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Just joined the forum a week ago, figured I'd post some pictures of my bike to start things off.
Custom 1980 Yamaha XS1100 Special.
This bike was pulled out of a lockup yard in the South Phoenix area in the late 90's by one of my Dad's employees. Nate, the guy who find this bike and three others, discovered these bikes sitting in a lockup yard, along the back side of a small repair shop in South Phoenix. These bikes had sat there from quite some time, and had been getting bathed by employees of the auto shop with used oil and coolant from their customers vehicles. When this very bike was pulled out behind 5 other bikes that were leaned up against it, it had taken most of the abuse. It's believed to have sat in the lot for nearly 20 years and had shown it. The whole bike was covered in oil and dirt, to the point where you could not even see the top of the valve cover or sides of the cooling fins on the head. Nate saved 3 XS11s and a Sportster for the price of $500 and sold one of the XS11s for $500 before even leaving the lot. A couple hours later, he showed up in our driveway in Cottonwood, Arizona (approx. 90 minutes north of Phoenix) with this XS, another and a Sporster wedged in the bed of his truck. He asked my Dad, Jim, if he wanted the black XS, since Nate had plans to keep the green full dresser XS and the Sporty. My Dad had no idea what he was going to do with it, since he had only liked Harleys. My Dad told him he would take it, and not too soon before my Mom came out and told them to take it back to the junkyard. The bike ended up staying and after 2 weeks of cleaning and hard work, the bike was running. Soon after, my Dad was given a pair of fiberglass Harley style fenders by Jeff Seiser, former owner of Deliverance Custom Cycle in Sedona, AZ, and after many pain staking hours, they were mounted on the bike. After a few trips to Bob's Cycle Salvage in Phoenix and after a custom seat was made for the bike, it was on the road for the first time in nearly 20 years. Jeff from Deliverance told my Dad when he gave him the fenders that it would never work. And one day he dropped by the shop that my Dad used to manage in Sedona and couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a primer grey XS11 with Harley fenders sitting in the driveway. His exact words were "That's pretty damn sad." My Dad replied, "What is?" Jeff said, "That's pretty damn sad that Harley-Davidson fenders fit better on a rice grinder than they do on a Harley." While the bike was all in primer, with the seat done in black leather, it got a lot more attention than expected. But then the day came to paint it. The "tins" were taken to John Brown at Red Rock Collision in Sedona and were sprayed, airbrushed and striped with color. After the front fender was painted twice (scratched it while installing it the first time), the bike was finally reassembled. After changing the fuel lines the day before it's first scheduled showing, the tank was pulled off to fix a fuel valve leak. Soon after it met the concrete after slipping out of my Dad's hands. Luckily when it hit, it bounced and my Dad caught it before it hit again and scratched the whole thing. After throwing some things and cussing like a sailor, the bike was still reassembled and taken to the Poker Run/Bike Show the next day at Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde, AZ. It wasn't entered in the show, but still got lots of attention. Soon after, the bike was put on the back burner due to my Dad getting sick and have a stroke. We ended up moving south and ended up just east of Phoenix. Since the bike has gone through phases of getting touched and of sitting since my Dad can no longer ride it. Recently, I've decided that I want to put up for sale, to buy a project that my Dad and I can both enjoy, and I have started tk knock the dust off of it and have chosen to get it running good and road worthy. I'm still in the process of it, however, it does not need much to be back in the wind. A new battery, new plugs, fluid
![](http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q315/Dragracer54/2013-09-30172905-1_zpsfa796652.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 2013-09-30172905-1_zpsfa796652.jpg)
Custom 1980 Yamaha XS1100 Special.
This bike was pulled out of a lockup yard in the South Phoenix area in the late 90's by one of my Dad's employees. Nate, the guy who find this bike and three others, discovered these bikes sitting in a lockup yard, along the back side of a small repair shop in South Phoenix. These bikes had sat there from quite some time, and had been getting bathed by employees of the auto shop with used oil and coolant from their customers vehicles. When this very bike was pulled out behind 5 other bikes that were leaned up against it, it had taken most of the abuse. It's believed to have sat in the lot for nearly 20 years and had shown it. The whole bike was covered in oil and dirt, to the point where you could not even see the top of the valve cover or sides of the cooling fins on the head. Nate saved 3 XS11s and a Sportster for the price of $500 and sold one of the XS11s for $500 before even leaving the lot. A couple hours later, he showed up in our driveway in Cottonwood, Arizona (approx. 90 minutes north of Phoenix) with this XS, another and a Sporster wedged in the bed of his truck. He asked my Dad, Jim, if he wanted the black XS, since Nate had plans to keep the green full dresser XS and the Sporty. My Dad had no idea what he was going to do with it, since he had only liked Harleys. My Dad told him he would take it, and not too soon before my Mom came out and told them to take it back to the junkyard. The bike ended up staying and after 2 weeks of cleaning and hard work, the bike was running. Soon after, my Dad was given a pair of fiberglass Harley style fenders by Jeff Seiser, former owner of Deliverance Custom Cycle in Sedona, AZ, and after many pain staking hours, they were mounted on the bike. After a few trips to Bob's Cycle Salvage in Phoenix and after a custom seat was made for the bike, it was on the road for the first time in nearly 20 years. Jeff from Deliverance told my Dad when he gave him the fenders that it would never work. And one day he dropped by the shop that my Dad used to manage in Sedona and couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a primer grey XS11 with Harley fenders sitting in the driveway. His exact words were "That's pretty damn sad." My Dad replied, "What is?" Jeff said, "That's pretty damn sad that Harley-Davidson fenders fit better on a rice grinder than they do on a Harley." While the bike was all in primer, with the seat done in black leather, it got a lot more attention than expected. But then the day came to paint it. The "tins" were taken to John Brown at Red Rock Collision in Sedona and were sprayed, airbrushed and striped with color. After the front fender was painted twice (scratched it while installing it the first time), the bike was finally reassembled. After changing the fuel lines the day before it's first scheduled showing, the tank was pulled off to fix a fuel valve leak. Soon after it met the concrete after slipping out of my Dad's hands. Luckily when it hit, it bounced and my Dad caught it before it hit again and scratched the whole thing. After throwing some things and cussing like a sailor, the bike was still reassembled and taken to the Poker Run/Bike Show the next day at Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde, AZ. It wasn't entered in the show, but still got lots of attention. Soon after, the bike was put on the back burner due to my Dad getting sick and have a stroke. We ended up moving south and ended up just east of Phoenix. Since the bike has gone through phases of getting touched and of sitting since my Dad can no longer ride it. Recently, I've decided that I want to put up for sale, to buy a project that my Dad and I can both enjoy, and I have started tk knock the dust off of it and have chosen to get it running good and road worthy. I'm still in the process of it, however, it does not need much to be back in the wind. A new battery, new plugs, fluid
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