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Let's see if this works -
Lookee what showed up next to the house on a recent Sunday. At a neighborhood party the previous night, neighbor Russ, who has his own stable of bikes, told me that a friend of his had passed and friends’ sister wanted to be rid of the MNS that was sitting in a barn for the past ten years. An XS11! Sure, why not. So, there it is, an XS1100LH Midnight Special, 4W1-000099
I was enthusiastic about buying it but after a day I had second thoughts. I’m getting to the point of riding rather than wrenching – that’s why the 78E hasn’t had its electrics problem fixed.
But then, I hate seeing these old bikes being parted out, though after some 40 years what should one expect. Still, I don’t think the MNS would take too much work. The bike looks in decent shape. Tkat fork brace. After market handlebars – I may have a set of special buckhorns in the shed. Starts on choke, no gas going to #1-#2 (cold pipes). Still has the octy. Steering head rotates smoothly, brakes bind a bit. Electrics all work though the tach doesn’t. Battery seems to charge up. A cursory look shows it missing minor odds and ends, the bolt that holds down the gas tank, the battery retetion bar.
I’ll have to triple clean the carbs, maybe I can get it right the first time. Will have to break down and clean the brake system – this is the integrated system. Probably should pull the wheels and repack the bearings. Seat works but is beat with the typical corrosion on the pan. I do happen to have another special seat cushion and cover that would make it look like new.
So, I delved into it and began with a compression check, 140, 125, 125, 130. Next, the carb removal procedure. I’m getting too old for this – in the dimness of the garage and my tri-focals moving around I can hardly see what I’m doing. The last time I did my 78E was in ’94 and the 79F ’07. I broke out my manual and took my time. Unfortunately, when I sold the 79F I included the special manual and a bevy of parts some that I could use now. So far things to repair/replace – throttle cable, feels like its binding at the grip, right petcock, starter button – that sucker fell off and rolled somewhere, gas tank filler gasket, battery retention bar. Finally got the carbs off without any cursing. Float bowls have the screw on the side to drain, not the 10mm bolts on the bottom.
I did order a Motion Pro T-Handle with the JIS Bits. It definitely gets better purchase and won’t goober up the screws, though I still managed that on a few. I’m getting the technique down. Like I said, it’s been quite a few years since I worked on these carbs, though some of the tricks are coming back to me.
A couple of questions.
On the carb what is the brass screw below the butterfly spring for? It looks like it’s just a detent for the spring. The older carbs don’t have it.
I see that he plastic floats for the later model carbs are set to 23mm NOT 25.7mm, about 7/8”.
Looks like the PO had the octy hooked up wrong. Does the vacuum tube from the octy plug into #2 carb? Does the vacuum advance from the pickups plug into the #2 manifold? On closer examination it appears the PO has it reversed.
Lookee what showed up next to the house on a recent Sunday. At a neighborhood party the previous night, neighbor Russ, who has his own stable of bikes, told me that a friend of his had passed and friends’ sister wanted to be rid of the MNS that was sitting in a barn for the past ten years. An XS11! Sure, why not. So, there it is, an XS1100LH Midnight Special, 4W1-000099
I was enthusiastic about buying it but after a day I had second thoughts. I’m getting to the point of riding rather than wrenching – that’s why the 78E hasn’t had its electrics problem fixed.
But then, I hate seeing these old bikes being parted out, though after some 40 years what should one expect. Still, I don’t think the MNS would take too much work. The bike looks in decent shape. Tkat fork brace. After market handlebars – I may have a set of special buckhorns in the shed. Starts on choke, no gas going to #1-#2 (cold pipes). Still has the octy. Steering head rotates smoothly, brakes bind a bit. Electrics all work though the tach doesn’t. Battery seems to charge up. A cursory look shows it missing minor odds and ends, the bolt that holds down the gas tank, the battery retetion bar.
I’ll have to triple clean the carbs, maybe I can get it right the first time. Will have to break down and clean the brake system – this is the integrated system. Probably should pull the wheels and repack the bearings. Seat works but is beat with the typical corrosion on the pan. I do happen to have another special seat cushion and cover that would make it look like new.
So, I delved into it and began with a compression check, 140, 125, 125, 130. Next, the carb removal procedure. I’m getting too old for this – in the dimness of the garage and my tri-focals moving around I can hardly see what I’m doing. The last time I did my 78E was in ’94 and the 79F ’07. I broke out my manual and took my time. Unfortunately, when I sold the 79F I included the special manual and a bevy of parts some that I could use now. So far things to repair/replace – throttle cable, feels like its binding at the grip, right petcock, starter button – that sucker fell off and rolled somewhere, gas tank filler gasket, battery retention bar. Finally got the carbs off without any cursing. Float bowls have the screw on the side to drain, not the 10mm bolts on the bottom.
I did order a Motion Pro T-Handle with the JIS Bits. It definitely gets better purchase and won’t goober up the screws, though I still managed that on a few. I’m getting the technique down. Like I said, it’s been quite a few years since I worked on these carbs, though some of the tricks are coming back to me.
A couple of questions.
On the carb what is the brass screw below the butterfly spring for? It looks like it’s just a detent for the spring. The older carbs don’t have it.
I see that he plastic floats for the later model carbs are set to 23mm NOT 25.7mm, about 7/8”.
Looks like the PO had the octy hooked up wrong. Does the vacuum tube from the octy plug into #2 carb? Does the vacuum advance from the pickups plug into the #2 manifold? On closer examination it appears the PO has it reversed.
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