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**DiverRay** · 10-25-2015, 01:08 PM

Welcome to the madness!
With the XJ, you will need to make the block-off tool for the head so you can balance the carbs. If the oil was that bad, I would put some SeaFoam or Berryman's B12 into it, Idle for about 5 minutes, then drain again just to help get all the junk out.
These bikes DO pull a LOT stronger than the 650, even the turbo version.

**HalfCentury** · 10-25-2015, 01:46 PM

Hello Ray

Thanks for the welcome! I do have the YICS tool that I used on the XJ650 and I have the valve shim bucket hold down tool.

I agree concerning changing the oil again before next riding season starts. I will also change the differential oil again soon. Just want to make sure that the fluids are circulated for some miles before draining again.

The 1100 feels much more sure footed on the freeway than the 650 did.

**BA80** · 10-25-2015, 02:04 PM

Welcome HalfC. Seems an oil thread has been started again.

Don't know your experience with bikes but with the 11 most of us have found regular old dino 20w50 works best in the engine (and the wet clutch likes it) and 75w140 full synth. in the middle and final drives keep them smooth and quiet.

The XJ has the lowest center of gravity of the X bikes and makes it the best handling of these UJMs.

**HalfCentury** · 10-25-2015, 03:43 PM

Hello BA80

I am not familiar with the 75W140 rear drive oil but will see if I can find it locally. I used 80W90 a few weeks ago when I drained the foul smelling brew from the rear differential. The XJ1100 users manual specifies 80W90 if I recall. What is the benefit of the 75W140 over 80W90?

20W50 is exactly what I used with the XJ650 and that is what I changed the XJ1100 a few weeks ago. 20W50 does indeed make the gears happier than other weights which caused sloppy gear changes.

I bought the large jug of Walmart house brand 20W50. The price has certainly gone up since I parked my XJ650 in 2012. It was a bit over $12 for the jug of Wally World oil.

**DiverRay** · 10-25-2015, 03:47 PM

The 75W140 is a full synthetic gear oil. It seems to keep the middle and final drive running cooler and happy. It's what most of us use now in these bikes. The brand is up to you, I use Red Line, Others use the Wallyworld, Mobil1, Royal Purple, etc. Any 75W 140 is good, but in synthetic, you don't really want to use the 75W90, as it's a little light for these machines.

**BA80** · 10-25-2015, 04:27 PM

Originally posted by HalfCentury View Post

Hello BA80

I am not familiar with the 75W140 rear drive oil but will see if I can find it locally. I used 80W90 a few weeks ago when I drained the foul smelling brew from the rear differential. The XJ1100 users manual specifies 80W90 if I recall. What is the benefit of the 75W140 over 80W90?

20W50 is exactly what I used with the XJ650 and that is what I changed the XJ1100 a few weeks ago. 20W50 does indeed make the gears happier than other weights which caused sloppy gear changes.

I bought the large jug of Walmart house brand 20W50. The price has certainly gone up since I parked my XJ650 in 2012. It was a bit over $12 for the jug of Wally World oil.

Yeah, SuperTech 20/50 is what I run.

Like Ray said, the 75w140 full synthetic gear oil is the way to go with the middle and final drives. The manual recommends the 80/90 because that's what was best at the time, 35 years ago. Any reputable brand is fine, royal purple is a bit pricey for a product equivalent to less expensive brands. When it comes down to it, oil is oil as long as the ratings match.

**Prisoner6** · 10-25-2015, 04:40 PM

WELCOME to XS11, Brian!

Nice-looking XJ you have there!

That 80W-90 gear oil you're referring to is conventional/dino gear oil ... and you can use it in the mid/final drives.

But, I concur with the others that you should use 75W-140 full synth. gear oil in the middle/final drives. A cooler/smoother/quieter-running drive system is always better!

Redline gear oil is my choice, as well.

As for engine oil, the Wally World 20W-50 dino is OK, but I prefer to use either Castrol or Valvoline 20W-50.

By the way, make sure you change not only the final drive oil, but the middle drive oil also.

When you do, make sure you remove the filler plug first, then the drain plug.

One other thing ... it might be a good idea to manually clean/re-grease the drive shaft/final drive/rear wheel splines. It likely hasn't been done in the last 33 yrs.

Glad to have you aboard!

**TopCatGr58** · 10-25-2015, 04:41 PM

Hey there "0.50 Century" ,

Glad to see you got your registration email, hope I didn't talk your ears off with my lengthy reply.

Glad to see ARE familiar with working on bikes and have previous experience with your 650 both in riding and wrenching.

Both times in your replies, you mentioned just the engine oil and final drive. I had to google to make sure that the XJ650 ALSO had a driveshaft, and therefore, also a MIDDLE DRIVE chamber. The XJ11 also has one, and requires the same SYNTH 75-140 gear oil ~300 cc's, but check your manual. ALSO, before draining it....make sure you can get the refill plug out first, it's and allen key/wrench type and lots of PO's(Previous Owners) guerilla tighten them, then corrosion sets up between the steel plug and aluminum case, and then the allen slot gets damaged/stripped trying to get it loose. Apply some PB blaster, a few cycles of heatgun, and if it's still the OEM plug, you may even be able to put a pair of vice grips around it to "assist" the allen wrench in getting it broken loose. Once loose, then you can drain it. The drain plug is back behind the oil pan in a recessed area.

There have been reports of folks having their middle gears LOCK UP due to lack of lube and then overheating/bearings burning up....not fun at 70 mph!

