How Many Miles?

[shorwath]

How many miles can one expect to get out of the XS1100 Inline Four? Mine has 24K Original Mi. Ran in 97 when parked. Good compression. Turns over freely. I have pulled the motor to restore the bike. I need new carbs as I was not able to save two of the four I currently have.
http://s1368.photobucket.com/user/sh...980/slideshow/

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Shorwath,

Yours is barely broken in. They were overengineered by Yamaha "by mistake" before they learned the lessons of planned obsolesence taught by USA!

Many folks have reported over 100K miles without a rebuild! They have car style crank bearings as one of the long lasting features.

T.C.

[shorwath]

How Many Miles?

That's great news. I figured as much. This is my first restoration so I am learning as I go. Thank goodness for this web site and also utube. I have made good progress in the last few days. Thanks for your input.

[DiverRay]

When I puller apart Special Ed's motor at 127K+ miles, the bearings needed to be replaced, but could have gone another 20K with no problems. As TC said, these were overbuilt! I have one engine with about 110K that has a bad transmission, but the engine was running great. My MNS only has about 30K, and I AM going to put together a "new" motor for the '78 this winter, I hope!

[James England]

A German XS rider I emailed said he has done over 300,000 on the original engine........ Regular oil changes, usual maintenance etc. Ironically though, despite his meticulous attention to the bike, he'd completely overlooked the rear wheel bearing! Hence contacting me. He reckoned his bike doesn't even burn oil..

Call me OTT but I've always changed oil and filter every 2,000 miles. Oil's cheap and so are filters but engines aren't. Personally, I think it extends the life of an engine...

[Prisoner6]

I remember reading that Bob Jones had ridden over 200,000 miles on one of his XS11's ...

Call me OTT but I've always changed oil and filter every 2,000 miles. Oil's cheap and so are filters but engines aren't. Personally, I think it extends the life of an engine...

I agree ... I have never gone more than 2,500 miles between oil and filter changes on any bike I have ever owned.

[Geezer]

My 79 has around 79k miles on it and runs as good as new. I had planned to pull it down for rings and valves at 100k but even if I can put those miles on it, I doubt it'll need the work...

Tony

[motoman]

I remember reading that Bob Jones had ridden over 200,000 miles on one of his XS11's ...



I agree ... I have never gone more than 2,500 miles between oil and filter changes on any bike I have ever owned.

Hmmmm......I know/have one make/model where that would be a real waste...more ways than one........6-10K for it IS the norm....even using dino same as in the XS11.

[RichV]

I highly recommend synthetic oil for all engines. I currently have a car and truck with over 200K with no engine work and a HD with 105K and no engine work. All are running fine.

Keep up with the synthetics and do all the scheduled maintenance any you will have a ride that will last you many years. Synthetics do not break down as quickly as regular oil and they stay cleaner.

On bikes, I usually stick to a 5K oil change cycle with synthetic oil. I'm a high mileage long distance rider so I would be changing the oil every month if I held to a 2.5K cycle.

[Prisoner6]

Hmmmm......I know/have one make/model where that would be a real waste...more ways than one........6-10K for it IS the norm....even using dino same as in the XS11.

Hey, Brant -

Yeah, I know it's a little XSive to change oil and filter that often, but I've always liked the idea of having fresh oil in the crankcase at all times ...

Especially since most of the bikes I've owned have been air-cooled and spent their entire lives in this "blast furnace" I call home!

Heck, I even change oil/filter every 2,500 mi. on my liquid-cooled ZRX ...

I've used full synth. in that bike since the initial 600-mi. break-in oil change, and I know I could go with longer oil-change intervals, but like I said, I love fresh oil!

(And yeah, a few people have told me I'm wasting my time and money changing synth. oil that often on my ZRX, but that's OK, too)

But I can understand how you could easily go 6-10K between oil changes on your ST (sorry, STeed) ...

The Honda ST1100 manual recommends 8K, I believe, between oil changes (after initial 600 mi. break-in service).

However, I have to believe that if you asked all the ST owners out there how often they change their oil, the majority probably don't wait 8K.

Do you personally always use the 6-10K interval you mentioned, Brant, or do you ever change oil/filter sooner?

