should i buy this '78 xs11?

[sharpz]

Hey all

Thanks to the mod for the friendly welcome.

I have a question for you, as the title of the post says, should i buy this xs11?

1978 midnight special- $500
- 46,000km
- does not start (seller believes cleaning carbs+fresh gas may fix the issue)
- brakes are seized
- needs new tires
- has trouble finding 2nd gear

i will be checking the bike out in person this weekend and can inspect it for rust, in the tank and on the frame. he's asking $500, is it worth it?

a bit about myself, i ride a ninja300 and want a bike with a more upright position for longer cruises. im no mechanic but with google, this forum and a shop manual im pretty sure i can do most of the work.

1) however, would any of you be able to ballpark/guesstimate how much money i would have to spend to get this up and running? i dont think oem parts are possible but new carbs, brakes/lines/fluids, tires, gear issue.
working xs11 go for about 1800-2500 with similar mileage on my local listing. but if i can save the money by doing these repairs myself i'd go this route. but i would like to have an idea of what kind of budget i'll need

2)what's the longetivity of an engine this old? i want to something reliable, although i'll spend the next few months working on it, perhaps even bobbing it, i want to spend more time riding it than wrenching it if you know what i mean. what i'm asking is, after the initial replacement of old parts, is there anything other significant issues about this bike i would have to attend to? how expensive is this gearbox issue fix?

3)lastly, what do you think of your xs11? the gas tank seems quite large especially length wise( i was looking at harleys so that's maybe why). Do you guys find this uncomfortable? especially for a bobber style bike?
is it true that this bike is very heavy and is harder to handle? of course i don't expect the flickability of my little ninja, but i would like something where i don't have my pegs vibrating when i hit the hwy. what do you like the most and what do you think i'll dislike about this bike?

what do you guys think? your honesty and opinion is appreciated. cheers.

[crazy steve]

Well first, it isn't a Midnight Special; those were '80-81 models only, so either the seller is trying to scam you and/or you might want to check the paperwork to see if all the numbers match. Post some pics and we can tell you much more...

As to is it worth $500, well, it depends. Is it a stock, unmolested bike? Or has it already been 'modified' (so that you may need to re-do additional stuff)? To me, at that price and with those problems, the bike better be complete, little or no hacking/missing parts, and be pretty decent cosmetically. The mileage is still pretty low, these motors are good for 100K miles with semi-reasonable care. Parts to rebuild the carbs/brakes/forks are readily available, and there's a decent used parts market but exhaust systems are getting tough to find, along with some trim parts. To tell the truth, unless the bike is very complete and looks good, I'd offer $300 and go up to $400.

As to a budget, I'd figure roughly $1K above the price of the bike for a first-class job. There's some wiggle room there depending on various things, but that will get you close. Here's one I did... http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33841 ... and that's pretty close to what I spent. But note that I had a couple of parts bikes to pull parts off of, so those costs aren't included. This was a $250 bike as-bought, with pretty much the same issues you have. I'm working on a XJ now, again with the same issues and figure I'll have roughly the same into that one. That includes new tires, battery, seat cover and paint.

One thing I'll stress; if you 'want to spend more time riding than wrenching', spend the time up front getting everything into proper operating order. These bikes are all 34+ years old now and almost all non-running examples (and some running ones) are suffering from lack of care, some more than others. Spend the time checking everything before you start riding it and you'll be rewarded for your efforts with a fast, smooth bike. Rush it and you can be chasing problems almost continuously. Be sure and look over the forum TECH section, just about everything you'll need to know about these is in there.

As to what I think of XS's, well, read my signature line...

[sharpz]

thanks for the reply crazy_steve, thats a very shiny bike you've restored it too.
do you recall where you got parts for it? any sites may help if i decide to go ahead and buy it
thankyou for the headsup about the midnight special/not a 78, i'll have to look into it, but i guess thats unfortunate because i really wanted a kickstart and i remember reading only the 78 came with required parts. below is a picture of it showing the midnight special emblem.

[crazy steve]

If that's a pic of the actual bike, that's a '81 Midnight special, so check the paperwork. These are a bit prized if in excellent condition, but restoring the cosmetics on one is an extremely expensive proposition because of the special finishes Yamaha used. This also has a lot of one-year-only parts, so that does complicate some replacement parts. You can substitute older parts in most cases with some mods to the bike. It also has an aftermarket exhaust on it. Otherwise, it looks pretty unmolested and complete. But I personally still probably wouldn't go over $400... LOL.

And don't worry about the lack of a kickstarter. The '78-79 bikes only have an 'emergency' kicker, they're not fitted from the factory with the lever but have a 'temporary' non-folding one that clips under the battery when not in use.

[crazy steve]

Ok, after looking closer at the pic, that may be a '80 Midnight Special that's been fitted with '81 wheels. Post better pics and we can tell you more. Check the numbers on the frame neck and motor and check here: http://www.xs11.com/faqs/153-serial-...ry-colors.html .. to pin down the exact year/model.

