1981 XS11 Special - DEAD DUCK Cafe

[BA80]

still holds any gear well.

All of my regrinds are too.

[motoman]

All of my regrinds are too.

My guess is between the lower shaft clip slots, shift forks and a couple other little differences, no washer swap was needed.........guess some do and some don't need the washer swap.

[BA80]

guess some do and some don't need the washer swap.

Perceived as needed or not it's still good preventive maintenance.

[kboehringer]

Drove to work today.... Ran well... Pull Bar Done!

Call it done! It looks great!

Thanks Marty,
I took the bike to work today and other than a finicky idle, which felt like it was going to stall at the traffic lights, it ran EXTREMELY well. The drive to work is a bit over 60 miles (round trip) so this was a decent test drive.

Not sure if it's the new rings or I accidentally got the carbs just right but this is my most powerful XS11. Incredible smooth power and lots of it! I though it was gonna rip the bars out of my hands.

This "Style" of bike is sure a big hit with the younger crowd. I park within feet of the primary entrance for the employees in our plant. Although I have three other bikes and drive all of them NONE got the immediate comments this one got. My team leader actually told me to tell him first If I ever to decide to sell it....

The pull bar is finished and I would love to post a pic but Photobucket is down for maintenance at the moment. It turned out very well.

WASHER MOVE:
The washer move, regardless of our favorite method of making the change, is clearly a benefit. I have no issues with any of the gears at any speed under full or partial load. I also changed one damaged shift fork (#1) and installed gears that looked a little better. The bike is also much easier to get into neutral which had been a little bit of a pain in the butt before the recent gear work.

I'll got a few more things to accomplish and this project will be through. All the "heavy lifting" is now done.

Kurt

[kboehringer]

Pull Bar Pics

TIG Welded the tabs back on about 6" above the original location.


Definitely makes the back look better and brings in more of the OEM Look.




Thanks again T.C.

Kurt

[motoman]

Thanks Marty,
I took the bike to work today and other than a finicky idle, which felt like it was going to stall at the traffic lights, it ran EXTREMELY well. The drive to work is a bit over 60 miles (round trip) so this was a decent test drive.

Not sure if it's the new rings or I accidentally got the carbs just right but this is my most powerful XS11. Incredible smooth power and lots of it! I though it was gonna rip the bars out of my hands.

This "Style" of bike is sure a big hit with the younger crowd. I park within feet of the primary entrance for the employees in our plant. Although I have three other bikes and drive all of them NONE got the immediate comments this one got. My team leader actually told me to tell him first If I ever to decide to sell it....

The pull bar is finished and I would love to post a pic but Photobucket is down for maintenance at the moment. It turned out very well.

WASHER MOVE:
The washer move, regardless of our favorite method of making the change, is clearly a benefit. I have no issues with any of the gears at any speed under full or partial load. I also changed one damaged shift fork (#1) and installed gears that looked a little better. The bike is also much easier to get into neutral which had been a little bit of a pain in the butt before the recent gear work.

I'll got a few more things to accomplish and this project will be through. All the "heavy lifting" is now done.

Kurt

IMO, the finiky idle feeling like it was gonna stall stopped at lights, ect. would be either a tad to low(1/2mm) fuel levels in bowls, all actual fuel levels in bowls not identical, or carbs slightly out of sync with each other.

[Radioguylogs]

Jat

IMO, the finiky idle feeling like it was gonna stall stopped at lights, ect. would be either a tad to low(1/2mm) fuel levels in bowls, all actual fuel levels in bowls not identical, or carbs slightly out of sync with each other.

...or (long stretch) tired battery?-Unlikely because of 60 mile drive, but still happened to me before despite long rides.

[kboehringer]

Finicky Idle...

XS Guys,
Thanks for the ideas... I'm going to have to do a little investigation tonight to get the idle right.

Here's where I THINK I am with this:

• The Battery is brand new, although it is one size smaller than the stock battery. Kinda think I'm OK here.
• Rings are new and compression is EXCEPTIONAL at 145 +/-5 across the board.
• Timing is good.
• Valves are adjusted perfectly.
• Sync was done and I had gotten it perfect BUT I pulled the carbs to put the sharing tunnel plugs back in. I pulled them before I understood the purpose. I suppose the sync could have changed a tad. I'll need to re-check that first.
• The floats were set with Mikuni components and I BELIEVE I had them perfect. Didn't touch 'em when I did the plug install. Gonna' delay pulling them back out again to check that.
• I wasn't too happy with the condition of the Vac. Advance hose. Might have an air leak.... need to replace that tonight.
• I used those cheapo plugs (AutoZone) for the Sync ports. I've had them bust in pretty short order. An air leak there would cause a crap idle.
• I need to check the plugs too. There was a bunch of oil used in the rebuild/rings and I might have one fouled.
• Anything else I missed?

