trin's 1979 xs1100sf build

[jwhughes3]

Ha! Everyone typing at once

John

[BA80]

I only use 1 finger. Wanna know which one?

[trdriver71]

I only use 1 finger. Wanna know which one?

sure why not. which one do you use?

[jwhughes3]

The stinky one

John

[terratek]

BA80:
Small squirts (crc starter fluid with head lube), and as there is no fuel or air cleaner to saturate, it barely even revs before dying

If I had an air filter, I would probably have gone the other route.. Gas saturation :P


John:
Don't sweat the parts? I always sweat the parts!

Besides, I gained some valuable insight into what I need to fabricate for the ammo can supports, and what the bike could look like if I decide to do a partial restoration at some point.

So basically, you are getting paid for the parts one way or another


General observation moment:
I had a friend, way way back, who asked me why I never bought a harley (as I was always working on his)... I told him I was a big believer in the classic metric community and that I never saw that kind of support in the HD community. This site, and John dropping by today pretty much prove my point.

Glad to be a part of this community, and really glad to have finally gotten my hands on an xs, no matter how much work it may need

trin

[trdriver71]

The stinky one

John

ahh the dreaded scratch and type!!! LOL

[Yard Dogg]

I posted on a Harley forum a few times trying to help my dad with his pan head and there was only 1 or 2 guys on there that actually new anything, they were cool and jumped at the opportunity to help with a pan. But the rest seemed to busy changing handlebars and accessorizing to give a crap. Bunch of weekend warriors.

[BA80]

That's because you can't replace a $100 part without $500 worth of special tools and a $200 manual.

[BA80]

Actually that's not a fair representation. That's the riders of the new Harleys.

If you can find an owner of an older Harley (Pan Head, Knuckle Head) you'll find a REAL biker that knows about them. Unfortunately, those people don't spend a lot of time on computers much less forums.

They ride, not accessorize.

[crazy steve]

That's because you can't replace a $100 part without $500 worth of special tools and a $200 manual.

HAH! I need almost no special tools for my Sportster (certainly nothing for normal maintanance), and besides the forks and carb, it's all US standard hardware....

Of course, that's not what the dealers tells the ones who aren't even sure where the spark plugs are, but that's pretty much most dealers....

[BA80]

Well Steve, you are one of those RARE ones that fall into the second catagory.

Can you help his dad?

[Yard Dogg]

LOL That's very true, the new Harley owners may as well have bought a mini van and a black t-shirt. The ones who helped were the old school mechanics.

[terratek]

Actually I agree on all counts.

Most of the older harley owners I know are pretty cool. But the new owners of new bikes, and a load of the new owners of old bikes, it seems are more into it as a status symbol than a reliable machine.

My ex-employer in Terlingua (god rest his soul) had a nice old sportster I used to play with, he had graduated past working on his own toys (which is where I came in)... Out of all the stuff I worked on for him, he would always drop everything and give me a hand when it came to his harley. Funny thing is, he would also drop everything and give me a hand when it came to my old Suzuki GS450tx. Anything else was my problem

It just seems that, in general, people that own classic (old) metric cruisers, rockets, superbikes, touring bikes, hell even dirtbikes; are willing to share time, expertise, and parts to get another one running. Whereas most of the people I have run into while working on american classics are happy to help, for a hefty price, and even then are seldom much help.

*shrugs* I am probably biased due to bad experiences, but I would rather work on a metric project any day just due to the people i meet while doing it.

[BA80]

I would rather work on a metric project any day just due to the people i meet while doing it.

That's because the attitude isn't part of the standard equipment.

[Yard Dogg]

If I had it my way, I buy a wrecked harley and a pro street rolling chassis and build an assembled bike. But these 11's are very fun and have a ton of potential for whatever you want to build out of em.