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  • #1

    Time to introduce myself

    Hey guys, I've been lurking here for a while, and thought it was time to say Hi. I picked up a 1981 Special at the end of December, as a winter project. I found this site while doing some research on the bike. (I knew nothing about these bikes at all) It's a great site full of really helpful information. As I've been taking things apart and tinkering, I've referred to this site many times. The bike is actually in pretty good shape for the money I paid for it. I actually expected to find more crap wrong with it. Here's a couple of photos of her as I got her, and a couple after I stripped some extra stuff away.






    I'll try to post more pictures of my progress. I call her "Daffodil"
    1981 Special- currently under construction
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Looking Good! Welcome to the site and dont be afraid to ask questions!
    Nathan
    KD9ARL

    μολὼν λαβέ

    1978 XS1100E
    K&N Filter
    #45 pilot Jet, #137.5 Main Jet
    OEM Exhaust
    ATK Fork Brace
    LED Dash lights
    Ammeter, Oil Pressure, Oil Temp, and Volt Meters
    Green Monster Coils
    SS Brake Lines
    Vision 550 Auto Tensioner

    In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

    Theodore Roosevelt

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    • #3
      Welcome Shadowman, good find !! Now ,you have five months to get her for XSNorth
      BDF Special
      80SG Vetter bagger 1196 Wiseco big bore kit, Mega Cycle Cams, slotted cam gears, ported and flowed head, bronze intake seats, Dyno Jet kit, Dyno coils and Mikes XS air pods, Venture cam chain adjuster,Geezer's regulator, Clutch mod, Mac 4 into 1 with custom built and tuned baffle, Oil cooler,MikesXS emulators mod.
      Dyno tuned to 98 hp at the rear wheel.

      Comment

      • #4
        Welcome to the forum! That's a NICE ride! I like the yellow! Looks like the brake rotors have been replaced with earlier-year, non-slotted ones. Are you missing the left side cover, or was it just not on there for the picture? They tend to get broken off and lost over the years.
        1980 XS850SG - Sold
        1981 XS1100LH Midnight Special (Sold) - purchased 9/29/08
        Fully Vetterized and Dynojet Kit added, Heated Grips, Truck-Lite LED headlight, Accel Coils, Irridium plugs, TKAT Fork Brace, XS850LH Final Drive & Black SS Brake lines from Chacal.
        Here's my web page devoted to my bike! XS/XJ User's Manuals there, and the XJ1100 Service Manual and both XS1100 Service manuals (free download!).

        Whether you think you can, or you think you cannot - You're right.
        -H. Ford

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        • #5
          Yeah, only the rear rotor was slotted, and I have drilled the front rotors already. I do have both covers. The left one was in the saddlebag. I'll post more pictures when I'm done polishing aluminum bits. (I had to take a break--I've got blisters on my thumb from sanding)
          1981 Special- currently under construction

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          • #6
            lol... yea will happen alot when your hand polishing. but your fruits of labor pay off in the end. and youll never feel any blisters once u get your results..
            _____________________________________________ 1979 XS 1100 Special "The judge" mods- K&N air pods, 4-1 mac, 147.5 pilots, 57.5 mains, LED turn signal, cafe bars, HEL translucent yellow stainless steel brake line, dyna coil (dc2-1), raptor 660 mc, r6 controls..(sold)

            1982 gs1100e "all business" cafe project
            1980 gs1000g "stock"
            1982 honda express "stretched 10 inch(my daughters scooter)
            2008 jmstar 150cc Chinese scooter ( wife's bike)

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            • #7
              Welcome to the site man.
              You got one nice looking bike there.
              ~Camel

              Comment

              • #8
                Hey there Shadowman,

                I editted your photo links to show the photos embedded IN the post, you almost had it right, instead of pasting into a URL tab, use the IMAGE tag and folks will SEE the photos direclty, instead of having to click on the links!

                VERY NICE MACHINE there!! Glad to see you had the OEM seat grab rail to put on after removing the customized luggage rack. The rear turn signals are not OEM as you might have figured out from photos on this site, but they work to allow the use of the saddlebags, and you'll find the saddlebags fairly helpful in the future, so you might not want to toss them??

                BTW, if you want a little more bling for the tank, you can get some auto chrome door frame/trim that will fit/mold and glue/stick around the flat junction on the front side.

                Also, the headlight bucket doesn't look stock, it appears a bit smaller than it should be, the diameter of the light should be 7", but if you look at other photos, you'll see that the bucket is much closer to the gauges.

                Also, the pipes are Mac 4-1 turnouts, they are single walled, and so the blueing at the header is normal, and even though you can get stuff to remove the blueing, it'll come right back due the single wall. Some folks have used some ceramic type spray paint to coat the INSIDE of the headers to insulate them a bit, and can help slow or retard the blueing affect. YMMV.

                Again, welcome to the site, glad you've found the info helpful, and you're well on your way to having a great ride.

                T.C.
                T. C. Gresham
                81SH "Godzilla" . . .1179cc super-rat.
                79SF "The Teacher" . . .basket case!
                History shows again and again,
                How nature points out the folly of men!

                Comment

                • #9
                  Thanks for fixing my photos TopCat. I'm pretty new at posting photos. (I usually have to get my kids to do it)
                  I do plan on putting the saddlebags back on. I find a bike with no storage at all to be kind of impractical.
                  1981 Special- currently under construction

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