New to the forum (and the xs11) with a couple of questions

[OMCC]

Hello Everybody,
Nice to meet you all. If I hadn't found this forum I don't think I would have taken the leap and bought The 600lb beauty of a bike I picked up a few weeks ago for a mere $300. 3 weeks laters and tons of trips through these forums and I have a running not yet driving bike.

So here are the current head scratchers I'm trying to work out:

• I am missing a bolt the secures the rear caliper to the caliper mount, does anyone know the size of the bolt or if I can find a regular steel bolt at home depot the same size as the missing one?
• I want to remove the airbox and replace it with 4 cone filters but I am concerned about the legality (RE:EPA) of it and it it will prevent my bike from getting an inspection sticker, does anyone have experience with this?
• Does anyone have a good video tutorial of installing and wiring the headlamp?
• What is the OEM name of the starter switch module?, i can't seem to find it anywhere.
• When I turn on the blinkers they don't blink but turn on and remain solid, is this normal?

Thank you so much for any help you given me in the past by way of your posts and thanks again for any help you can provide me now. As a guy who has never fixed or for that matter touched a motorcycle you guys have been more essential to my learning then any service manual has been or could be.

[Bonz]

-For the bolt, I don't know why a Home Depot type bolt would not work.
-Stick with the airbox if there is nothing wrong with it. You won't get pods on an XS with stock exhaust to give more power and it's not worth chancing an emissions fail.
-If the bike is idling or not running and the blinkers are steady, they are not getting enough power. Give the engine a few more rpm and they should start to blink. Not an uncommon occurrence. You can clean the sockets and wiring connections to help get as much voltage to the bulbs as you can, on these old bikes stuff gets tarnished and corroded.
-CaptonZap has a link to a color wiring diagrahm. He should be along soon...

What do you mean by starter switch module? Do you mean the right side switch housing and it's innards?

[Dylano*]

To remidy the blinkers, like had been said, they aren't using enough power to activate the flasher relay. If cleaning the terminals does not work, you can either try higher wattage bulbs or wire a resister in parallel with each side.

[motoman]

Cheapie bolt may work, but not a good idea for this location.
An FYI......any vehicle issue related to suspension, chassis or braking use a minimun grade8 fasteners. DOT regulations, and for good reason.
As for swapping out the stock air-box for pods........your bike, do as you wish, but if your expecting performance gains.....not happening, and has already been proven so. In fact, except for the noise, there WILL be actual performaces losses. These bikes, having CV carbs ARE designed to operate smoothly throughout all rpm ranges WITH the stock airbox.......and DO produce max. output WITH the stock airbox.

There's a bit more involved explanation, but that's the jest of it.........unless of course you wanna 'open a can of worms' with jetting issues and running 'flat' spot issues using pods.
If convenience is your issue, you'll get lots of practice removing/installing carbs anyways., and will be able to do it in less than 15min. including seat/ tank removal. (can do it on my full-dresser Venturer in 10min. or less, if needed be).

As for your signals, that's just a sign warning you that bike has bad grounds, corroded connections, and ALL plug-ins need to come apart, cleaned and female ends dobbed full of dielectic grease before assembly.

Even though charging voltage is down a bit at idle, this is NOT an issue with the signals or other lighting, running or not.......if ALL electrical connections and grounds are PROPERLY maintained and sealed, and battery has a MINIMUM of 12.5-7v initially.

Switch assemblies including ignition, start button, and signal switch assemblies need to be taken apart, pieces dropped in Evap-O-Rust overnite and cleaned. Pay SPECIAL attention to disassembly and cleaning of kill switch. That IS the notorius location for the all important 'smoke' to escape.

The BEST questions are those asked BEFORE proceeding!
Wecome to the madness!

[CaptonZap]

--CaptonZap has a link to a color wiring diagrahm. He should be along soon...

What do you mean by starter switch module? Do you mean the right side switch housing and it's innards?

http://webpages.charter.net/kbhahn/xs11/E-Fwire.JPG

[OMCC]

Wow you guys are quick and thorough thank you so much

To remidy the blinkers, like had been said, they aren't using enough power to activate the flasher relay. If cleaning the terminals does not work, you can either try higher wattage bulbs or wire a resister in parallel with each side.

