Hi- new owner of XS1100.

[ThrottleJunky]

Hey guys and gals. I just picked up a 1981 XS1100 standard that has been sitting in a guys garage for over 20 years. It has not even been started since 1990. The gas tank was bone dry with a little bit of rust, not too bad, the tire rubber is old, and there was no battery. It has a vetter package with full fairing, saddlebags and trunk, etc. It has 20,000 miles on it. The guy said it has never had a mechanical problem, and no second gear issue.

I was looking for either one of these Yamaha's, or a Honda CB900 or 1000, but was partial to the Yamaha given the reviews I read suggesting it was a better bike all around. I'm happy I found one at a decent price. I think I'm going to sell off the fairing, trunk, saddle bags, seat, etc., and turn it into something more my taste. I just happened upon this site so thought I would join. There's some good information here. I'm hoping to get it running tomorrow as my new battery should be charged and ready to go. Then, it's strip down time!

[thecamelman79]

Just dont tell the little woman that "hey honey! I'm going out to the garage to strip the bags of the fat girl and give her a good rub down !" Trust me they dont understand.

Welcome to the site.

Post some pics, I might me interested in the bags if its a complete matching set.

[MaximPhil]

Hi Throttle Junky,
well done on your find. Hope it cleans up nicely for you.
A word of caution. There are a few parts that are unique to the 81. be sure to check the supplemet to the manual for the specs of such things as float hight and yes the Carbs are a little different. CDI/TDI (can never keep it straight )is unique. Large tank and fairing/bags were the only way it came in 81. we liketo see pictures. Welcome the the wonderful world of the XSives
Phil

[DGXSER]

What you have there is called the Venturer. It is the 81 model of the Standard. The fuel tank should have lighter color paint in the knee inserts. It is also a larger tank than any other XS1100 had on it. It is a touring package bike and the only way the 81 was sold in the standard model. So before you go tearing those parts off, just know there are some folks looking high and low for a good condition bike of that model.

And welcome to the madness of XS11 ownership!! Love to see pics of the old gal.

You may also liek to read the FAQ item titled "What to look for in a neglected XS1100". While yours does not sound neglected, just sitting can cause alot of the same issues.

[ThrottleJunky]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Yes, I think it's a Venturer, but the owner mentioned twice that it had a "Vetter Package" (not sure what he meant as I'm new to these). It is a round, not a square headlight, and yes it has lighter colored inserts on the tank. It's kind of a gold color with creme accents, and a brownish seat. There's even a backrest for the driver. I'll take some pics. It's pretty clean. The exhaust is not rusted at all, the tank has a small amount of flaking paint under one of the petcocks, but other than that the bike looks solid. I can't see any evidence of it ever being down.

PS- It even came with a color matched trailer which needs some fiberglass repair as something fell on it.

[natemoen]

Congrats on the find! I would love one of those 81 tanks! And as stated let's see some pics!

[MaximPhil]

Hi Throttle Junky,
To show what the original fairing for an 81 looks like.


Pictures we love pictures
Phil

[ThrottleJunky]

I'll take some pics in the next few days. The front fairing does have a round, not a square, headlight. The fairing, saddlebags, trunk, gas tank, fenders and trailer all have the same paint and pinstripe scheme. I don't know if it was an aftermarket upgrade, or what. The seller mentioned "full vetter package" like three times, but being a newbie to this sort of bike, it didn't register.

[fredintoon]

I'll take some pics in the next few days. The front fairing does have a round, not a square, headlight. The fairing, saddlebags, trunk, gas tank, fenders and trailer all have the same paint and pinstripe scheme. I don't know if it was an aftermarket upgrade, or what. The seller mentioned "full vetter package" like three times, but being a newbie to this sort of bike, it didn't register.

Hi Craig and welcome,
that'd be your namesake, Craig Vetter:-
http://www.craigvetter.com/index.html

[CatatonicBug]

Welcome aboard! It looks like there may be some mixing and matching with the luggage on your bike... As Fred mentioned, "Vetter" referrs to Craig Vetter. He designed and built fairings and one type of luggage back in the '70's that is commonly used on our bikes. However, he sold his company (which later went bankrupt) in the late '70's.

The fairing on Phil's picture is modeled after Craig's design, and is still considered a Vetter, but the square headlight was custom for Yamaha. The luggage in in Phil's picture is NOT Vetter, and would not have been Vetter on the OEM setup for the Venturer. If your saddlebags open from the sides, they are likely Vetter bags, but if they open from the tops, then they are most likely the OEM Yamaha bags.

Of course, a picture says a thousand words, so one quick snapshot of what you've got, and we can tell you. However, that Venturer tank (the largest of all the XS tanks) is VERY nice for long trips, so take good care of it.

[ThrottleJunky]

Hi guys. I bought a new battery and charged it overnight last night. I took the carbs off, took them apart and rebuilt them, then put them back on the bike. They were very dirty from old gasoline. I also cleaned out the fuel tank, changed the oil and filter, checked the air cleaner, then started the bike up. It ran very, very poorly. It is spitting and backfiring through the carb, and won't idle. While I had it apart, I took note that the main jets were 115 on the outside carbs, and 120 on the inside two. Not sure why there is a difference. I'm wondering if it's a lean condition because I had the airbox and filter off while running it. I will try it with the freshly oiled air filter tomorrow am, but I just wanted to try to start it this evening before I went home.

I checked the plugs and they are brand new. The bike is not acting like it has a fouled plug, and it will really clean out at higher rpm's. Runs better above, say, 3k, but again just dies as it gets down to around 1k rpm. I don't know a lot about these Mikuni carbs. I've only worked on Keihin CV carbs before.

I was also able to ascertain that the fairing, saddlebags, trunk, etc. are Vetter, and not factory. I'm going to sell all those off sometime in the near future. I'll take pics tomorrow.

[DGXSER]

Your on your way with this one if it is already running and gets better at higher RPMs.

First off, not that your an unintelligent person, but did you have the choke pulled all the way out when you first fired it up? Did the engine run better on choke than off it?

Also, in the float bowls is a jet that feeds the enrichment circuit (choke). If you do not clean it out, the choke does not work and the bike will be very lean especially at low RPMs.

The lower RPMs is controlled by two things, the pilot jet and pilot air jet combo, and the mixture screw. Typically, after a thorough "triple Cleaning" of the carbs (alot of folks need three attempts to REALLY get them clean ) setting the mixture screws to about 1-1/2 turns out from seated up to maybe 2-1/4 turns will work out well.

One other thing to look at is the pilot jets themselves. There are several styles that all thread into the carb perfectly. The N151 style have no hole sint he sides of the jet. The VM style have eight holes int he sides of the jet ( 2 holes on four sides). Both of these are incorrect for the XS11 application. The correct ones are the BS30/96 style that have six holes (tow on two sides and one on two sides). The wrong style jets will make a world of difference in how the bike runs.

Hopefully some of that will help.

[foreda]

Carbs

Ok.. You have taken the carbs off and cleaned. Tomorrow, take them off and clean them again. Next day, same thing, clean them again.. I would suggest that you read some of the many threads here on carb cleaning. Good luck with your project!!

[ThrottleJunky]

Yeah, after running it, I think I'm going to take them apart and check them out again. They were extremely gummed up from dried gasoline, etc. I wasn't really fond of actually removing the carbs from the bike. Major PITA because it is so tight. I loosened the airbox, pulled the carbs away from the manifold boots on the front of the bike, then finagled them out while muttering some pleasantries to myself. Hopefully it will get easier with time.

PS- bike ran better without choke.

[bikerphil]

Good carb cleaning thread with pics....

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...light=carb+101