78 XS1100 Restoration

[Jfries]

I just got a 1978 XS1100, My first bike as well.. it needs alot of work but i know it is well worth it.. is there any website's to get Oem parts or even aftermarket. i have been searching for almost a week now and i cant find the part's i need. Vacuum lines, new carbs, Rear brake master cylinder are a few of the things i have been searching for. i looked at eBay.

[crazy steve]

Small parts you won't have too much trouble finding; vacuum line can be bought at a dealer, rebuild kits for the carbs and rear master cylinder can be gotten multiple places. New carbs? Forget those, looong discontinued and would cost you $200+ each if they weren't. Same for major brake parts, rebuild kits only.

Figure on fixing/rebuilding most bits, and broken/missing parts will likely have to be bought used. Georgefix (eBay seller) has a lot of bits for these, and PartsNMore sells a lot of XS11 bits. MikesXS has some parts, but he's a 650 site and only has parts that fit both bikes so don't expect to find too much there. You can check boats.net for OEM parts, but most are discontinued.

Post some pics! We like pics!

Good luck!

[Jfries]

Thanks Steve

Thanks alot steve. i have been using ebay a bit just alot of what i read on stuff you find on ebay is its alot of incomplete stuff or there never right so i was nervious about spending the money and not getting the right stuff. as for pics i will post as soon as i figure out how lol..

[crazy steve]

You're dealing with a 34 year old Jap motorcycle, so finding parts is always a bit of a PITA. One thing you learn is not to throw away anything until you're absolutely, positively sure it's beyond repair, and even then you may want to keep it to make sure you get the right replacement...

For your '78, most items you'll want will be for the '78-79 standard (E & F) bikes. Most 'Special' parts won't fit, and some later standard parts. There are parts that interchange across all years or some years, if you have any questions just ask.

Hopefully, your starting point is fairly complete, as chasing down a lot of individual parts can get expensive. It's also always a good idea to keep your eye peeled for parts bikes... Extra parts make good 'trading stock'...

[Jfries]

Of course

yeah i havent thrown anything away i just picked this up as it sits last week for 300$ ( good deal i believe) it sat for 8 years it only has 7990 original miles i have some extra's that came with it ( wire harness random bolts). how do i post picture's?

[crazy steve]

....how do i post picture's?

Upload your pictures to a 'public' (no password to view) photo site (I use photobucket), then follow the directions found in this thread....http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35615

Under 8K miles.... that's barely broken in....

After sitting that long, you should figure on having to at least disassembling and cleaning the complete fuel and brake systems, in addition to fluid changes, etc.; you may not need many new parts, but a thorough cleaning is a must. Expect to spend some time chasing poor electrical connections too. You'll need a manual, if you don't have one (or only a Clymer), you can download the factory manual here: http://www.ringler.us/family/mybike.html Spend some time looking through the 'maintenance', 'repairs, and 'modifications' forum too, you'll find a ton of good info there.

[Jfries]

yes

Yes i have been going thru the wiring harness, lucky for me the 8 years it sat it was covered and in a garage so it isnt so bad, i planned on doing the cleaning and changing the fluids. i have a manual on CD on my PC i downloaded from another forum http://cycles.evanfell.com/category/...rvice-manuals/ all Free.. i have created a photo bucket account here is the Link http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMG_0749.jpg

[Jfries]

i do have the tank and seat and side covers too but this is how i got it.. its macho maroon in color lol

[Jfries]

http://s1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh498/Joshua_Fries/ heres to all the pics sry there not great used an iphone lol.. will dig the Dslr out soon for better pics.

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[fredintoon]

yeah i havent thrown anything away i just picked this up as it sits last week for 300$ ( good deal i believe) it sat for 8 years it only has 7990 original miles i have some extra's that came with it ( wire harness random bolts). how do i post picture's?

Hi Josh and welcome,
check out the list's "parts for sale" forum. In particular, Andreas Weiss is usually there and I've always found him to be great to deal with.
Also you can put an ad in the "parts wanted" forum.
Post pictures by first putting them in a free site such as Photobucket.
Once there, go cont. + c on the bottom-most bar that shows up when you put the pointer on the image, then go cont. + v to put the photo into your post.
And if this truly is your first bike, fer chrissake take a riders course because nobody wants to see you mentioned in the In Memorium forum.

[crazy steve]

If that exhaust system is in good shape (not rusted out), that's worth more than what you paid for the bike. Nice score!

[Jfries]

lol i have taken a few courses, but ive only owned moped's. till now.

[crazy steve]

Fred's right, these are very fast bikes with only fair handling and mediocre brakes, so if you haven't been on a big-bore machine like this, get some training....

[Jfries]

thanks

thanks for putting the pics to be seen easier!!! ill somewhat assemble it tomm and take better pics!

[James England]

You got a great buy there! I wish I could get something like that for that kind of money. Here in the UK, you wouldn't even be allowed on that bike until you'd done 2 years training on smaller bikes and taken two driving tests. There's a reason for that, of course. A little thing called death. You'll have to be unbelievably careful once you get the bike up and running. As has already been mentioned, they are old bikes and don't try to keep up with friends on R1's and modern bikes.... you'll end up off the road.

Re the rebuild. It looks to me like you have a great start. I'd make sure that the engine turns over and that there is reasonable compression on each cylinder (stick your finger over the spark plug hole and turn the engine). I have found that there is often a reason why bikes are left in barns etc... sometimes it can be because they broke down and just got left there. So, make sure the motor is not seized and that there is compression. Then start looking for carbs and spending some money. As Steve has said, you have to be particularly careful in the USA because you have so many different models with incompatible parts... event the brake master cylinder kits are different.

When restoring my latest XS1100, I bought a lot of parts from the USA and there's no shortage of most bits you'll need. Over here, your exhaust system would sell for $700+ if in good condition!

Buy a tin of De-Oxit for your wiring loom and treat all the block connectors and switches whilst the loom is easy to get at.

Take loads of good quality pix of things like the fuse box, connector blocks etc and post them here so people can have a good look at things.

Buy a user manual... I always use Haynes but I believe Clymer are popular over there.


You're at the right place for enthusiastic help and encouragement. I find this site a great source of help and information and nice people. You're in good hands!

ps. How many wheel bearings do you want