Too bad for me- I'm accumulating box of pods I'd be happy to give away.
Look great, being a hybrid instead of a heavily modded café.
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Looks Better with OEM AirBox -
We think it looks better with the AirBox. Besides, don't have a couple hundred bucks for K&N filter assemblies we like anyway.
This is becoming more of a slightly modified XS11 than the typical "Café" bike...
Not sure that's a bad thing?
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New Year's Update - Virago Fender Install +
XS Folks,
Following the example above, I purchased an XV920 fender. The fender is much shorter and has a unique shape that is quite appealing compared to the OEM bulky XS11 fender. Unfortunately, I could not find all the specifics on how the other XS11.com members mounted theirs.
We welded in two tabs to allow a firm/rigid install. Although our Harley seat is missing the rear tab (we'll find or make one), the seat rear will eventually be bolted down to the fender which will also close the small gap. Seemed wise to create a solid mounting....
Fender mounted....
Here's the ALMOST finished product. It took nearly as long to adapt our $3 Chinese LED tail lamp to the OEM Yamaha bracket.
We've figured out a way to: shorten, modify, and install an OEM Special pull bar and that will be the finishing touch for the rear! It will also add our vision to the bike.
Once the rear seat tab is installed the gap between it and the fender will be closed......
The wiring for the Dead Duck is far from complete. But we just couldn't resist hooking up the jumper cables to the T/A to see our work....
We'll probably go with a set of OEM signals upgraded to 1157's (or LED) & provide constant running lights to improve visibility.
Marty was over the other day and we talked about the bikes quite a bit. I thought the tank decals I had purchased were too small. Marty thought they were perfect. I BELIEVE these are from an R1...seem a little too small to me? ? ? ? ?
My son Karl buttoning it up for the night.... We've been working on this together all day, turning out to be a pretty good father/son project. Tomorrow Karl will get to remove, drain, clean, polish, and re-install the front forks!
Have a happy new year!
Respectfully,Leave a comment:
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I found it! The perfect job done by another member!
XS Friends,
Been working on the various 11's and spending some time painting and messing with the rear fender. Got the side panels painted and they look pretty decent. The STOCK fender just isn't gonna work....
I did some searching on the web (which kept pointing me right back at XS11.com) and found this fantastic job by a fellow member (XS11lover). This look is absolutely perfect. He uses a Yamaha fender and really looks clean and correct.
I hope the guy doesn't mind me copying his pic/link and copying his work. But it really is nice and well thought out. GEORGEOUS! Both of them!!!
Sincerely,Leave a comment:
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Shortin' the rear fender on its front-side and remount..........easy fix, as others yrs. past have done it
.
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An XS850 Special rear fender might attach to the frame. It will be shorter than the XS1100 Special fender.Leave a comment:
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Photoshop Attempt......
Schming,
The third one you found for us could be a real possibility.
Here is my horrible attempt at PhotoShopping a "Vision" for the rear of this bike:
It would seem a tail section from a XS750/850 or XS11 STD COULD fit the "Vision". Unfortunately, they attach to the seat and there is no way that could work with the HD seat.
Sincerely,Leave a comment:
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Hi Kurt,
Nice job you two are doing on the DD so far.
Do you think a Vmax rear fender would work?
Heres one that's not too expensive:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/01-Yamaha-VM...BWQKdF&vxp=mtr
or maybe a Virago rear fender:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1983-83-YAMA...lUxTJp&vxp=mtr
This one has a more streamlined tailight:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/85-Yamaha-Vi...hU2V2c&vxp=mtrLeave a comment:
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Special? Cafe? Fighter? YamaMod? POS?
T.C.,
Unfortunately, NO. I won't be needing the frame pieces. I'd been thinking of sending you a note to that effect.
I'm not really disappointed with this bike but it's not likely to turn into what I had initially envisioned......let me explain....
I LOVE the looks of the XS11 "SPECIAL" and although I've seen some folks do some really cool looking Café bikes that they love, I really wanted to minimize the mods to mine. In a perfect world I'd toss a ton of money at this thing and make it back into a "Stockish" Special. But, this bike was too far gone and had already had a good bit of "Hackery" done to it. I really only purchased it for parts use. My son convinced me to resurrect it.....
Initially, I wanted to return the missing frame pieces and limit mods to things that could be "UNDONE" in the future. I also wanted to use ONLY YAMAHA parts (even if they were not from an XS11). As you can see the HD Sportster seat was the only thing I could find (without spending a small fortune) to accomplish the single-seater task.
I've been searching the web and trying to find something "Yamaha" to fill the void behind the seat and to integrate a tail lamp and signals (appropriately spaced and VISIBLE). I've looked at a tail from an XS750, a SECA 750, a VISION, and a few others and have not yet found something to fit the bill. Marty showed me a thread where a guy did a crazy beautiful job with a HD Dyna fender. But, I don't want my bike to look too much like a HD. Sorry, I don't really like those bikes.....
