Advice needed please!

[James England]

Hi everyone. Having completed the rebuild etc on my bike (apart from posting those 'portrait pix' of the finished job as the weather is too bad here), I was scouting about on eBay with my favourite keyword of XS1100...

I ended up buying this! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

The bike is down in London and I'll be picking it up on Thursday as long as the blizzards hold off for a while.

Several of my acquaintances and friends, who have witnessed the sleepless nights, skinned knuckles, filthy hands, thousand yard stare and decreasing bank balance that happen when restoring a bike, have suggested that I am quite clearly in need of psychological assistance to take on another project.

Reactions have been: "You must be mad. You've only just finished that last one".... "How many of these things do you want?"........ "Why don't you just buy a nice new bike and then you wouldn't need to get your hands dirty all the time"......... "These bikes are all really old so what's the point? Get therapy"... and so on.

Personally, after about 10 days of completing the last bike, I'm looking forward to getting the spanners out again but I think I am being made to feel as if I have some strange ailment involving these lovely bikes. I thought I would ask fellow XSives for some suitable replies which I may give to these individuals. Please help....

[crazy steve]

...I ended up buying this!

... I thought I would ask fellow XSives for some suitable replies which I may give to these individuals. Please help....

Not bad! Needs some help on the cosmetics, but certainly a lot better than what many others have started with. I have to ask... are you going to have another stainless exhaust built for this one?

Possible replies to those who don't understand the joy/sense of accomplishment/enjoyment of the process of owning/building older bikes...

'Anybody can buy something that needs no work'

'That only takes money; this takes skill'

'Unique is good'

'If I can't make it my own, what's the point?'

And my personal fav...

'You just don't get it; I like working on old bikes as much as riding them'

[James England]

Not bad! Needs some help on the cosmetics, but certainly a lot better than what many others have started with. I have to ask... are you going to have another stainless exhaust built for this one?

Possible replies to those who don't understand the joy/sense of accomplishment/enjoyment of the process of owning/building older bikes...

'Anybody can buy something that needs no work'

'That only takes money; this takes skill'

'Unique is good'

'If I can't make it my own, what's the point?'

And my personal fav...

'You just don't get it; I like working on old bikes as much as riding them'

Now, those are very diplomatic responses! I'm feeling better already!

Yes, I think I'll have to get a stainless exhaust made up for this one too. I think my mission with these bikes is to make them look standard and, so far, the stainless exhaust is the best option. There is that one in Germany but at £1000, it does seem a lot of money, don't you think? The one on it now is a Marshall Deeptone, I'd say. Marshall have singlehandedly deprived the world of countless OEM finned exhaust collars since they provide a flat nasty looking plate thing to replace them. Many people just threw the OEM ones out. I have ONE and need another three.

I've sourced exactly the same seat as I put on the last one, except £25 cheaper and just bought two seat trims from the US. I've never done up a non-runner though, so I'm not sure how to go about it..... should I try and get the engine to run, even badly, so I know it will work? Before buying carb rebuild kits, exhausts, filters, an airbox (by the look of one of the pix) etc etc ...... I'd hate to spend a load of money and find it sounds like a bag of nails when it runs!

Looking at the year, it will have to be painted 'Macho Maroon' with the gold pinstripe.....

[natemoen]

Looks pretty nice!

[DGXSER]

Hello James, and welcome to the wacky insane world of XS11 ownership. thing is, these bikes are insanely addictive and yet, fairly inexpensive compared to the new models.

As pointed out, you could go buy a "Me Too" bike, from one of the "Might As Well Make One of Those" manufacturers. But then whats the fun in that.

As to the cost and such, well, point your friends to my Project Bike thread, see what Banshee started out looking like, and where she is now. All of this and I can make a profit selling it for NADA value.

As to the skinned knuckles, Look at my Venting thread about Fords and you will see that any form of four wheeled transportation will leave you with much less skin for what should be much simpler repairs, and take longer to fix one minor item than to remove the engine from an XS11.

As to what to look at first, I'd start with does the engine turn over or is it rusted in place. From the looks of how well the bike was kept, this seems less likely. Then run a compression check to see what the engine condition is. If all that looks good. Then I'd spray a little ether/starting fluid in the air box and see if she springs to life. If so, then drain the tank and the carbs, see if the tank looks reasonably clean inside, and add new gas, see if she fires on that.

Past that point, look at the tech tips under what to look for in a neglected XS11. Not that this one looks neglected per say, but same items should be looked over. Then at a minimum, perform ALL the maintenance items from stem to stern.

[crazy steve]

Yes, I think I'll have to get a stainless exhaust made up for this one too. I think my mission with these bikes is to make them look standard and, so far, the stainless exhaust is the best option...
...I've never done up a non-runner though, so I'm not sure how to go about it..... should I try and get the engine to run, even badly, so I know it will work? Before buying carb rebuild kits, exhausts, filters, an airbox (by the look of one of the pix) etc etc ...... I'd hate to spend a load of money and find it sounds like a bag of nails when it runs!...

You ought tell the exhaust guy to build a 'jig' for these so he doesn't have to fit each one to a bike as I suspect there may be a pretty good market for his version, particularly as he's a bunch cheaper than the German version. Might even be a business opportunity here with you as the distributor..

As far as determining the condition of the motor, I'd do a few preliminary checks before I tried starting it. If it turns easily by hand or with the kickstarter with the plugs out, you know you probably don't have any internal rust issues. If it's sat a long time, pull the plugs and cam cover off and pre-oil the cylinders and cam lobes before spinning it. Spin it (with the starter) long enough with the plugs out to see if the oil light goes out; if it does, that tells you the lower end/oil pump is probably good. Run a compression test, and if that's in spec, the top end is good. Got any low cylinders, check valve lash before assuming you have other problems. At this point if everything tests ok, then I'd try to get it running to check all the rest.

