300,000 klms and counting!

[Eveready1100]

I'd like to announce the passing of another milestone in my motorcycle riding career. My trusty XS11 Special has now done 300,000th (no misprint) klm and after giving it some more TLC and preventative maintenance, it's now ready for its next stint. Oh, and I put it on a diet, too!


^Before


^After

I had a bit of a story written up about how we've reach this milestone, but when I put in the last updates, I must've changed the file type or something and I can't open the #$%#% thing! So I'll get another one soonish.

I'd like to thank everyone who's given me assistance here since I signed on in July 2002 ( after crossing over from the yahoo groups thing)
You've no idea how much your guidance has helped me keep this old dinosaur in good health for so long. It's still on its original rings and hasn't had the head off yet! It uses a little oil but seeing it doesn't smoke like its owner, I'm going to leave well enough alone.
Once again thanks heaps, guys.

[fredintoon]

I'd like to announce the passing of another milestone in my motorcycle riding career. My trusty XS11 Special has now done 300,000th (no misprint) klm - - -

Hi Ev,
so, as one's riding mileage tends to drop in one's mid-70s, if I keep up with the regular oil changes my SG is good for my foreseeable lifetime, eh?
BTW, did you DIY those blonde rims or do Aussie XSes come that way.

[11Rider]

Wow, that's amazing!

[jwhughes3]

Congrats!

Goes to show what love and proper maintenance can do.

John

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

187,500

Thats 187,500 US miles WOW, and she still looks liks new

[Eveready1100]

Fred, all I've done is the aforementioned regular oil changes, and treated the motor with a lot of mechanical respect. I have ridden it hard at times, but never thrashed it. Steptoe and i had tried nutting out why it's lasted the way it has, but all we can sort of come up with is that in its time with me, it's hardly ever done short runs, like down to the shops and back. Its always had at least 20 - 40 klms to get everything good and hot and also not much of that has been in stop start traffic either.
Those "Blond" rims where on the bike when I bought it. It's a 3H3 (US model) but where it came from is a riddle.

OEM4ME, the photos do the bike a lot of credit. Up close, you can see the sidecovers paint is cracking from being flexed when pulled off and on, and the Eleven Special badges have worn through all the paint and top edges of them have rounded edges, worn away by my jeans rubbing on them, plus the frame has bits of surface rust round the joints from years of being parked in the sun on a concrete car park at work, but it looks good from a distance, eh?

[petejw]

woohoo, congrats ev,
now for the next 300,000k's.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Looks good to me

Looks good to me, looks better then most bikes with one third the miles, and others with 300K would be scrap, Good job my man

Fred, all I've done is the aforementioned regular oil changes, and treated the motor with a lot of mechanical respect. I have ridden it hard at times, but never thrashed it. Steptoe and i had tried nutting out why it's lasted the way it has, but all we can sort of come up with is that in its time with me, it's hardly ever done short runs, like down to the shops and back. Its always had at least 20 - 40 klms to get everything good and hot and also not much of that has been in stop start traffic either.
Those "Blond" rims where on the bike when I bought it. It's a 3H3 (US model) but where it came from is a riddle.

OEM4ME, the photos do the bike a lot of credit. Up close, you can see the sidecovers paint is cracking from being flexed when pulled off and on, and the Eleven Special badges have worn through all the paint and top edges of them have rounded edges, worn away by my jeans rubbing on them, plus the frame has bits of surface rust round the joints from years of being parked in the sun on a concrete car park at work, but it looks good from a distance, eh?

[fredintoon]

Thats 187,500 US miles WOW, and she still looks like new

Hi 4ME,
actually, they are British miles but that's OK, the Brits stole them too, off the Romans. Or perhaps they were too cheap to move the Roman milestones. The mile was originally the milium pace that is, 1,000 left-rights of a Roman legionary and thus the original metric measurement.

[Rickrod3]

That's amazing

I just have to ask.

How often do you change your oil and what kind do you use?
Do you always change the filter?

Keep it going bike looks like it has a lot of life left in it.

Rick

[Eveready1100]

I just have to ask.

How often do you change your oil and what kind do you use?
Do you always change the filter?

Keep it going bike looks like it has a lot of life left in it.

Rick

Hi Rick,
Oil changes at approx 5000klms. Have used Shell helix virtually exclusively since I bought it, and the filter gets the flick at each change.
Just a note - When i first bought the bike, the clutch slipped pretty badly under power and I was advised by my Bike mechanic mate to change the oil first before changing plates etc just to see what happens. What happened was that it fixed the slip within a couple of hundred k's and it's been great ever since.
I've been wondering if the PO may have slipped some Slick 50 or Nulon conditioner in the motor which might help explain its longevity. It's all I can think of ATM as I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary to care for the motor.
Any thoughts?

P.S. Those clutch plates are still in there.