KURT

[motoman]

XS Guys,
Thanks for the ideas... I'm going to have to do a little investigation tonight to get the idle right.

Here's where I THINK I am with this:

• The Battery is brand new, although it is one size smaller than the stock battery. Kinda think I'm OK here.
• Rings are new and compression is EXCEPTIONAL at 145 +/-5 across the board.
• Timing is good.
• Valves are adjusted perfectly.
• Sync was done and I had gotten it perfect BUT I pulled the carbs to put the sharing tunnel plugs back in. I pulled them before I understood the purpose. I suppose the sync could have changed a tad. I'll need to re-check that first.
• The floats were set with Mikuni components and I BELIEVE I had them perfect. Didn't touch 'em when I did the plug install. Gonna' delay pulling them back out again to check that.
• I wasn't too happy with the condition of the Vac. Advance hose. Might have an air leak.... need to replace that tonight.
• I used those cheapo plugs (AutoZone) for the Sync ports. I've had them bust in pretty short order. An air leak there would cause a crap idle.
• I need to check the plugs too. There was a bunch of oil used in the rebuild/rings and I might have one fouled.
• Anything else I missed?

KURT

Missing and now having the tunnel plugs, gonna have to re-set idle mixtures first and THEN re-sync carbs.......double back again, re-setting idle mixtures and followed AGAIN with a carb re-sync. Don't forget to run a large box fan in front of motor while doing this process. It DOES take a while to complete this process....if done correctly.

[kboehringer]

450 Mile Test Drive (Mixed Results) - Still Finicky Idle

XS Friends,
Took the Dead Duck to a Vintage Motorcycle Rally in North Carolina for a 450 mile test drive. Went with Marty, and met Chris, & Nicole there Although there were bikes off all brands, the event was dominated by British Nortons & Triumphs.

Dead Duck drove wonderful on the way to Marty's and then to the Event in NC, although this is DEFINATELY NOT a good highway bike due to the lack of windscreen and any sort of on-bike storage. My 20# backpack got heavy quickly. That cool looking rear fender shoots a rooster-tail about 30' high and you can feel the water hitting the back of your helmet! One good thing is that I'm getting something like 45+ mpg with this bike!!!









Had a good time at the event but the ride home became a rough one!

Immediately following the event the sky opened up and drenched ALL of us! Marty & I departed in a full downpour to a local hotel for the eve.

Started out early this morning and at about 50 miles out Dead Duck lost power significantly as was running without all cylinders. We stopped several times to troubleshoot and assumed I had a bad pick-up wire. Tried to reposition it to keep it from flexing but that tuned out not to be the problem.

At the 4th(+/-) stop we pulled the plugs shook all the connectors, checked ALL the wiring that we could but didn't actually find anything . Figured it was close to being time to tell Nancy to hook up the trailer and come rescue me in South Carolina. Jumped on to see if we made any progress and it took off like a rocket ship, we never looked back. I hit the Georgia border and did 90+mph for MORE THAN 100 miles straight without a stop without any issue.....


Overall, the bike runs excellent. But I don't think this Duck likes water! Something got wet and she didn't like it!!!!

In a day or two, after some R&R, I will try to find the culprit and work on some better weather-proofing on this Duck.

KURT

[timktm]

Very cool, but a duck that doesn't like water needs a fix! Love it.
Tim

[jetmechmarty]

More than the Duck needs waterproofing! Kurt needs some, too!

Three bikes got a cover over them in the hotel parking lot, including a 1973 BMW. They all had no issue. The Duck sat all night exposed to heavy rain and probably strong wind to go along with it. We probably should have been amazed that it fired right up in the morning.



Kurt left the Duck near the portable lavs rather than with the rest of the Japanese bikes, presumably so more people would be sure to see it.

[Rettic]

The wife and I had a great time, it was good to put faces with the names. If you are around the NC area this time next year, we recommend checking out The Meltdown in Hendersonville, NC.

Our XJ650 Midnight is giving us starter problems and the fuel filter wants more pressure than reserve will give as we found out on the way home. Thankfully not in thunderstorm. Stopped about 10 miles before a severe Thunderstorm thanks to my Co-pilot who was watching the weather map. So we stayed dry, just frustrated with the old bikes when they act up. Perfect shake down before the long ride to DC on Memorial Day.

Chris

[kboehringer]

New Addition

Riding 450 miles without a windscreen made this change imperative.





Got it locally from CL today. Painted it an hour ago. Not really mounted correctly but....I think I like it.......

KURT

[tomcos67]

nice Job Kurt...liked. Looks great..