[Prisoner6]

I highly recommend synthetic oil for all engines. I currently have a car and truck with over 200K with no engine work and a HD with 105K and no engine work. All are running fine.

Keep up with the synthetics and do all the scheduled maintenance any you will have a ride that will last you many years. Synthetics do not break down as quickly as regular oil and they stay cleaner.

On bikes, I usually stick to a 5K oil change cycle with synthetic oil. I'm a high mileage long distance rider so I would be changing the oil every month if I held to a 2.5K cycle.

Well, here comes the can of worms ...

Because of the looser clearances in these old XS11 engines, I think they are better served by using a conventional 20W-50 oil.

Due to the loose clearances, even synth. oil gets contaminated/"dirty" much more quickly in our 11's than it would in a modern engine.

So, even though synth. is supposed to last longer between oil changes ... in these old bikes, it should be changed more often than you would in, say, a modern car engine.

Also, as some here like to say, the clutches in these old 11's may not "play well" with synthetic oils. Some have reported clutch slippage when attempting to run synth.

Just my $.02

[motoman]

Hey, Brant -

Yeah, I know it's a little XSive to change oil and filter that often, but I've always liked the idea of having fresh oil in the crankcase at all times ...

Especially since most of the bikes I've owned have been air-cooled and spent their entire lives in this "blast furnace" I call home!

Heck, I even change oil/filter every 2,500 mi. on my liquid-cooled ZRX ...

I've used full synth. in that bike since the initial 600-mi. break-in oil change, and I know I could go with longer oil-change intervals, but like I said, I love fresh oil!

(And yeah, a few people have told me I'm wasting my time and money changing synth. oil that often on my ZRX, but that's OK, too)

But I can understand how you could easily go 6-10K between oil changes on your ST (sorry, STeed) ...

The Honda ST1100 manual recommends 8K, I believe, between oil changes (after initial 600 mi. break-in service).

However, I have to believe that if you asked all the ST owners out there how often they change their oil, the majority probably don't wait 8K.

Do you personally always use the 6-10K interval you mentioned, Brant, or do you ever change oil/filter sooner?

The XS gets clean oil/filter every 1500mi.........or the clunky shiftin' will let you know anyways.

The ST gets clean oil/filter every 6,000mi.

That was a year ago on the XS, and 2 1/2yrs. ago on the ST.
Don't even bother to look at the window on the ST, as it uses NONE and still looks like honey thru the window. Both kept inside and lack of any humidity to speak of, not much concern of moisture being drawn in when they cool down.........something that WOULD be of concern to me if in other parts of the country.
My guess would be from the site, that majority of ST riders go 4-8K between changes.

[James England]

Well, it's been 2,000 miles between changes for me since 1979. Nice, clean oil in the engines at all times.

[trbig]

I am somewhere @ 120-150k miles since rebuild. I've been through a couple different speedos and never expected the motor to last this long through my abuse, so I haven't kept track, but I generally ride 25-30k a year, though this will be a short year for me since I only went on one trip, but still ride daily. I try to change the oil every 3k miles, but have been known to go 5-6k in between. I usually change the filter every other oil change. Most of the oil breakdown occurs in the first 800 miles whether dino or synthetic. That's documented that you can look up, not just an opinion. As stated, oil and filters are NOT that cheap if you have to do them every month. I've got a couple or three replacement motors though, so not as worried about it as most.

[TopCatGr58]

Well,

Just to stir the pot a little more ... Okay, the looser tolerances of our 30+ y/o machines cause contaminants to get into the oil easier/quicker. I'll agree with the breakdown of the oil mileage point. I'm surprised though that you/Tod are only changing the filter every OTHER oil change? My thinking is that the filter is what will remove a majority of the contaminants from the oil, and allow it to last longer...specifically the SYNTH which is supposed to last longer, breakdown slower, etc.!

So...I would like to suggest that folks using SYNTH to replace the filter every 3K miles but not the oil until ~6K or so. Removing the filter only drains about 1/2 quart of so, and it can actually be captured and poured back in if desired vs. having to top up with new.

Thoughts, ideas, counterpoints, etc.!?

T.C.