1979 XS1100F Fixer Upper Project Begins.....

[CKlamer]

Okay I will start my fixer upper build thread here.
Bought the bike from a guy that didn't really know much about bikes except put gas in and turn on and go. he says he rode it for a few years but not sure about the entire story. He tells methe bike was bought almost as is and I asked him about the gas tank being entirley covered with rust and he said he bought it like that and that is how he has been riding it up until February of this year 2013. That right there scares me some what but I guess I will find out.

Have to rebuild the petcocks and the carbs for sure and of course get rid of the rust in the gas tank as soon as possible. Mainly want to see if I can even get it to or if the engine is toast.

The condition of the bike doesn't really go along with it sitting in a temperature controlled unit for a while it looks more like it had been sitting outside in the elements especially this summer when we had so much rain in the Southeast. The bike has a lot of rust. The exhaust is probably history and the area where the bttery sits is extremely rust.



But I will post pictures as I go right now the disassembly has begun.

Here is the bike as bought for $400.00 non running.



I will post sme more pictures tonight but I have removed that but ugly seat and the Vindicator windscreen.
Did thse bikes come from the factory with the Vidnicator windscreens or was that something the dealerships did after receiving the bikes because the windscreen seems to be color matched Indigo blue to the bike.

But it doesn't matter I don't want it myself so anyone is welcome to it.

Thanks

[natemoen]

Dont go and buy carb rebuild kits before you start. Open them up and clean things first. Most often the kits are not needed, just a good cleaning. when you get in there you may find you need a could parts and can always ask here and see if you can just get that part or if eventually you do need a kit. Also genuine mikuni jets are highly prefered over other brand jets and really do not cost any more (sometimes even less than others). The kits never have genuine mikuni jets in them anyways.

[CKlamer]

Well some bad news pulled the outer spark plugs just to look down in the cylinders and the right spark plug threads are stripped and will have to be retapped or a new helicoil insert added.

Still finding more rust. Battery box is almost completely rusted.

[jjz28]

nice looking bike though. I would suggest keeping that windscreen. I hated them but thought I would try a spitfire on mine to get some wind and rain off and I love it. I like the look of the naked bike but I love the ride of the windscreen. I would keep it for later so you could try it out. I also have that saddleman seat, I want a new seat for mine but 79 special seats have been hard go come by for me.

[jetmechmarty]

The was recently a how-to article in MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS about thread repair. I've linked it below.

Spark Plug Rethread

[CKlamer]

Just wanted to add some more pictures.
Looks like only the last couple of threads are messed up on the spark plug so I may be able to fix by just retapping the threads.

Finally removed the battery and it was completely dry and it's not supposed to be. The tray is completely rusted the exhaust is completely rusted. I may be able to get some parts chrome plated over again to look like new.

But first things first I have to get it running.















Thanks for looking.

[natemoen]

Hey, at least he had filters in the fuel lines!

[jetmechmarty]

This should get you started. You'll probably need some tire as well.

Keep us posted!

[natemoen]

Very nice Marty! You forgot this one though.

[jetmechmarty]

Very nice Marty! You forgot this one though.

You're right, Nathan! That one should be up top with carburetor cleaner and brake fluid. Maybe before spring, he can move on to

[natemoen]

Hopefully!

[Rasputin]

Bike looks a lot better than many on the forum, over the years, have started with. Just keep in mind the final thrill when you ride one (specially one you personally brought back from the dead) and you will succeed. Many on this forum will give till it hurts when it comes to advice, spare parts, suppliers or what have you, to see one more of them back on the road.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Marty,

PLEASE hit your carriage return/ENTER key after pasting each photo link, so that each photo is on it's own line...otherwise they get placed side by side, and your post caused some serious side scrolling several screen widths worth, I have since fixed it!

And you may not have seen his earlier post but he's done a serious cafe racer mod to his CB750, so he has plenty of skills.

Chris, those pipes look like aftermarket ones already, and NOBODY is making exhausts for the XS11's anymore...Mac was the last, and they dropped out this last year, so all you can find will be either RARE NOS, or used systems of various quality. The mufflers can be swapped out with slipons to rid the rust there. The headers are probably good, but instead of trying to rechrome them, look into the JET HOT COATING....much cheaper, and with a decent ceramic type coating they will not rust anymore, nor turn blue unlike those single walled headers if you get them rechromed! $$$$

I would hope that you would use a thread CHASER, not a TAP...you don't want to cut those threads with a tap...that will remove more material and possibly make the plug loose. Napa sells a thread chaser for about $14.00.

T.C.

[jetmechmarty]

TC,

Thank you, and I will refrain from making that error going forward.

I noted the skills of our friend in Alabama. The pics are for fun and mostly because lots of folks look at these forums. Some will drag home a bike not running, no brakes, and they start going after the bags with sandpaper. The post is mostly for those folks. We're trying to save all of them.

I just noted the NADA price guide for the XS1100. The value of our favorite motorcycle appears to be on the rise.

XS1100F:

Excellent $5435
Very Good $3105
Good $1745
Fair $895
Poor N/A

[jetmechmarty]

Chris, those pipes look like aftermarket ones already, and NOBODY is making exhausts for the XS11's anymore...Mac was the last, and they dropped out this last year, so all you can find will be either RARE NOS, or used systems of various quality. The mufflers can be swapped out with slipons to rid the rust there. The headers are probably good, but instead of trying to rechrome them, look into the JET HOT COATING....much cheaper, and with a decent ceramic type coating they will not rust anymore, nor turn blue unlike those single walled headers if you get them rechromed! $$$$
T.C.

A new MAC system is still available for the time being, though no longer produced as stated.

4-Into-2 Taper Tips Complete System


Forum member Mashermoto put Supertrapps for a car on his Mac headers. It looks great and sounds great.

It's in this thread.
http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...ght=mashermoto