I'll admit I am not very skilled with electrical work do you have a diagram of this (wiring the resisters in parallel)?

-Stick with the airbox if there is nothing wrong with it. You won't get pods on an XS with stock exhaust to give more power and it's not worth chancing an emissions fail.

That seems to be the consensus good thing I held onto it I was considering selling it.

-If the bike is idling or not running and the blinkers are steady, they are not getting enough power. Give the engine a few more rpm and they should start to blink. Not an uncommon occurrence. You can clean the sockets and wiring connections to help get as much voltage to the bulbs as you can, on these old bikes stuff gets tarnished and corroded.

I'm going to try this tomorrow before I disconnect everything

What do you mean by starter switch module? Do you mean the right side switch housing and it's innards?

The right side kill switch and starter button

http://webpages.charter.net/kbhahn/xs11/E-Fwire.JPG

Thank you so much this is exactly what I need!

Cheapie bolt may work, but not a good idea for this location.
An FYI......any vehicle issue related to suspension, chassis or braking use a minimun grade8 fasteners. DOT regulations, and for good reason.

That make sense saving money isn't worth the risk

As for swapping out the stock air-box for pods........your bike, do as you wish, but if your expecting performance gains.....not happening, and has already been proven so. In fact, except for the noise, there WILL be actual performaces losses. These bikes, having CV carbs ARE designed to operate smoothly throughout all rpm ranges WITH the stock airbox.......and DO produce max. output WITH the stock airbox.

There's a bit more involved explanation, but that's the jest of it.........unless of course you wanna 'open a can of worms' with jetting issues and running 'flat' spot issues using pods.
If convenience is your issue, you'll get lots of practice removing/installing carbs anyways., and will be able to do it in less than 15min. including seat/ tank removal. (can do it on my full-dresser Venturer in 10min. or less, if needed be).

I'm sold the airbox goes back on it really was just a convenience issue and that I thought it would look good on the bike

As for your signals, that's just a sign warning you that bike has bad grounds, corroded connections, and ALL plug-ins need to come apart, cleaned and female ends dobbed full of dielectic grease before assembly.

good to know I've never heard of that type of grease do you have a favorite brand I should look for?

Even though charging voltage is down a bit at idle, this is NOT an issue with the signals or other lighting, running or not.......if ALL electrical connections and grounds are PROPERLY maintained and sealed, and battery has a MINIMUM of 12.5-7v initially.

The battery is on the old side would this effect it's idle performance?

Switch assemblies including ignition, start button, and signal switch assemblies need to be taken apart, pieces dropped in Evap-O-Rust overnight and cleaned. Pay SPECIAL attention to disassembly and cleaning of kill switch.

I'll try, the damn thing is rusted on and the screws are striped I was considering tearing it off and just buying a "new" one but have been worried about damaging the handlebars.

That IS the notorious location for the all important 'smoke' to escape.

I think I might be too new to get this saying

The BEST questions are those asked BEFORE proceeding!
Wecome to the madness!

Agreed, Thank you so much guys I'll keep ya posted!

[motoman]

Quote:
Originally Posted by motoman
That IS the notorious location for the all important 'smoke' to escape.

I think I might be too new to get this saying

Sorry. That is what happens when neglected electrical connections(even though they 'look' good) loose good contact, creating resistance and lost input voltage, known as the 'all important smoke'.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey OMCC,

Don't bother with the inline resistors for the turn signals...do the harness cleaning first, the ground wires both at the battery and the engine/ frame strap behind/below the carbs from the starter motor mounting bolts and the frame! Do you have a VOLTMETER or Multimeter? You can actually get a FREE one this weekend at Harbor Freight with their Father's Day giveaway,
http://www.harborfreight.com/ click on the Get Free Coupons link, print.

