And so it begins ... Yet Another bike building project

[79XS11F]

Later today, it is finish cleaning the carbs on the kids CBX in a timely fashion, I will begin accessing this 1980 XS1100 Special I acquired earlier in the week. I guess the first thing to do will be to remove the highway pack so I can get to the bike itself. As is always the case, I will post lots of photos.
Rob

[DGXSER]

looking forward to it Rob!! You got any mods in store or is it a straight resurection/restore type of thing.

[79XS11F]

I have not decided if she will be a refurb or a restoration. It will depend on what I see when I get the highway pack off her. I didn't get to her today. Spent the day working on the Nephew's CBX. I don't think I have enough room here to strip her down over the winter so if I go "frame up" it will not really get going until the spring of 2011. If I decide to pull the engine, I will split the cases, do the crank and con bearing and be "into it".
Man, I need a bigger garage!!!
Rob

[lee_dutcher]

tell me about it i went from a 4x5 shed to a 20x15 garage...u are it does make thing more how should i say....more manoverable?? ( can spell...im blaming the heineken sorry)

[79XS11F]

For me the real issue isn't room to work on a bike in my garage, its where to put the other bikes while I work on which ever one needs attention. I would usually just roll them into the lane way but that's only good for jobs that can be completed in 1 day when it's DRY and not in the middle of winter. MAN I hate winter ...
Rob

[lee_dutcher]

winter does suck....expecialy when ur garage is at an angle and water seeps under the doors and freezes everything on the ground under a nice thick sheet of ice...snow in iowa useally starts in november,december,january,febuary, and ever into march..

[79XS11F]

I managed to remove the highway package today and reinstall the stock parts that I was given with the bike. Electrical is going to require some work, Fuel lines were all kinked as is often seen with the specials with octi set up. All engine gaskets are factory so it does not appear that the engine has been apart. Brakes all work well with no locking or sticking. Header pipes are in GREAT shape as are the chrome air box covers. Body parts are all good, keys are all the same.

Fuse box is toast ...


Wiring in the fairing is a MESS ...


A pretty intack Special was found under the highway package ...

[DGXSER]

Wow Rob, looks like a very nice bike!!! Awesome find!

Should be an easy one for a project, knock on all the wood I can see!!!

[79XS11F]

I can tell by looking at her that she will need a FULL TEAR DOWN. It's not a must do now project but that is what she will need. There's too many years of poor maintenance including no regular cleaning and washing. Lots of buffing and referbing in her future to make her shine like her standard version cousins..
Rob

[79XS11F]

Good Photos STOCK

Does anyone have any good photos of this bike in its stock form? The more the merrier ..
Rob

[DGXSER]

Rob, Steppenwolf's 80 is bone stock except he has a fairing on it.

Here is a pic of Thunderstruck before the "mishap".



The only thing non-stock on this is the handlebars and grips. A PO also painted the footpeg exhaust brackets all black, on the 80 SG model they were plain aluminum like yours. The PO also painted the seat grab rail black on Thunderstruck, the factory is plain aluminum with the center notch painted black and YAMAHA on the back is painted black which yours looks stock.

Differences in the 80-81 models is the side cover emblems, yours look stock for the 80 model, the black circles on the 81 model timing and alternator covers, the final drive on the SH is black with the ridges bare aluminum, on the SH the valve cover is also black with the ridges bare aluminum, and the SH head and cylinders is painted black with the edges of the fins bare aluminum. None of that painting on the engine or the FD was done on the SG models.

HTH

[79XS11F]

That's a good start but some closer looks will be needed so I have an idea what she should look like.
Rob

[DGXSER]

Closer you say!!

Well, since I no longer have that bike, or only some parts anyway...I enlarged a couple scenic photos. Maybe they will give you some info.

This is an earlier pic with the king/queem seat but stock rototiller bars..


And here is that same later pic enlarged...


Only thing I see for sure non-stock on yours is the exhaust. It should stop before the rear axle and be more megaphone shaped. The carbs look like they are off a MNS, painted black and perhaps gold chrome tops. Stock for the SG and the SH was plain aluminum with plain chrome lids on 1 and 4, 2 and 3 had non-chromed tops.

[79XS11F]

Thanks for photos. ya, the exhaust is using slip on mufflers onto stock headers. The carbs do appear to be from a MNS. That being the case it's likely going to be much easier to get a set of carbs as compared to trying to get the paint off these ones.
Rob

[79XS11F]

Well that STINKS ... Really

So I changed out the kinked fuel lines on this bike on Sunday but I guess the kinks were not only starving the engine for fuel, they were also preventing a FUEL LEAK by restricting fuel flow to a drip. When I woke up this morning the entire house was FULL of gasoline fumes to the point that I was sure the house would explode before I could even turn off the furnace and hot water heater. I lost about 1/4 tank of gas onto the garage floor over night. So at 5:00 AM I was running around the house opening every window, turning on all exhaust fans and throwing 2 full boxes of cat litter onto the garage floor. By 7:00 I was trying to have coffee without my morning smokes and the house was down to 6 degrees!!! It also still stank of gas fumes. I wonder why it decided to leak on Tuesday morning through the night, when everything was OK from Sunday afternoon through to Monday night at around midnight?