Final pix of bike

[James England]

All I can say is "Daaayum, what a beautiful ride!". Reminds me of how far I have to go with mine. Very nice machine, man!

THank you, kind sir! It took about 6 months to get it looking like that. On and off, not non-stop work though.

I have another XS1100 arriving tomorrow. I'm going to assess what sort of state it's in and hopefully get it restored to a similar level. I'll be posting pix of it tomorrow, so watch this space!!!

Thanks again for your praise.

[ManitoulinLad]

WTF - I can't descibe it

Hey James: I just found this post after I responded to your new one about whether you should start again on that red xs & I tried to tell to you its not that bad & to have at her. My God man! anyone with the obvious talents you have should never, ever stop restoring bikes. I mean man alive I'm flabergasted. What a bike! You gotta always keep on with a project. You got the stuff man. Thx for the pics, & lesson in restoring - Dan

[James England]

Hey James: I just found this post after I responded to your new one about whether you should start again on that red xs & I tried to tell to you its not that bad & to have at her. My God man! anyone with the obvious talents you have should never, ever stop restoring bikes. I mean man alive I'm flabergasted. What a bike! You gotta always keep on with a project. You got the stuff man. Thx for the pics, & lesson in restoring - Dan

Hi Dan. That is praise indeed. Thank you very much for that. I'm not one of these overly confident people and so I appreciate your comments.

Yes, you're right... it would be a shame to break the bike up. I've stripped the carbs and cleaned the bodies, removed the jets and so on. I'm now zinc plating all the carb bits that need it (external things only of course), like I did on the last bike. I've stripped the old seat and contacted someone about a new one...... I think it looks like I'll be doing the bike up! I also put the Marshall Deeptone system on eBay (it's in excellent condition)... so that means this bike will be getting a 4 into 2 exhaust and look (IMO) 'proper'.

To be honest, I think I'm rising to the challenge on this one.... I'll have to do the frame and may get it powder coated locally. The engine is scruffy looking and I would want to to get the damaged fins replaced. I know a person who does this.

This job will have to be a complete engine out job. Then there's the eternal search for all those little components that fall be the wayside over the years....... should be fun!!