New Member and New 81 XS1100 Project

[Elwood]

Hello everybody! Im Elwood, new to the forums and new to the XS11's. My father owned a 1980 XS1100 (not sure of the trim) but sold it when I was born in 1982. I picked this 1981 XS 1100 SH (I am pretty sure after looking online to figure out which trim package it is) up on craigslist really cheap. Everything is in really really good shape. Except it has been sitting for around 8 years or so. I took off the tank, which I will run a cleaner and resealer through. The battery was completely trashed, the rear brake has no pressure, spark plug caps are like sun dried tomatoes, and ofcourse the carbs. All of the issues are minor but I am a bit over whelmed by the carbs. I have completely dissassembled the carbs (but not off the rack), I did a good job organizing all the jets, seats, tubes and screws. But 2 of the pilot jets were very difficult, I soaked in penetrating oil, and warmed up the carb body and then used my thin screw driver to attempt removal, but I still ended up breaking the brass apart. I reheated the carb body and attempted to use my smallest bit and drill into the jet enough to get my extractor out. But the brass was too weak and broke apart again. So now I am at a loss as to what to try next and any thoughts or tips would be appreciated. Please let me know if this is not enough info to give a diagnosis on the situation also as I am pretty new at all of this. (Have only worked on my buell and harley)

[jetmechmarty]

Nice start!

Is the carb body still undamaged? Have you tried a left hand drill bit? Sometimes they do the trick.

[MaximPhil]

Hi Elwood,
That is a great looking bike. Good luck with sorting out your carbs. once you get them sorted they will be fine but it can be frustrating so hang in there.
I recommend the TC fuse box upgrade to replace those little glass tube OEM system.. Orginal Exhaust looks to be in good shape too, worth it's weight in gold.
Phil

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Elwood,

First, I fixed your photo post links....on Photobucket, when you view the thumbnails in your album, as you hover your mouse cursor over the photo, near the bottom there is a list of 4 sets of text code...the last one is the one you want, just click your mouse on that slot, it will say text copied, then temporarily paste it into a new NOTEPAD document, hit return/enter to put a new line, repeat for every photo you want to post, then on this site, open a reply/new thread, and the copy and paste all of the links into the thread window...they are already in the code tag format to display as a photo, not just a link!!!

As to the carb pilot jet, some folks have been able to get a fine tipped pick, like a dental pick down in there and pried out the pieces? A good macro photo down in the pilot jet tower could let us see how much jet material is left? I had a couple of stuck pilot jets on mine, finally got the nerve to go after them this past year....drilled thru the top portion of the jet, and was able to get a small easy out into it, and it broke loose easily. You might be able to pour some stronger carb cleaner down into the pilot jet hole to help further break down the corrosion...and a few cycles of heat/cold couldn't hurt!

If you have to pick the pieces out, then folks have used a tap to chase/clean the remaining threads. Good Luck.
T.C.

[mack]

Pilots

I've never had any luck with easy outs. I've made a bracket to set the carbs in that keeps them plumb and level, put them in a drill press so you can drill in the center and straight down. Use a bit that is just smaller than a small square tipped screw driver. Tap the driver in, push down and turn. Don't forget the penetrating oil. I've removed several idle and pilot's and various messed up philip heads this way.

[Elwood]

Thanks for fixing the pics, i will get it next time now that I know how. And thanks for the ideas, the easy outs/extractor sets didnt go to well, I am going to try to drill out the excess top part of the pilot jet and then pick at it like was recommended, i am beat though so I will save that for 2moro but I appreciate all the advice, I hope I dont drill to deep and mess up the carb body but I guess slow and steady is what I will throw at it haha, and I did try left handed drill bits, that pilot on the #3 and #4 carb didnt even budge though. Thanks again for the advice guys.

[bikerphil]

If you drill a small hole in the pilot jet you can take an allen wrench and tap/force it into the hole and it should have a nice tight fit, enough to break loose/remove the jet. This method has worked for me several times, good luck!

[CaptonZap]

If you drill a small hole in the pilot jet you can take an allen wrench and tap/force it into the hole and it should have a nice tight fit, enough to break loose/remove the jet. This method has worked for me several times, good luck!

