New to this

[Stuckinmud15]

Hey all, my name is Alex, I live near Buffalo, NY, and I jut acquired an 81 1100 Special from a friend. It was sitting for two years, and over the weekend we had managed to get it running. We drained all the old gas out of it, pulled the plugs and poured some marvel mystery oil in there, and let it sit for a few hours.
After we spit the oil outta there and re-installed the plugs, the bike started up with some hesitation. It now starts right up no problem, yet it runs pretty crappy. It has some back firing, and cutting out issues. Some lights aren't working properly, the headlight wont come on at all, and the rear lights are not staying on steady as running lights. I have yet to check on those issues, could just be bulbs.
The bike has the huge "touring" style front fairing on it, which makes working on it difficult lol. But it only has 30k on it and I snagged it for $200! I would love to get this bike running like a top for the upcoming season. I'm thinking maybe I should replace the plugs and give the carbs a good cleaning? The plugs weren't too bad when we pulled them out, just a little carbon on them, we cleaned them up with a wire brush.
Sorry so long! Thanks for reading, and thanks for any advice you may have to offer!

[natemoen]

Yeah definitely start by cleaning the carbs. Do a search for a thread title "carb cleaning 101" written by wildkat. Set by step breakdown with lots of pics. Also would start pulling electrical connectors apart and cleaning them out and filling them full of dielectric grease to help keep them dry and clean in the future.

Congrats in the new ride and ask any questions that come to mind! Oh yeah, also eel like pics....

[DAVINCI]

Hey all, my name is Alex, I live near Buffalo, NY, and I jut acquired an 81 1100 Special from a friend. It was sitting for two years, and over the weekend we had managed to get it running. We drained all the old gas out of it, pulled the plugs and poured some marvel mystery oil in there, and let it sit for a few hours.
After we spit the oil outta there and re-installed the plugs, the bike started up with some hesitation. It now starts right up no problem, yet it runs pretty crappy. It has some back firing, and cutting out issues. Some lights aren't working properly, the headlight wont come on at all, and the rear lights are not staying on steady as running lights. I have yet to check on those issues, could just be bulbs.
The bike has the huge "touring" style front fairing on it, which makes working on it difficult lol. But it only has 30k on it and I snagged it for $200! I would love to get this bike running like a top for the upcoming season. I'm thinking maybe I should replace the plugs and give the carbs a good cleaning? The plugs weren't too bad when we pulled them out, just a little carbon on them, we cleaned them up with a wire brush.
Sorry so long! Thanks for reading, and thanks for any advice you may have to offer!

Welcome! You got a picture of it?

[CatatonicBug]

Welcome to the madness! Assuming you have a Vetter fairing, the fairing can be easilly removed for service. There are 4 small bolts that hold the fairing to the mounting bracket, and one electrical plug. Should take about 3-5 minutes to remove.

If the bike has sat at all, you'll definitely need to clean the carbs. No question about that. Spark plugs are cheap so you might as well replace those as well. Tear the brakes apart and clean them REALLY well before you try to take it on the road. The seals in the calipers and master cylinders can get rather nasty after a while. You may find that you don't need to replace anything, but be sure the rubber parts are all clean.

Also check the tires. If they have sat around that long, there is a good chance they are dry-rotted.

If the fuse block has not been replaced yet, you may want to look into switching to spade-style fuses. The glass tubes are notorious for failure. Take apart ALL the electrical connections and clean/dielectric grease them. The headlight doesn't come on until the engine is running, and power is being received from the alternator. Check the plug BEHIND the fuse block mounting bracket, where the alternator plugs into the wiring harness. That plug is known to heat up and melt due to corrosion.

Good luck, and post some pictures for us! So far, sounds like you got a good deal for $200.