Now, we've had to clip the original side cover mounts to affix the solid covers. A tab has been welded in to accept the HD seat bolt which moved the relays, etc. So the bike's further from "Stockish" Yamaha....
One thing I would like to incorporate is an Aluminum Special pull bar. Nothing says Yamaha "Special" like that bar... Not sure how I'm gonna do it but I will be giving that a try after a tail has been properly incorporated.
In closing, I'm a little confused with the direction of this build. It will NOT turn into a new addition to the local scrap heap and it WILL get finished. I just hope I like it and hope that it looks like a YAMAHA when it's done. I guess if the kid likes it that'll be fine. 
But it may get parked outside under a tarp! LOL
Very Respectfully,
KURTLeave a comment:
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Hey Kurt,
Looking quite good. With that small/short of a seat, do you think you'll still be needing the tail sections of the frame rails behind the shock mounts off of my spare frame?? Also, do you still want/need the thicker aluminum grab rail as well?
T.C.Leave a comment:
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Pre-Christmas Vacation Update
XS Friends,
I'm making a LITTLE progress on the "Café" bike. This has turned into a real Father/Son project and is beginning to become fun. Karl (Son #3) is a Mechanical Engineering Major at Southern Poly/Kennesaw State University.
I have to pull the reins back on Karl who can be a little too anxious to help. I know from experience with my first father/son project ('82 Z-28 & Son #2) that it's mighty easy to make a big mistake that's hard to reverse
We finished the side cover for the Right and Karl is now working on the Left. I welded in a cross bar and drilled & tapped a couple M6s to hold the cover. We'll need to do something slightly different on the other side to allow easy battery removal install.
I received a set of Chinese levers and got them installed. Another XS11 member has these same items on his XS11 and said they worked great.
The brake seems a little weak to me..... We'll see when we get to test drive mode.
We like the "Look" and the clutch works fine.... Brake function is certainly more important and looks, especially if Karl will be driving it.....
We should make some great additional progress over the next week as school is out and I'm off from work!
Have a great Holiday Folks..... Ya'll know what I'll be doing.....
Respectfully,
KURTLeave a comment:
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Nice work
Oh yeah- the paint looks beautiful.
Can I have the old seat? (I know you'll need it for the others, but you can't blame me for trying )
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Dead Duck Gets some COLOR
With temperatures in the 70's.... I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some color on the Dead Duck.
(1978 GM/Pontiac ~ Code #50 "Solar Gold Metallic" - PPG Single Stage)Leave a comment:
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Hey Kurt,
The others have already provided great info and advice. My theory about the PO's wiring work. Folks on here have talked about a wiring mod to get more juice directly to the coils for stronger sparks, and so that's what I think the PO did. Ran direct taps from the battery up to the coils to give them full 12 volts power directly from the battery instead of from the harness coil connections that goes thru several junctions/connectors and therefore has places for voltage losses which then translates to weaker spark plug spark.
So...with your now OEM wiring cleaned up, you will just want to ensure that the connectors are clean and that you're getting the max voltage to the coils primary side.
When folks running the earlier systems,n 78-80 with the B.R., and they upgrade to newer hotter 3 ohm coils, they just bypass the B.R. by jumping the harness together at the B.R. connection, so that when whichever TCI you have sends the power thru the wires that would route the power thru the B.R. it will be sending 12 volts all the time since the new coils needs 12 volts, and the TCI will still see a total of 3 ohms resistance since the coils have the 3 ohms, instead of splitting it betweeen 1.5 ohm coils and 1.5 ohm B.R..
T.C.Leave a comment:
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Thanks Guys...
Mike & Steve,
Thank you for the responses.
I don't know if the current system works or not. The PO had a mess of additional wires going back & forth and front to back in a complete spaghetti mess to make the Kawasucki coils work and provide spark. The coils were held in place with zip ties. I removed all that junk, none of which made any sense. Returning all the wiring to stock form (and stock routing) wasn't too bad and I think I now have a nice OEM '81 harness.
I haven't yet attempted to see if there would be spark as I thought I could roast a good set of coils and/or the CDI box without the resistor.
It would seem that Steve's suggestion to get a set of 3ohm coils gets me 90% commonality with my other two XS11's and eliminates the '81 series CDI that I don't have a spare for. I heard these are a bit of a bugger to find and expensive if the seller knows it.
Also, with a 3ohm coil replacement, I will still have an extra: CDI, pick-up set, mechanical advance, etc. that can be back-up for all three bikes and two sets of coils for DUCK & Mayberry.
Thanks again guys,Leave a comment:
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