New guy with new old bike!

[RWrightPhotog]

Hello all,

This past Friday, I bought a 1980 Yamaha XS Eleven Special. I paid 600 for the bike, delivered. I bought it from the original owner, who was very proud of the bike, but had moved on from riding. It has 8000 miles on it. The bike has been in storage for 15 years.

Over the weekend I started work on the bike. I changed the oil and filter, and used "The Works" bathroom cleaner to clean the rusty tank. That's when the issues started! "The Works" ate through the upper part of the left petcock. I used JB Weld and fixed the small hole in the petcock, reinstalled it in the tank and filled with gas, only to find that the left petcock leaks when on the "off" position. I have already stripped it down and found that the rubber gasket on the inside was in rough condition. Anyway, I added fuel filters and hooked everything back up and started the bike. She started right up, but started pouring gas out from the air filters. It has K&N comes on it. I turned the bike off, took the tank back off and just let it sit. I didnt want to leave the tank on just incase the octy was bad, so I didn't get gas in the oil. I hooked it back up later on and found that this time it did not leak, so I rode it around the yard a bit and then put her in my shed until next weekend.

I have ordered a set of petcocks off of eBay, I only paid 30 bucks for the two, but they will probably need rebuilding, but at least one won't have the JB Weld patch.

I plan on removing the octy next weekend, just because I am a fan of simplifying stuff, but I need to make sure the petcocks are operational first.

I'm not new to wrenching, before my bike I have worked on Full Size Jeeps, in fact, I still do, I have a Cherokee Chief project, a '79 parts Wagoneer, and my daily driver is a 1982 Wagoneer. Before full size Jeeps I was into 1980s Nissan 300zx's. I still have an 89 Turbo, but I do not mess with them much anymore. So anyway, I'm excited to learn to work on this bike, and eventually ride it!

Now, pictures.

[Cuda 69]

LOOKS GOOD,WELCOME TO CHANNEL11, before you do anything,I'd clean the carbs real good,there is a thread on here how to do that.You have come to the right sight.
these are very reliable and fast bikes,if this is your first bike of this size,might i recommend a safety course,any questions,just ask,somebody on here will be able to help.

[natemoen]

Welcome! My first suggestion is DO NOT TRY TO JUMP START THE GAS METER!!! Bad Idea!

Anyways, I too suggest just pulling the carbs off and cleaning them. After 15 years they are going to need it, no matter how hard you convice yourself it doesnt need to be done, it does need to be done. Read through and follow this thread on cleaning the cards.

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36017

[crazy steve]

Good deal for $600; you're starting with a much nicer one than many here have..

And yes, figure on a carb rebuild; if you don't, it will come back to haunt you!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there,

Congrats on your acquisition, very nice!! Don't let the little dent in the left muffler bother you, don't try to replace it, you can't get OEM exhaust parts, and the aftermarket supply is drying up fast. The OEM pipes are actually very well designed, double walled at the headers to not show blueing, as well as multichambered mufflers, crossover, etc., tuned to provide the best OVERALL performance for these engines.

The PO put on "K-N TYPE" Cone filters, check them out, they may be Emgo or equivalent that have a prominent lip on the inside mounting area that can interfere with the air flow causing over rich or stalling at ~6k rpm! See tech tips for solutions via custom velocity stack type mounts, or just different pods without the lip, or even the OEM airbox...IMHO a PITA to deal with and the PO probably felt the same, hence the pods!?

You didn't mention whether you put on new tires or not, but the front still has the original BLUE protective covering over the raised white lettering. IF they are OLD tires, even though they may look good, have good tread depth, no cracking, etc, they are 15 years old, and will have hardened considerably which greatly reduces their grip and durability! There is a production date stamp on the side within a little oval, with the week/year on it. Recently at a rally we found a tire with the numbers 285....not 2805, so we still think it meant the 28th week of 2005, not the 2nd week of '85!

Good call on replacing the petcocks, we've done/attempted float post repairs with J-B Weld, not just the "quick" version, and it does NOT hold up to constant exposure to fuel!!! Please take some time and read thru the many tech tips...ie, the carbs 101 and such, the cam chain tensioner adjustment procedure, etc, you can quickly break something if you aren't familiar with how it is to be done, etc.!

Find Catatonic Bug's profile from the Member's List in the MENU on this page, NOT the Members List on the Main home page, follow his links to his web page, then download the service manuals you'll need.

You may also find the Buckhorns handlebars put your wrists at an awkward angle, folks have found the ones for a honda 1100 or CB750 have a similar rise, pullback but better wrist angles for comfort!

You state that you're not new to wrenching, but are you new to BIKING?? If so, then we would also highly recommend the Motorcycle Safety Foundation riders course, your state may not require special licensing for biking. OR it may have been years/decades since you've been on a bike, lots of crazy cagers out there, lots of life saving info in that course!!!