[fredintoon]

Hey all, my name is Alex, I live near Buffalo, NY, and I jut acquired an 81 1100 Special from a friend. - - - - It now starts right up no problem, yet it runs pretty crappy. It has some back firing, and cutting out issues. Some lights aren't working properly, the headlight wont come on at all, and the rear lights are not staying on steady as running lights. I have yet to check on those issues, could just be bulbs.
The bike has the huge "touring" style front fairing on it, which makes working on it difficult lol. - - -

Hi Alex and welcome,
clean the carbs. Don't soak them as the solution will attack the the butterfly shaft seals.
You do NOT want to change those seals.
Pay special attention to the enrichening circuit and slow speed jets, the smaller the passage, the easier it plugs up.
Synching the carbs can work wonders, too.
Clean each and every electrical connection in the wiring and reassemble them with dielectric grease.
Note that the headlight is supposed to switch on automatically when the engine starts.
More exactly, when the alternator starts charging.
No charge, no headlight.
Check also that the tach is working. That's another thing that won't work unless at least the one white wire that triggers it is powered by the alternator.
The usual "no charge" suspect is the 4-way white plug behind the fuses that carries the 3 white wires from the alternator.
That plug & socket has been known to melt.
Now this is just a personal preference but if that was my huge fairing I'd take it off and sell it to fund the purchase of a Tkat fork brace.

[natemoen]

Now this is just a personal preference but if that was my huge fairing I'd take it off and sell it to fund the purchase of a Tkat fork brace.

Surprised you didn't say to buy a sidecar Fred

[fredintoon]

Surprised you didn't say to buy a sidecar Fred

Hi Nate,
admittedly, sidecars ain't for everyone. Someone younger, taller, fitter and with a wife who'd ride pillion wouldn't be scared to ride an XS11 solo, for instance.
However, while Alex didn't mention sidecars he did mention his giant fairing so saying that I don't like fairings is fair comment.
However, a Tkat fork brace will improve Alex's ride for sure.
http://www.tkat.com/forkbrace.html
Even with a huge fairing in place. Even on a sidecar rig.

[Stuckinmud15]

Thanks for all the advice! I will be doing the carbs this week. When we were moving the bike around at the camp this weekend, the brakes seem to have seized up, I forgot to mention. We were able to relieve the pressure on the front brake by draining the fluid out, but didnt mess with the rear brake as it wasn't too bad and we were still able to move the bike around. I ovbiously am going to have to do something with that though. Do you guys think the calipers are shot/totally seized up from sitting? and the master cylinder had all sorts of nasty particles in it .

What exactly does that forkbrace do? Just adds stability? Idk how I feel about the fairing, its kinda cool, but also kinda big and overly bulky. I will post some pics of the bike tonight when I get home from work. Thanks!

[natemoen]

Brakes sound ole the spooge hole is clogged. It's a little ity bity hole that let's the ptessure release that is in the master cylinder body up top. Either way the brakes and all need to come off and be completely disassemble and cleaned.

And yes the forke brace stiffens the flimsy little 37mm forked and makes it sturdier.

[fredintoon]

Hi Alex,
what Nate said about the master cylinder spooge holes being bunged up. Comes of the POs not changing the brake fluid as often as they should have done. Total teardown & cleanup is the only safe way to de-crud brakes.
And about a fork brace. All XS series bikes have too-skinny fork tubes that should be at least 3mm bigger.
A fork brace stiffens them up in compensation.
It works by joining the two independent fork sliders together into a U-shaped arch so they won't flex in different directions.
There are several aftermarket fork braces available, they all work.
Tkat's version is the best engineered and the best looking.

[Stuckinmud15]

Total tear down meaning opening up the calipers and all that? I figured they were a sealed unit but haven't looked closely at them at all. I checked out that carb cleaning write up and it was very informative. I'm going to be tackling the carbs later with a buddy of mine. If that goes smooth hopefully we can start into the brakes too.

[crazy steve]

Total tear down meaning opening up the calipers and all that?

Yep, that's what it means...

It's not hard, just somewhat time-consuming. But well worth the peace of mind knowing you have brakes that will work..

[natemoen]

Yup, total meaning pull the piston out of the calipers and remove the square seal ring and clean clean clean. As well as the master cylinder piston and pull the reservoir off with a twist and pull.

[fredintoon]

Total tear down meaning opening up the calipers and all that? I figured they were a sealed unit - - -

Hi Alex,
it ain't all that sealed. Air can still get at the brake fluid to allow the fluid to absorb moisture and degrade itself.
That's why it turns brown and makes crud to block passages while the water content tends to rust steel parts.
Meanwhile those 30 year old fabric hoses can break down internally to add debris to the fluid.
So yeah, total tear down.
And FYI, Nate, us over-educated types refer to a square o-ring as a TetraSeal just so we can sneer at other folks.

[Stuckinmud15]

So should I be flushing any fluid through the lines to clear the stuff out of the lines?