The charging system is WEAK to begin with, and so at idle it often will not produce enough power to actually charge the battery and can discharge when idling for a while! Revving the engine up to ~2500 will put it in the max charging rpm range to get the max voltage/amperage which should then have your turn signals working...but if not....as again has been mentioned, thorough cleaning of the connectors, you may even have to take the turn signal lenses off, check and clean the bulb sockets, the wires on the sockets to the signal light housings, etc.. The Stock turn signal flasher has a special circuit for auto-cancelling the signal after so much time or distance travelled. Many folks though never use it, but just PUSH the signal button straight IN to cancel them. The flasher is a thermal type, and the bulbs to be used are to be 8w/27watt for the 1157 running/turn signal combo. Some other automotive bulbs can be a bit less in wattage which can prevent the thermal conductor from heating up enough to cycle, hence the suggestion of checking the bulbs and replacing if needed. You can get a simple 2 prong flasher(OEM is 3) and plug it into the plug, will go 1 of 2 ways, and test the signals, will work in one or the other so you can at least ensure that the signals will work when they have the proper current load and good ground. Occasionally the OEM flasher can corrode the internal contacts...can be opened, cleaned if so desired vs. just using a 2 prong and cancel the signals yourself! A FULLY Electronic flasher designed for LED bulbs can/will be needed if you decide to put in LED bulbs to try to free up some of the current that is used by the signals so you can use/add some other aux devices, ie. GPS, radio, vest/glove warmers!

And speaking of Electricity....it's known that if you allow the "MAGIC SMOKE" to leave the electrical device/wire...then it won't work anymore electrically!

The OEM airbox has VELOCITY stacks internally which is part of how it straightens the airflow into the carbs for that constant velocity affect. However, if you want to use PODS for both aesthetics, as well as to HEAR the engine more, you can use Pods...but we do suggest using and making some type of velocity stack type mounts for the pods, see the tech tips for examples. You "may" need to rejet, YMMV(Your Mileage May Vary)...there is a list of acronyms in the MISC forums for your perusal.

Use a dremmel or whatever you need to cut the heads off of the rusted bolts holding the handlebar control panels together, you can then replace them with new from local hardware/lowes metric selection. Yes, inspecting the wiring and switch/contacts within these will also go along way to eliminating the electrical gremlins that can occur. Folks have found wires actually coming off of the soldered panels!

Dielectric grease is a NON-conductive insulating material that helps to seal and protect electrical connections from the corrosive affects from exposure to atmosphere, water, etc. but the connectors pins/slots need to be cleaned first with some form/brand of contact cleaner...ie. DEOXIT or similar.

T.C.

[MarkD]

+ 1 on T.C.'s info re: soldered wires coming off little panels inside the switches. My blinkers were giving me fits, then I discovered one wire off the panel. Disassemble the handlebar switches,look for loose wires, thoroughly clean and dielectric grease the components, and that will be a good start.

[CaptonZap]

I'm sold the airbox goes back on it really was just a convenience issue and that I thought it would look good on the bike

Begging Gregs pardon, this is two bolts, and provides an easy removal of the carbs. Convienent.
On the top of the air box is a strap that angles back, and hooks over a plate on the frame when installed. It is held on by 4 bolts, (machine screws) the outer two of which go all the way through the air box and are threaded on the bottom end to hold the bottom of the box on by way of wing nuts.
Tighten the outer two screws, they hold a plate with captive nuts on the inside of the box. Take a hack saw, and carefully cut the strap between the inner and outer machine screws. If you make the cuts perpendicular to the strap, it will work best.
When you get the straps cut, remove the inner two screws, and the center hooked portion of the strap will come off. Install the air box. Slide it forward, engage the rubber connectors, put the strap on, reinstall the two inner screws, and the two bolts on the outer sides of the air box, and you are good to go. When you want to remove the carbs, remove the the two center screws, (the captive nut plate will be held in place by the outer two screws), the two side bolts, and you can slide the air box back far enough to get the carbs out.

[/QUOTE]
good to know I've never heard of that type of grease do you have a favorite brand I should look for?

[/QUOTE] http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...0941&ppt=C0139

CZ