Potential new project

[James England]

Exhausted

Well, folks, I had an email from the German supplier of the stainless 'replica' exhaust system. Apparently, they finished making it and it's going to be dispatched to me on Monday. They make them to order and it usually takes 3 months or so.

So, I thought if anyone is interested I'd post pix of the system from the point it arrives, right through to finally being installed on the bike. It's the same system as the one I put on my last XS. It's about as near as one can get to an OEM system but, being handmade, there was a slight upturn on the silencers on the last system. It certainly sounds OEM.

Anyway, I'll post some pix and feedback once it gets here.....

[James England]

Gotta love that before picture

Here's another one I found....

[James England]

No, your Black Beauty was my inspiration!

That's very flattering, Ian. This one should look exactly the same when it's done. I just received the decals, prior to respray, and took some bits to the chromers yesterday...rear light assembly, rear fender, indicator brackets and fuel cap. They reckon 5 weeks waiting time which isn't a problem as I'm waiting for other things too.

[IanDMacDonald]

No, your Black Beauty was my inspiration!

[James England]

Looking great James!

Dank je vell, Matth! E bike is intended to be a replica of the last one...everything black, with gold decals. Maybe I should try a change of colour some time

[Mathh]

Looking great James!

[Prisoner6]

Cool!

Looks like a high-quality seat, James ... should fit in quite nicely with your project!

[James England]

Seat update

I received the replica seat today and thought I would post a few pix, just in case anyone ever considers buying one...

The seat is well-made and I bought it from a different supplier this time, although it looks like the identical item to me. The seat pan is made from some sort of glass-fibre composite or similar. The only slight negative I found with it is that the two seat retaining mechanisms needed to be slightly modified in order for the bolts to go into the threaded inserts in the seat pan.....they are set about 4mm too far apart. I just enlarged the rubber grommet holes in the mechanisms and this allowed them to move outward slightly and line up with the threaded inserts.

Here's a few pix..











Retaining mechanisms fitted are slight modification...

[James England]

Amazing work James!

Thanks, Ian. It'll look better with the exhaust, seat and so on.... Also the gold pinstripes...

[James England]

Gotta love that before picture!

James, you do impressive work! Where did you get that seat from?

It's this seller on eBay. He only lists seat covers on eBay itself but supplies full seats if required. They cost £130. I reckon shipping to the USA could be done for approx £25.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motorcycle...item2a41e53468

The seat I bought last time was top quality and absolutely authentic looking. In fact, because of the glass fibre pan, I'd say its superior to the OEM one.

[IanDMacDonald]

Amazing work James!

[natemoen]

Gotta love that before picture!

James, you do impressive work! Where did you get that seat from?

[James England]

A little update

Here's a little update on the 'potential new project', folks....

I had quite a time sorting out a leaking carb float valve which kept flooding the airbox with fuel. The needle and seat were brand new but the overflowing persisted. I trimmed the float bowl gasket...still leaked. Then I made a thin tube of wet and dry sandpaper and twiddled it inside the float pin socket and was surprised to see quite a bit of crud come out. It still flooded! Then, finally, I rplaced the needle with a Viton tipped version and that cured it. So, although new parts were used originally, they obviously didn't make a good seal between the needle and the seat......

Here's a few pix of things so far....







I bit the financial bullet and ordered another replica stainless exhaust system from Germany and now have to wait a couple of months for it to be made....

Then, it will be a respray with new decals.

I've ordered a new replica seat, same as for the last XS1100 I did. It has a glass fibre type seat pan and is as good a replica as one can find. Here is the one I bought before....





So, I reckon it should look good with that on.

So, almost there, barring any problems with the actual running!

Whenever I feel like progress is slow, or not very good or other negatives caused by doing too much, I remind myself by looking at this 'before' pic.....

[WMarshy]

I feel a bit sick myself, thinking about paying for it. The thing is though, I have to feel like I've done the job properly and a four into one or whatever (I looked at a Mac from the USA and a Marshall Deeptone) is fine, no doubt, for running the bike and normal use but for me to feel like I've done it right it has to be a replica system as close as possible to OEM...... The German ones are as close as it gets now the NOS ones have disappeared......

I hear ya. The exhaust is top notch as far as looks and workmanship. It complements your bike very nicely. Maybe they will stay in business long enough so when I win the lotto I can get one from tem.

[James England]

You make me sick.

I feel a bit sick myself, thinking about paying for it. The thing is though, I have to feel like I've done the job properly and a four into one or whatever (I looked at a Mac from the USA and a Marshall Deeptone) is fine, no doubt, for running the bike and normal use but for me to feel like I've done it right it has to be a replica system as close as possible to OEM...... The German ones are as close as it gets now the NOS ones have disappeared......