel wool leaving some rust (never happend to me, but) I know "restore" has better ways of doing things but he said, "not going to restore" sounds like he just wants to make it look better while he runs it into the ground

[Willoughby]

New XS11 owner

Wow. I'm not going to be back for a while. You all have already given me so much to check out! I want to reply in order to all of your great suggestions/questions.
McCamon: The number in the little box on the tires is "296". Are these tires 14 years old?
The pads are wedge shape. Who would have thought?
I power washed the engine twice and it's much better. When I get it on the road I will now be able to see the source.
The fuel is comming from the two holes on either side of the carb inlet. I have the airbox off right now.
I'm going with the Radio shack replacement. If I cut out the back of the stock block, I can use the stock cover.

XS11OE4ME: Fork seals/oil for sure. Electric engine wires? Are these for the electonic ignition control module? is there a tech tip for testing this?

Eveready 1100: The light bucket is what the prior owner picked up after taking off the "factory installed faering". The fork mounts have square holes as well as the replacement bucket. However, they do not seem to match up in size or orientation? 3H3.

Crazy Steve: Good call on the caliper check. I wrenched on cars for years. Gotta keep in my head to stick to the basics!!!! If there is a more common set-up than the square hole deal, I would like some ideas on swapping out the set-up I currently have. Thanks for the heads up on steel wool. I will try polish and ultra fine grit sand paper.

Fredintoon: That's corrrect.

cywelchjr: I'm in Elk Grove. Between Sac. and Lodi. I was seriously considering paying for the carb work at least for the first time. Suicycle said they could do them.

OEM4ME: Maybe not "into the ground". Geeze!

Thanks again everyone.

[cywelchjr]

cywelchjr: I'm in Elk Grove. Between Sac. and Lodi. I was seriously considering paying for the carb work at least for the first time. Suicycle said they could do them.

Well, I'm right here in the north area, so I'm not too far from you. Funny, I bought my bike right on the outskirts of Elk Grove.

As for paying suicycle to clean the carbs the first time, I wouldn't do it, I have not found any shop in town that I completely trust on these machines yet, although Throttleworx up here in the north area does welcome the older machines, and they did recognize what mine was and appeared to know a bit about it. That said, some of the specialty stuff they were not aware of (like the left rear wheel bearing), and their mechanic didn't know about the center race being floating, and thought it was bad just because it wasn't locked in place.

If you get stuck too much, I would certainly be willing to come by to point and laugh.

[Macamon]

Wow. I'm not going to be back for a while. You all have already given me so much to check out! I want to reply in order to all of your great suggestions/questions.
McCamon: The number in the little box on the tires is "296". Are these tires 14 years old?
The pads are wedge shape. Who would have thought?
I power washed the engine twice and it's much better. When I get it on the road I will now be able to see the source.
The fuel is comming from the two holes on either side of the carb inlet. I have the airbox off right now.
I'm going with the Radio shack replacement. If I cut out the back of the stock block, I can use the stock cover.

See what I mean?!! These guys are great and I think you can rest assured of finding a solution to whatever it is you are dealing with. Anyway, Welcome to the forum .
Date on the tires is quite possible. I would replace them before riding.
I would suggest against future power washes, sometimes that can cause problems with seals and gaskets on bikes.
"The fuel is comming from the two holes on either side of the carb inlet." I'm drawing a blank, I could use more information.

[Willoughby]

Carb leaks

I will post some photos when I figure it out.