Thinking of using that big-bore set-up?.... Good opportunity.

This really depends on how anal you are, overall plans, and a judgement call on the condition as-is. It would be a drag to have to pull the motor if you're along in the rebuild, but do you want to do all the additional work if it's not needed?

I've got three motors to choose from for my '80 'project'; a '79 standard and two '80SGs. I intend to do the above to select which one I'll use, although I can't run them as all are out of the bike. I already know the '79 has a low hole, and one '80 motor has a seriously abused clutch that's been supposedly 'fixed' (not much confidence here, as the PO seemed pretty flaky). The clutch got damaged when he rode it home with a frozen rear brake; the brake got so hot he partially melted the caliper...

[ManagerMike]

Damn! I wish mine looked a fraction as good as that when I got it!
Good catch!
As far as a reply....tell your detractors to go pound sand, or suck eggs, or whatever it is that will alleviated thier symptoms of jealosy.

[James England]

Damn! I wish mine looked a fraction as good as that when I got it!
Good catch!
As far as a reply....tell your detractors to go pound sand, or suck eggs, or whatever it is that will alleviated thier symptoms of jealosy.

Yes, I think it looks pretty OK. I think it's missing the bottom of the airbox, the seat trims (and the seat is from a Honda?). The seller says he's turned the engine over by kickstarter and it turns over. I'll check out the threads here re neglected bikes and proceed with caution. I reckon the tank and carbs will have 10 year old gunge in them, diaphragms u/s, probably petcock seals gone, oil gunged up etc. As mentioned in this thread, I'll squirt some PlusGas down the plugholes, then drain the oil etc etc.

I'll be taking off the exhaust and selling it, along with the rear shocks and anything else that's not staying on the bike. It defrays the expense of restoring it, to a very small extent. Of course, I'll be using my magic zinc-plating kit on the relevant parts that need brightening up, instead of buying NOS ones like I did last time!

The idea is to restore the bike to the same standard as the last one, then sell it. Somehow though, I don't think that's gonna happen... the selling bit, I mean.....

[James England]

As to the skinned knuckles, As to what to look at first, I'd start with does the engine turn over or is it rusted in place.

The seller says he's turned the engine over no problem with the kickstarter. Yes, I'll re-read those threads. The main thing, I think, is to see if the engine will run without sounding mechanically damaged. I mean, it really is a question of why the bike was not used from 10 years ago.... someone lost interest?..... or blew a hole in a piston? ... I'm hoping for the best. I'll check the oil, turn over by kickstarter to see if there are any obviously horrible noises and then try Easy Start ether based starter stuff after lubricating things as much as possible. If I can get it to fire for 5 seconds, that will do... I'll then go to work on what's needed. The good thing about having done the last one is that I have the contacts for everything and a much better idea of how to proceed.

Re the detractors..... I reckon a non-verbal response could be best. On the next dry, sunny day, I'll simply wheel out the bike I've just completed and let it stand there, oozing charm and nostalgia. Speaks for itself!

[bikerphil]

A reason a lot of these bikes get parked for many years with low miles is probably due to bad transmission gears. A blessing in disguise for all of us who want to put them back together. The motors are usually fine.

[foreda]

XS Chomosome Gene

I am afflicted with the XS Chromosome Gene of which there is no cure. There is a lot of fun and satisfaction in restoring these old machines. Buy lots of hand lotion for the cracked hands and fingers!!

[Larrym]

Heir and a Spare

James,

Congrats on achieving a fully functional XS1100 superbike. (Beautifully done: HaZZah!!!)

The next step is too KEEP it fully functional and out there representing what it is, why it's worth holding onto while others admire or scoff. (Either behavior is to be expected and serves as an indicator for whom to include/discard in your inner circle of friends...)

Regarding your next project/acquisition, may I suggest that you continue to strive for owning TWO fully functional bikes of the same year/model? In practice you'll find that while you may only be able to ride one at a time, there may be instances where one of them will require service/parts.

If in fact the parts are available/within a reasonable price range, then do acquire them and keep two bikes in service. If the parts are not readily available then it's a trivial matter to "borrow" from one bike to make the other safe/ride-able if that is your preference. Or you can simply ride the other super-bike when the weather is fair and notion strikes you. With two bikes you are ideally positioned to be able to ride now and continue to ride in the future.

I own one super-bike and have a considerable cache of spares including a spare engine/transmission. If the opportunity to pick up an exact duplicate of my current ride presented itself, I would not hesitate.

It's only "Proper Resource Management" after all.

Though I would question whether it is appropriate for ME to have/own more than two super-bikes of the same year/model. (Likely that is due to limited floor space in my garage and not link-able to any mental instability or Brain chemical imbalance on my part.)

[James England]

You ought tell the exhaust guy to build a 'jig' for these so he doesn't have to fit each one to a bike as I suspect there may be a pretty good market for his version, particularly as he's a bunch cheaper than the German version..

I spoke to him this afternoon about making a system for the next bike. He said he once made a jig for a particular Kawasaki model, at the request of the owners club. Then, having done so.... nobody bought a system! So he's wary about making a jig this time. He said he would do so if he got 10 advance orders. He also said he would be willing to ship to the US....

[maxrageous]

a suggestion

Dear James,

I think the Queen mother should consider Knighting you for your dedication to a noble cause!

Max

[James England]

Dear James,

I think the Queen mother should consider Knighting you for your dedication to a noble cause!

Max

I like it! Mind you... I just remembered the Queen Mother is deceased, so it might be difficult!

Your obedient servant

Sir James England