T.C.

[CaptonZap]

And if you are going to ditch the octy, how much do you want for it? CZ

[RWrightPhotog]

Thanks for the tips and welcomes!

Yes, a carb rebuild is certainly in my future. I have honestly never messed with carbs, asides from some basic tuning on my Jeeps. I have always outsourced the actual rebuilding! So, I'm not sure yet if I'll attempt these myself or find a shop to do it. I know one local shop told me I'd be 400 to rebuild the carbs, that's if I took them off and brought them in. Seemed high to me.

And yes, I am new to bikes, and I plan for sure to take a MSF course.

I have always been a fan of the 70s Honda CB series with cafe bars. In fact, I was supposed to look at a CB650 off of Craigslist the weekend I bought this. Guy wanted 800 for it, but it was missing the choke cable and key! But then this one was listed on Craigslist for 550 and a few hours after it was I was the owner! I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it.


I might also add that the front brake needs attention, the master cylinder is empty, but I haven't tried doing anything with it yet. The rear brake still works fine. I will of course go through the brake system before I put her on the street, but I figured I'd get her goinVg first!

Oh, and I will let you know on the octy! If I can get my petcocks straightened out, I will remove it this weekend.

[DiverRay]

Don't be afraid of the carbs! These are EASY if you can do an engine, just smaller, and MUCH LESS parts to look after. Big thing is do ONE at a time, so the parts go back to the same body. I would look into new brake lines when you work on the front brakes. 30 year old rubber lines give the brakes a very "soft" feel, and new stainless steel lines are about $150 from pashnit.com.
Welcome to the site, and enjoy the bike! If you can, get a dirt bike to ride for a bit BEFORE going on the street. IF you are familiar with the controls, you can watch for the cars trying to kill you instead of how to shift or stop.

[kevxs]

+1 on doing the carbs yourself. its really pretty easy and the more comfortable you are with the carbs now, the easier life will be down the road.

i had a shop try to fix my bike a couple times when i first got it, they knew enough to tell me that the pickup wires were problematic on these bikes, but they said that mine were fine. meanwhile I'm driving around for months on 3 cylinders until I finally checked them myself only to find multiple breaks in the wires!!!! IDIOTS!

they also told me my main bearings were shot (due to a ticking sound coming from the bottom end of the motor) and to just drive the bike till it dies cause it wasen't worth fixing. that turned out to be a couple vacuum lines that were hooked up backwards. found that info in a post on here, switched the lines while still at work and whatdya know, no more ticking, guess my main bearing aren't so bad after all.

moral of the story, this site has WAY more info on your bike than any mechanic i've dealt with.

thanks xs11.com!!

[haywardguy929]

Saw this on you tube, might help a little. Welcome and looks like a sweet buy. Good luck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=AArp5p-CDxE

[mikubuilder]

personally I wouldn't follow that vid...there are much better write ups on this forum

[haywardguy929]

I'm a more viual guy, I agree there are great experts on here and I appreciate all the help they offer but seeing it helps someone like me who's never done it.

[RWrightPhotog]

Well it's the weekend, so I was able to do some more work. I got my new used petcocks in the mail and was able to get two leak free ones put together out of both sets. I'm sure they will eventually need to be rebuilt, but for now it works. Got the bike started again, and I had no more carb leaks, but it will not idle without the choke pulled out, so the carbs gotta come off. I knew that anyway, but just figured I'd see what I had going on. Gonna order a rebuild kit off of eBay soon.

Anyway no real news, just more of the same.

[natemoen]

Open the carbs up before ordering a rebuild kit. If the bowl gasket come off intact and you don't need to replace any jets, then you probably only need float needles. Also the o-ring around the float needle seat but the you can source locally.

[RWrightPhotog]

Nothing too much new to report! I have the carbs off the bike, and I can get into the float bowls, but th screws won't budge on the other end, the diaphragm covers, so that kind of slowed me down from tearing 'em apart. That and I have been wrapped up taking apart one my Wagoneer parts vehicle and selling parts to fund my bike project. That and the 250 DMV MSF course. The good news is the float gasket came off okay.

I also need to dig into my brakes. The back wheel is hard to turn, and I believe that there are two reasons. First of all, the tire is ever so slightly over sized and runs against the driveshaft housing, and second I suspect the rear brake may be sticking a bit. I cannot roll the bike at all sitting on it, and it's hard to push walking beside it.

Also, Im thinking about trying to go the cafe route with bike. I know it's been done by some, and I have always been a fan of cafe'd Hondas. I am looking at some clearance clubmans on eBay for 80 bucks, but that'll still have to wait for a little while.

Anyway, it's still fun to work on. Hoping to get into those carbs ASAP. I have also been doing a lot of searching and researching on here!