If you don't mind me horning in, I would like to suggest that before you drive the allen in, you sharpen the end on a grinding wheel, so that the corners are sharp. The thing then becomes a nice little broach, without swelling the jet out against the threads. CZ

[fredintoon]

Hello everybody! Im Elwood, new to the forums and new to the XS11's. - - -

Hi Elwood and welcome,
Another thing to try for jet removal is to unplug your drill press then block the carb body securely onto the drill press bed such that the drill chuck is directly above the jet.
Get a long series hexagon screwdriver bit and grind the tip so it's a tight fit in the remains of the jet's screwdriver slot.
Put the screwdriver bit in the drill chuck, bear down hard onto the jet and back it out by hand-turning the drill chuck.
BTW, your profile don't say much and it's helpful if we know which city you live in in case someone is near enough to help.
But your photos ratted you out. The sewer cover says your bike at least is in Phoenix Arizona.

[WSL91]

Hello everybody! Im Elwood, new to the forums and new to the XS11's. My father owned a 1980 XS1100 (not sure of the trim) but sold it when I was born in 1982. I picked this 1981 XS 1100 SH (I am pretty sure after looking online to figure out which trim package it is) up on craigslist really cheap. Everything is in really really good shape. Except it has been sitting for around 8 years or so. I took off the tank, which I will run a cleaner and resealer through. The battery was completely trashed, the rear brake has no pressure, spark plug caps are like sun dried tomatoes, and ofcourse the carbs. All of the issues are minor but I am a bit over whelmed by the carbs. I have completely dissassembled the carbs (but not off the rack), I did a good job organizing all the jets, seats, tubes and screws. But 2 of the pilot jets were very difficult, I soaked in penetrating oil, and warmed up the carb body and then used my thin screw driver to attempt removal, but I still ended up breaking the brass apart. I reheated the carb body and attempted to use my smallest bit and drill into the jet enough to get my extractor out. But the brass was too weak and broke apart again. So now I am at a loss as to what to try next and any thoughts or tips would be appreciated. Please let me know if this is not enough info to give a diagnosis on the situation also as I am pretty new at all of this. (Have only worked on my buell and harley)

Good looking find, there is one on the Des Moines CL right now that looks like yours but its not cheap and the guy wont deal. I see you wasted no time in getting in there and getting busy. Good luck, I think I need to clean the carbs but I'm a little hesitant. I work on old tractors and when we have a stripped jet usually use a Pin Vise and carefully drill small to bigger and try to break the brass out at some point rather than risk getting into the body threads. Good luck

[Cobia]

I buggered up a stuck pilot jet and was able to "re-cut" the screwdriver groove with a "dental" type diamond bit and my dremmel. Got a set at HF for real cheap too. After I cut the groove I was able to use the screwdriver to extract it. As someone else said, Make sure you grind down the screwdriver tip so it's a tight fit in the groove. Any slop there is not a good thing and leads to more stripping.

[Elwood]

Update on my project.... well I managed to damage the carb body while attempting to remove the pilot jet. The threads are way damaged and I cannot put a new pilot jet in. I went to a salvage yard down here in phoenix and picked up a new rack of carbs off an 1980 xs11 very cheap. I disassembled these hoping they would be in good condition but the float "pins" or the "posts" 2 of them were broken, drilled and pinned with glue. The floats did not move freely as the posts are at an angle. And it seems that the person that had this rack of carbs before me coil bound the linkage controlling the butterflys. So I am at a stand still, having broken one pilot circuit on my original rack and found a new "used" rack in good looking but horrible mechanical condition. Ofcourse I didnt luck out on different carbs having different problems on the racks, Both racks of carbs have damage on the left carb on the rack. Kinda frustrated. Don't know what else to do other than search for a new rack again, attempt to repair what I have, or just use the original rack of carbs with the left one not having the pilot circuit going, so I wont be firing on 1 cylinder from idle till 1/4 throttle. Anyone have any ideas? I do have 8 in good shaped diaphrams, and the majority of jets are good, very much at a loss as to where to go from here. thanks

Elwood

[jetmechmarty]

Elwood,

It sounds like you have enough parts there to put together four good carburetors. You can come up with four good bodies, right? You're just going to have to disassemble the rack. While you're at it, this would be the time to replace the butterfly seals.

[Elwood]

going from left to right ill call the carbs 1,2,3,4 so if carb 1 off the original rack I made a total mess out of the pilot threads and body and carbs 1 & 2 off the new "used" rack have broken float "posts" and it looks like the linkage for the butterfly valve are all coil bound. Can I take the the 3 or 4 carb off my new rack and put it on my original rack? And how much trouble is the linkage going to be disassembling and reassembling? Thanks

[jetmechmarty]

Elwood,

If you completly disassemble the carbs, the bodies are the same. So, #3 from one rack can go to #1 on the other. Disassembly will exercise your patience, but you can do it.

The screws in the butterflies are "staked" in the back, so very tight coming out. Your screwdriver tip should be perfect. They go back together with Locktite blue.