[Prisoner6]

Pics

Here are a few more (and hopefully larger) pics of the bike:







Looks to me like it's probably a 1980 MNS ... no "swirly" wheels here. The only 11's in the U.S. with the swirly wheels were the '81 MNS and the '82 XJ.

But, as Steve recommended, go to the link he provided. Then you will know with certainty which model you have.

And, as usual, Steve covered pretty much everything you need to know to help you decide if the bike is worth buying.

FWIW, I agree that $300-$400 is the most you should consider paying ... especially since the bike is currently a non-runner.

[Prisoner6]

Looks to me like it's probably a 1980 MNS ... no "swirly" wheels here. The only 11's in the U.S. with the swirly wheels were the '81 MNS and the '82 XJ.

Just realized this may be a Canadian model ... but the above should still apply.

[sharpz]

lol i didn't want to use more pictures of the guys bike so i just used one but thats hilarious you found his ad.

also quite impressive you guys can pin down the year, and i also believed the list price was high for a non-runner but i didnt know enough about the bike to say that.

what are some of these one year parts you mentioned?

[DiverRay]

The '81 had the "linked brakes" so the rear master is different than the rest of the XS1100's. I think there were also some electrical differences, but I'm not sure on that. As a non runner, $400 seems about right. It looks like he has a Standard clutch cable on it, because of how it's routed. You don't know what else may have been "fixed" on it, so keep an extra $200 for the PO "fixes". Oh, the missing side cover IS a one year only.......
As a point of reference, I paid $1200 US for a running 1980 MNS about 8 years ago. All it needed was new tires to run daily.....

[crazy steve]

Yep, that's a '80 (the smaller pic was tough to tell with my older eyes... LOL). It is pretty complete which is a plus, and being a '80 has much less of a 'parts problem' sharing parts with all '80-81 'regular' Specials. Non-stock parts are the exhaust, mirrors, and handlebars. The missing sidecover won't be terribly hard to replace if you'll settle for one without the emblem.

[kevxs]

funny I recognized the picture of the bike from looking on kijiji recently, then I saw you're from toronto and it all made sense.

I'd agree $400 seems more reasonable. Unseizing the brakes isn't too hard and probably wont even cost anything other than brake fluid and elbow grease. Same for cleaning carbs. (minus the brake fluid) I love my bike, very comfortable, powerful, not too loud, looks nice, doesn't feel overly heavy. My biggest complaint is getting under 30mpg (I do only city driving). On the hwy it gets way better mileage. 27mpg is embarrassing, hopefully I can squeeze more out of it eventually.

The biggest advantage to buying an xs11 is actually this site, its amazing to get questions answered an hour after you post, i have not had anywhere near the same experience on any other forum. They are also easy to work on and usually dont cost anything to fix, just rebuild the carbs, fix the pickup coil wires and you generally good to go (although I haven't had to tear into the transmission luckily).

this one looks nice too

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-street-cruise...ationFlag=true

But do us a favor, if you want to make a bobber, there's lots of bobber projects for sale out there, no need to cut up another one of our beloved bikes!

[madmax-im]

Agree with the consensus @$400 no more...if you dont really have the skills to pull off Bobbing then dont try...we have all seen poor attempts end badly...then they're forsale but then the bikes have been bastardized and have lost any value they might have had...aside from that if you want to ride it sooner rather than later, just get it back into riding form and ride the snot out of it...There are some fine exampples of bobbed XSs' but they are few and far between...and the ones that are best take a good deal of money and real skill to fabricate...otherwise please dont even try...

[MaximPhil]

Hi Sharpz,
while everyone has answered the technical questions and the $$ I agree with all they have said by the way. If you restore to near original you will have a great bike to ride where ever you want. Plenty of power and comfort.
Heavier than your ninja but not overly heavy and you will have no trouble with a Special. When you do get it running properly be very gentle with the throttle as you unleash the beast
Phil

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Sharpz,

A few more things to think about. Here's the link to the 2nd gear repair:
http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5090

Many members who had never been into a bike engine/tranny have done it, so hopefully you can to...but it is a bit more advanced in mechanical technique.

Another thing....the cost of insurance for it. From what I've heard from other Canucks....it's fairly expensive. One member had to convert his Modded bike back to close to STOCK so that he could get the Antique plates and the allowance for lower insurance. I don't remember if there is a mileage/usage restriction with the special plates? Here in Va. they say we can't ride it as a daily commuter vehicle, can only ride it for occasional testing, tuning, to shows, events, and not to exceed 250 miles from home! The plates/registrations are FREE and lifetime duration...but with the above use limitations!

We CAN register our Antique bikes with regular use license plates and have no restrictions on use, but pay regular prices for yearly registrations.

There is a fellow on our site...Andreas Weiss who is a parts broker with a great reputation and prices, just send him a PM for parts you're looking for.

T.C.

[kevxs]

Buy this one!

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-street-cruise...ationFlag=true

this one is for sale in Barrie, he also has it posted on this site, 2 bikes for $1000!

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44409

this looks like a WAY better deal than that old midnight special