picked up a project 79F

[throttledemon]

Howdy!! I'm new to the board, a friend has this 79 F sitting in his garage and I intend to rescue it and get it back on the road.It looks all there except for the headlight and front signal bits( bought it with pacifico faring) .He bought it used in early 90s and it hasnt been started since 99 or so. No mechanical issues before it went into hibernation and i haven't seen inside the tank yet so.... Big question I have (first of hundreds) is what color is this bike??!! it appears to be brown with no sun fading. is this the magenta red offered in US 79? Really excited to find this site and looking forward to getting this bike on the road again!thanks for any help/ideas!!





















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[kevxs]

nice bike and welcome to the forum, this is the fastest, most helpful forum I've ever seen on the web, you will love it! here's an article to get you started

http://www.xs11.com/faqs/16-what-to-...ed-xs1100.html

its found in the FAQ section of this site. You will also find great info in the tech tips area and someone should be able to point you to a digital copy of the shop manual. These are super smooth fun powerful bikes, one ride and you'll be hooked!

[throttledemon]

Thanks Kev, Yes i have looked over that info just the other day and I'm sure I'll be re-visiting it many times in the future.

[throttledemon]

Does this bike appear to be correct as far as being a 79? trim,Color, etc?

[kevxs]

looks correct to me but i'm no expert by any means, i'm just a guy that has benefited greatly from the XS gods that live here. anyway i found the link to the manual

http://www.ringler.us/family/mybike.html

that is from a member here called catatonicbug

[kevxs]

that could be the 'macho maroon' colour i often hear about?

[throttledemon]

Thanks Again!
Title says 79.

[DGXSER]

Nope, that is not Macho Maroon, it is the factory Magenta Red for the 79 Standards. they came in either that brownish red or a deep blue (Indigo Blue).

From everything I see in the pictures, you have a 100% factory stock 1979 XS1100 Standard. And a well preserved one at that. Those Vetter bags are removable like luggage you can carry into your hotel when you get there, very nice feature!

Most likely there is a serpent hiding in the woodpile somewhere waiting to bite you in the butt. Folks do not often just put them up on the centerstand and forget to go ride them unless something is wrong they did not know how or could not afford to fix it. It is pretty common for second gear to develop a skipping issue that would scare off a lot of folks unless you know about the fix method posted in the tech tips. You would definitely be well served to check the tank condition, also see if your friend did you any favors and drained the gas form the carbs before it became a gooey mess for you to clean up.

Definitely go through the braking systems, at a minimum flush fresh clean fluid into the calipers. I highly recommend taking the components off and cleaning them thoroughly.

It just so happens, there is a headlight and turn signals for sale here on the site for a Standard, so you are in luck on those parts.

Looks like a mighty nice find!! They are addictive bikes!

[throttledemon]

Awesome, thanks DGXSER!

Well not 100% stock, has S&W air shocks on rear.

[DGXSER]

That you may be happy about. I have XJ airshocks on my SH. They do make my back a little happier on rough roads.

[jjz28]

very cool, nice find. Mine hadn't been rode in several years when I got it. About 4 hours later and clean carbs shes been running every since. Very quick and fun bikes.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Throttle,

Glad to see you jumping right in with photos and such!

Others have already posted about the color/paint scheme being OEM.

Those exhaust pipes are also OEM...just some mild rust on the inner 2 pipes, but the mufflers look great, so just clean them up and use them!! Depending on how much/long you are going to keep the bike it could be worth the time and $$ to remove the pipes/headers at least, and send them out for Jet Hot Coating to preserve them! They provide the best all around performance for these machines.

With only 20K some odd miles, I doubt it has the 2nd gear problem yet, but you never know, but with a touring package I don't think a PO would have abused it to cause that type of damage, you usually have to be a bit more sporty/aggressive of a rider/shifter to get into the 2nd gear problems!

So...with the fairing off...it was either an electrical problem...very common gremlins for these bikes after extended storage just due to corrosion....so going thru the ENTIRE wiring harness, pulling EVERY connector apart..don't forget the ones behind the fuse panel...inspect, clean, dielectric grease and reassemble will go a LONG WAY in removing those gremlins! Also, inspect the fuseblock closely, the glass fuses and little flimsy brass tabs weaken/fail easily...folks usually replace with newer ATCO style block/fuses...see this thread for info and ordering, prices are CURRENT! Have in stock ready for shipping!

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showpost.p...5&postcount=10

Another common electrical gremlin is the PU coils wires...see this thread for diagnostic and repair info!

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=543

But the 2nd common problem is carbs...probably clogged circuits and with 4 of them a bit daunting for a PO to try to tackle....and then when they found out the $50-100 hour mechanic's shop rate..with several hours estimate to clean/repair them...balked and let it sit. From the looks of the intake boots it's been a garage queen most of it's life so that's good!

Then, like you said, follow the "neglected XS11" thread for other processes to get it road worthy....BRAKES, TIRES, Fluids....fork, middle/final drive and such.

Looking forward to seeing your progress reports and your FIRST RIDE report. BTW, are you an experienced rider or first timer???

[throttledemon]

Thanks TC!

I'm 54 and have been riding since I was 13. I have had numerous street and dirt bikes along the way, expert rider, current bike is a 08 ZX10R. while I am mechanically inclined, I have never attempted a restoration or maybe in this case at first I should say a revival.

I am looking forward to the challenges and rewards as well! XS is a beautiful machine!

[crazy steve]

Lucky to find one so complete....

But you don't have OEM mufflers; those are aftermarket units attached to the original headpipes. The stockers are larger at the outlet end and extend back further. Not a bad thing (hey, they fooled several people here already.. ), no doubt done to replace rusted-out stockers.

[GLoweVA]

Here's an interesting little thing I noticed while looking closely at the pics:
The vac line for the petcock has a 'keeper' clip on top of the carb.

Was this stock? Steve? any other Guru's?
I looked up the parts fiche and those 2 clips are listed and shown ontop of the carb 'bridge' mount.
WOW! to find one that still has the stock little bits like that.