Lightest XS1100

[XJOK2PLAY]

Hi, 1234loft,
They say every 6 lbs. you can shave off is equal to 1 hp gained.

I wish the late / great Jeremy Reed was here...

He had a bobbed 11 that was the fastest XS I ever saw!
Trbig was leading a rally ride a few years back in Talimena, Arkansas.

Our group rounded through several twisties, and we had been going at a leisurely pace up 'til that point... when we turned a corner and saw this big lake on our left, and the road became straight as a string for almost 2 miles.

I was right beside Tod, saw him gun his Maxim, and I did the same with my Maxim. Shortly, I glanced at my speedometer, and noticed it registered the fastest my bike had ever gone... 128 mph! (Mine had a full Vetter 4 setup, including trunk.) I was thinking, "Wow! This is cool!"

Then Jeremy literaly blew past us on his bobber! Jeremy's position in the group before the straightaway was 8th! I couldn't believe how fast that bike was!

Now, he was kinda small, himself....probably 5'10", 160#...

I'm 6' 185#, and well... Tod....he likes to eat..... Lol

Anyway....we get back to the motel, and I began to interrogate Jeremy. I had to know the secret that made that bike so freakin' fast!

All he would confess to was stripping weight off, and pods were the only mechanical change he had made.

He claimed ditching the center stand was a lot of it, as was the bob work.

All I know was... That was one quick 11... And it looked great doing it!

Ditching weight will make it quicker... No doubt.

[crazy steve]

Is there a replacement rotor for all 3 positions on the Special. Will the Brembo or another EBC rotor fit?

The only one that I know of that's a straight bolt-on in all positions is the EBC BLVE38-6397 listed by 650Central. All others require the spacers which limits them to the front on the standards and maybe the LH/XJ. $230 each, but that does include 'standard' pads. Brembo doesn't have a listing for the XS/XJ. I'll also note that they don't list a left/right as these are directional, but those can be found here: http://www.perfectbrakes.com/products.asp?cat=8829 for slightly less money but without pads.

You could use the others on any XS/XJ front or rear if you had some custom rotor spacers made so you didn't have to move the calipers, but the spacers would need to be precision so you wouldn't get too much rotor run-out. They recommend organic pads on all of these.

And I was wrong about the price; the one pictured is also an EBC and is $280 each. The $140 rotors are the no-name units sold by Mikes, $180 if bought from 650 Central.

[crazy steve]

And as a lower-buck alternative to these big $$$ rotors, you could try this: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...ghlight=harley

If you read down, the OEM Harley rotors are thinner so machining the XS rotors to 'fit' the calipers will save a bit of weight and give you more stopping power.

Those thinner SR500 rotors will save some weight, but I'd be concerned about the caliper pistons traveling out too far and cocking once the pads wear....

[BA80]

XJOK2PLAY mentioned Jeremy's (Montreux_Blue) bobber. I just happen to have a couple pics of that SG.




That kid could ride too......

[XJOK2PLAY]

XJOK2PLAY mentioned Jeremy's (Montreux_Blue) bobber. I just happen to have a couple pics of that SG.




That kid could ride too......

I heard that, Greg!
He sure could.
Glad you posted those pics, man.
I almost bought that bobber from him.
Now I wish I had...

[BA80]

After he had gotten the Bob Jones Limey bike he traded that off for a HD Sportster that a friend of his wanted an he fixed up the HD for his buddy.

trbig has the limey bike now.....

I don't have any pics of the Sporty but here's Limey.



I tried to get Tod to ride it to XS South East but I couldn't talk him into it

[1234loft]

I like the HD caliper idea.
Better brakes, and lighter rotors.
I have a special with pitted fork tubes so changing to sg lowers would not be a big problem.
It sounds like a reasonable option.
Thanks

[jwhughes3]

Reducing rotational weight (like rotors and wheels) makes a far bigger difference in performance gains than an equal weight savings in the frame. Think about a stock setup carrying a 175 lb rider and one carrying 185 lb rider - you probably would have trouble measuring a difference - but shave that 10 lbs from the wheels and BOY would you notice.

John

[crazy steve]

I forgot that you have a Special; that limits your choices for brake mods on the Special forks because of their 'pivoting' calipers. You can swap more modern calipers onto these, but some serious machine work will be needed....
http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36518

If you swap to 'standard' XS forks, you can go with the Harley calipers much easier. The standard forks are lighter too (by just a smidge), but you need the complete forks (including trees) as you don't want to mix parts between the two types as this will negatively effect handling.

You did ask about a fork swap to a more modern fork, there's this option: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...ight=fork+swap
or you can check out the UK site: http://www.benefiscal.co.uk/forum/in...e25&board=10.0
for yet more ideas but the thing to remember when you go there is many of their 'donor' bikes are non-US models so you won't be able to get the parts here.

[Eveready1100]

..... or a set of XJ / RH / 5K7 Sport lowers. They'll fit straight onto the special legs, and with the more conventional caliper mounts, will make fitting new tech calipers a breeze, compared.

[1234loft]

I assume the XJ / RH / 5K7 forks and tubes would fit in my trees??
My tubes are pitted so I need new fork tubes as well.

[natemoen]

Does anyone have the weight of a bare 16" rim?

[crazy steve]

I assume the XJ/RH/5K7 forks and tubes would fit in my trees??
My tubes are pitted so I need new fork tubes as well.

Yes they will, but the RH and 5K7 forks are non-US models (Eveready is from Australia) so you won't find those here. The LH/XJ forks will fit, but the XJ forks aren't quite indentical to the hard-to-find LH set. The XJ forks use a 'balance tube' between them for the air-assist and that will interfere with the XS ignition switch and headlight ears so mods are involved (moving the switch to somewhere else and shortening the ears).

You can get new tubes..... http://www.frankmain.qpg.com/

[1234loft]

Steve,

Thanks for the info.
I did not know what 5k7 forks were.
The options just keep coming.
It will most likely depend on what is available when I pull the trigger.
The HD brake and thin disc sounds the best if I can make it happen at a good price.

[DGXSER]

The XJ forks use a 'balance tube' between them for the air-assist and that will interfere with the XS ignition switch and headlight ears so mods are involved (moving the switch to somewhere else and shortening the ears).

Steve, Can you blank off the balance with a tight plug, say a set screw or similar and eliminate it?