Yes, Wallyworld 20/50 is just fine, just make sure that ANY oil you get does NOT have anything in the upper half of the API seal, NO Friction Modifiers wanted or needed. Also, aside from Berryman's or SeaFoam, Marvel Mystery oil is also good/better as both an engine cleaner/flush AND still an OIL, so not as dangerous to run in the engine as B-12 or Seafoam.

Now that you've got the engine running well, ensure that you have the clutch cable set right, both the throwout rod/lever at the engine under the side cover, as well as the slack at the handlebar. You "may" experience some clutch slippage at higher rpms and higher gears...ie. 4th at 6K+, and if so....the fix is usually to replace the 30+ year old OEM clutch springs with BARNETT brand. The Frictions are usually good and within spec, but wouldn't hurt to have time to check them with your caliper/micrometer and be able to order replacement frictions if needed....see manuals for spec range...2.80mm to 3.00 max. thickness. And while in there, clean, scrub the steels as well. Check the tech tips....just ignore the EXTRA STEEL PLATE part of that tip, but the other photos and reassembly instructions are still accurate and helpful.

Okay, here I go again with diarrhea of the fingers! Welcome!

T.C.

**HalfCentury** · 10-25-2015, 07:14 PM

Thanks TopCatGr58 and the rest of the crew for the well wishes and the advice.

I did a double take and consulted the manual. Sure enough I glossed over the mid drive. I went out into the garage and located the mid drive fill screw and loosened it and had a look inside.

It appears that crawling under the bike is required to loosen the drain fastener. That will have to wait a week as I am traveling on business all week.

The oil drain plug on the XJ1100 is more difficult to reach than the XJ650 as is removing the oil filter. I had go get friendly with the floor to change the 1100 oil.

For sure my clutch is not 100% satisfactory. Shifting from first to second will sometimes grind if the revs are high. Is the first gear to second gear grind a symptom of the clutch spring issue?

In some ways my 1100 was probably extremely well cared for. It probably never was outside overnight and probably rarely if ever in the rain. Much of the chrome is very shiny, fenders have no rust, headlamp bucket is nearly rust-free. On the other hand, the calipers may have never had the soft parts replaced. The fluids were way past needing changing.

**BA80** · 10-25-2015, 07:28 PM

The drain plug for the middle drive is in the middle of the rear of the case, near the swingarm cross bar. Not in the MD itself, in the case. Looks just like the oil drain plug.

Sounds like you are having the second gear rounded dog issue. Very Common.

Easy to fix but time consuming. Might as well go ahead and work the dogs and grooves on 1st gear while your there.

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5090

**TopCatGr58** · 10-25-2015, 08:33 PM

Hey Greg,

IT doesn't sound like he's describing "Skipping" once in gear, but grinding trying to get into 2nd gear...worse when under higher rpms.

Brian, it's been said hundreds of times, these bikes shift like a Russian Tractor. The gears, dogs/slots are square cut, and are not a synchromesh design, so you have to have the rpms right, and the clutch has to be releasing properly. And you'll need to let off of the throttle just a moment while shifting into upper gears. The clutch is needed to allow the gears to slow down a bit before trying to mesh it with the next upper gear. There's a technique called preloading the lever.....you have your foot against the lever putting a little pressure against it.....you then rev to accelerate to the speed you want to...then you both quickly pull the clutch, Release the throttle, and THEN you firmly actuate the shifter up to get it to go fully into gear/engagement....THEN you can get back into the throttle and release the clutch to continue with your acceleration progress. You are also having to move THRU neutral as well.

Now, once you're in 2nd gear and you get hard on the throttle, and THEN if you sense a popping or skipping affect like the bike drops out of and then back into gear, THEN you could be experiencing the 2nd and 1st gear worn dogs/slots malady.

T.C.

**HalfCentury** · 10-26-2015, 06:27 PM

Originally posted by TopCatGr58 View Post

Hey Greg,

IT doesn't sound like he's describing "Skipping" once in gear, but grinding trying to get into 2nd gear...worse when under higher rpms.

Brian, it's been said hundreds of times, these bikes shift like a Russian Tractor. The gears, dogs/slots are square cut, and are not a synchromesh design, so you have to have the rpms right, and the clutch has to be releasing properly. And you'll need to let off of the throttle just a moment while shifting into upper gears. The clutch is needed to allow the gears to slow down a bit before trying to mesh it with the next upper gear. There's a technique called preloading the lever.....you have your foot against the lever putting a little pressure against it.....you then rev to accelerate to the speed you want to...then you both quickly pull the clutch, Release the throttle, and THEN you firmly actuate the shifter up to get it to go fully into gear/engagement....THEN you can get back into the throttle and release the clutch to continue with your acceleration progress. You are also having to move THRU neutral as well.

Now, once you're in 2nd gear and you get hard on the throttle, and THEN if you sense a popping or skipping affect like the bike drops out of and then back into gear, THEN you could be experiencing the 2nd and 1st gear worn dogs/slots malady.

T.C.

Exactly. Sometimes shifting from 1st to 2nd works perfectly. Sometimes it sounds like an army truck on a *MASH* television show episode.

I would enjoy hearing the bike driven an 11 second quarter mile by the professional rider who did it for Yamaha. I wonder if that driver made the Russian tractor noise.

**BA80** · 10-26-2015, 07:04 PM

Yeah, you have to shift these things like a man or you don't get it all the way into gear............THEN you'll cause the rounded dogs and slipping out of gear.

**mlew** · 10-28-2015, 06:17 PM

Welcome to the club.
There are several members in the Raleigh area. Let us know if you are in the area. Would like a closer look at that nice XJ

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New Member with 82 X1100

New Member with 82 X1100

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