Riding a naked Excelsior!

[sparkfly88]

Today when I got home from work, I decided to remove my fairing to kill an electrical gremlin I'm my ignition connector... Ended up being a rotted out female spade...

Then I decided to remove my hardbags as well.

Then put my old headlight back in, with the HID.
Removed the calipers, painted them, as well as my swing arm, and final drive.

I haven't ridden Excelsior nude like this, since before it actually ran good.

Oh my! Soooooo much lighter, and more agile. Woo!
I might get in trouble around town with Excelsior setup like this.

One thing I did notice... Riding without a shield... When you hit 60..the wind, causes my head to like... Drift side to side... So weird.

[bikerphil]

It looks good that way.

[IanDMacDonald]

I like the COLOR!!! I see some low-profile bars, stock seat, tank & side cover badges in your future to make the bike look really fast!

[sparkfly88]

The previous owner did that....


I reversed it all

Stock seat pan is rusted through... The rear end was chopped off and was rewelded back... Then they had flat bars on which dented the tank..

[fredintoon]

The previous owner did that....
I reversed it all
Stock seat pan is rusted through... The rear end was chopped off and was rewelded back... Then they had flat bars on which dented the tank..

Hi sparkfly,
like in another activity, naked is the best way to ride.
If you are unhappy with your double bucket seat and want to fix up your rusted out factory seat pan
get it sandblasted then put a 1/8" thickness of fiberglass on it's top surface to restore it's strength.
Never mind how your bars look, the only thing that matters is how well they suit your preferred riding position.
But me, I'd do something about the tank badge mounts.
Put replacement badges on or bondo them in smooth and perhaps a decal.
The way they are now looks kinda unfinished.

[skids]

The battery tray itself is plastic. The brackets are steel and are prone to rust due to off-gassing of battery acid as possibly boil-over from excessive charging.
I would remove the fuse panel (good to upgrade also) and clean the contacts for both the four-wire clip and the two-wire clip to the alternator. I am not blaming the overchanging on that, but it is a real good thing to improve contacts there.
The thing about rust is that it leads to more corrosion. Hopefully the fork pipes are pristine.

[skids]

One more thing... There are some errors in the Clymers manual like torque on the swing arm adjustment and I believe there is a mistake on the example for adjusting the shims.

[sparkfly88]

Shims on the swing arms? What are you talking about?
Really the only rust was where the rear fender was welded back on... The chrome by the headlight has surface rust... It doesn't bother me.

It's a daily driver that stays outside under a bike cover. Not a show bike.

I have the oem manual that is in the website everyone seems to know on here. I tightened the whole front end to spec.


The badges don't bother me.... Yet.... Because it needs paint, and the tank insides redone.


Just wait till you see my next couple videos... Whole reason I took the touring gear off is so I'm lighter for this upcoming trip... Excelsior is going to see forest roads. I'm gonna gopro it all, my practice sessions are going to be on a sand road my friend owns.

[madmax-im]

Wow that looks really nice...why do you need a fairing living in Fla? Bike looks so much better naked...

[madmax-im]

Shims on the swing arms? What are you talking about?
Really the only rust was where the rear fender was welded back on... The chrome by the headlight has surface rust... It doesn't bother me.

It's a daily driver that stays outside under a bike cover. Not a show bike.

I have the oem manual that is in the website everyone seems to know on here. I tightened the whole front end to spec.


The badges don't bother me.... Yet.... Because it needs paint, and the tank insides redone.


Just wait till you see my next couple videos... Whole reason I took the touring gear off is so I'm lighter for this upcoming trip... Excelsior is going to see forest roads. I'm gonna gopro it all, my practice sessions are going to be on a sand road my friend owns.

he is talking abt 2 separate issues...

[sparkfly88]

Did my photo show my bike had issues somewhere?


Also... Riding like this, makes me feel like I have no front end... Like I'm floating... It's kinda strange. I'm used to my huge fairing being there like as a "This is the front end of my bike" now.... There is just nothing. Lol

[skids]

Nakid bikes are way more "flickable" in the twisties. No fun on long interstate rides... The only solution to the problem is that you NEED at least two xs11s: One nakid and one fared.

[CaptonZap]

Just wait till you see my next couple videos... Whole reason I took the touring gear off is so I'm lighter for this upcoming trip... Excelsior is going to see forest roads. I'm gonna gopro it all, my practice sessions are going to be on a sand road my friend owns.

LOL, at last, some entertainment.
When you get back, you can share with us the ways to get an 11 back on it's tires.
Videos of that exercise would be nice. Especially the sand road.
If you can get some knobby's, I would recommend them, fore and aft.

CZ

[Cobia]

Sparks,
If you're going to be doing some highway driving I do suggest adding a windshield. It will prevent a lot of fatigue.

[sparkfly88]

I plan to put the handlebar mounted one back on for the highway ride there