XS11 Rebuild Moving Along

[RichV]

I originally posted about my rebuild back in May/June but the post vanished so some of you may have heard this before. I'm the guy in Toano, VA.

I have two 1981 XS1100's, both exactly close to each other in the production cycle. One was abandoned in someone's backyard and one was in stored in a garage. My goal is to have one rebuilt bike but I have had some early setbacks and resent advances.

The abandoned bike has a totally locked up engine. Actually, the cylinder #1 exhaust valve was open to the air so it's not surprising. I also determined that the bike "may" have been flooded in one of our numerous weather events (Hurricanes and such. However, most of the bike's equipment is in very good shape so I've been using it to provide parts to the second bike (which turns). I spent what little time I had tearing the bike completely down to parts.

The second bike, the garage queen, was treated poorly and had a lot of bogus things done to it. The battery was shot and it wouldn't start even with a jump. It would turn over though so I decided to fix the wiring first. It turned out to be a big task because of all the changes made but I now have it back to normal. Today, I replaced the battery and fuse box and, shock of shocks the bike started right up and ran. When the advance kicked in, the idle dropped to what I would consider to be a very low level but it still kept on running.

I filmed the bike running and posted it HERE:

So as near as I know, the bike "sounds" great so I'm now getting ready to do the rest of the "fixes" to include:

1. Rebuilding the front brake calipers and master cylinder.
2. Finish fixing the switches on the handlebars (horn doesn't work).
3. Inspect an oil leak around the transmission housing (new seal?).
4. Change the oil, filters and plugs.
5. Replace the front and rear fenders and turn signals with the first bikes parts.
6. Get a new seat cover.
7. Replace disk pads and tires.
8. Extend the pipes (too short right now)

Once the second bike is running, I will paint the first bikes frame and move the engine over. I will also paint the tank and side panels. This way I can get the frame painted while still fixing up the second bike.

Long story short, I'm shocked at how well it is running. At the rate I'm going I should have the bike mostly finished by the start of the spring riding season.

As always, any suggestions or comments are welcome.

[RichV]

BTW, Thanks to TC for providing me the new fusebox. It worked great and installed quickly.

[cpmaynard1980]

Its good to see that you are making good progress on it since we were out that way a few months ago.

[RichV]

Today I finished repairing the left switch assembly. There were cold solder joints in the flasher switch. I also replaced (and greased) the speedometer cable and repaired the clutch lever switch (took a little doing).

I also removed the seat pan from the badly weathered seat and treated the rust with a stabilizer. I'll patch the holes with Bondo and paint. Saddleman seat kit is on order.

Not much but it's Saturday after all and I went for a ride on my working bike.

Parts are on order to overhaul the brakes along with pads and one new cylinder. I also ordered an oil and air filter. When I dump the oil I'll see if I can find the leak.

More to come.

[GLoweVA]

Nice to hear that you made some progress.
If you need anything, as always, just ask.

We'll have to have another ride next spring/early summer up the penisula again!

[RichV]

Brake overhaul is complete. Replaced the pads, caliper cover/rings, MC parts and lines (on order still). Here are photos of the rebuilt parts:





I've repaired the seat pan with fiberglass filler and the seat came in. I plan to finish sanding the pan tonight and will apply a sealing coat of paint.

I do have one question, how do I attach the seat to the pan? The original tabs are mostly gone. The instructions recommend pop rivets but the edge may not hold since the are mostly filler. Will glue work? Which type should I use?

Thanks for the help.

[GLoweVA]

Rich, if you got the saddleman seat cover, it might have a drawstring that you can cinch up
. That's what I did. But mine was just a recover, not a rebuild. Glue or some heavy duty spray adhesive might work if you've got enough overlap material and the pan is cleaned up so it'll stick to it.

Pics of the seat and cover would help us give better advice.

[bikerphil]

You may need to attach some alligator strips as shown here...

http://www.hvccycle.com/seats.html

[RichV]

There's no drawstring on the seat. It's a full replacement: cover and foam.

I like the idea of the alligator clips to replace the broken ones. However, I'm keen on the idea of using glue with the occasional pop rivet. I've used E6000 with some success in the past.

I'll have photos of the pan and seat as soon as I finish sanding filler down and painting both sides. Looks a bit rough right now.

[RichV]

Here are a group of photos showing the new seat. It's a Saddleman replacement with new foam. The pan was badly rusted so I had to rebuild it using fiberglass after removing/stabilizing the rust spots/holes. I repainted it with black enamel.

Since the seat attachment hooks were mostly rusted off, I had to use pop rivets on the ends with strong glue. I glued the sides without rivets. The photo of the bottom shows the glued sides before further trimming. I used Goop as the glue. E6000 would have worked just as well. Clamped the glued sides for 24hrs before trimming. Worked great! Remaining wrinkles will come out with exposure to the sun.

Most of the repair spots on the pan are hidden under the sides (the worst spots for corrosion). You can see some of the spots on the bottom. Since it's just a seat pan, I didn't work at making it smooth and focused on making it strong.

[GLoweVA]

Take a look in the tech section/mods for the bicycle seat mod.
It makes taking the seat on and off a snap.
Best time to do it is now while you're still building it.

Looks great so far. Keep up the progress.

[RichV]

Here are the photo's of the installed front brakes with new hoses, rebuilt calipers and fresh paint.

I also included a photo of the supplier of the hoses card. They were delivered fast and they sent all the hoses (front and back) with banjo bolts and washers. They didn't send a replacement two hole banjo for the front splitter. I used the original one and the holes didn't line up as well as before. I used copper washers in place of the ones provided which were thicker. Lines up better but still off a bit. The system bleed and seems to be operating well.

I contacted him and he told me all hoses came with two single hole banjos. I knew that before but his price was really good and I hoped he would include it since the cables are specifically for my bike. He told me he could send me a two hole bolt for about 6$ so if you do contact him for hoses, remember to get that bolt added.





I provide the photo so the sales person can't find my comments using a search.

[RichV]

Take a look in the tech section/mods for the bicycle seat mod.
It makes taking the seat on and off a snap.
Best time to do it is now while you're still building it.

I located some bike quick releases online and put them on order. Should be an easy mod (I hope).

[RichV]

Finished installing the rear brakes today. I had to change the disc because the pads were worn down to the metal and the disc was scared beyond hope.

Next: I move on to finish the electrical then... Test Ride.

[RichV]

Okay I've finished Phase One and have an operational bike. In this phase, I fixed the entire electrical system (it was heavily modified), brakes and seat. The bike runs but not very well. I rode it up and down my driveway today (I have a long driveway).

Time to move to Phase Two which is fix the fuel system, tune the engine, and paint the objective frame. I expect this to take a few weeks to a month. I'm in no hurry.

In Phase Three, I will move the components and engine to the objective frame and paint the tank and side panels black. I have two tanks to work with so the best one will be painted.

Here's a new photo: