1982 XJ1100 Rebuild

[gene]

Anyone know if the caliper seals are still available? Every kit I purchased doesn't have them.

Also, any good options on gauges yet? My biggest problem with this bike is the position of the gauges, headlight, handle bars, and size of the seat. Bars are easy. If I can fix the rest, this bike will come out nice. Motor sounds incredible. It only has 7K miles.

[HalfCentury]

Anyone know if the caliper seals are still available? Every kit I purchased doesn't have them.

Also, any good options on gauges yet? My biggest problem with this bike is the position of the gauges, headlight, handle bars, and size of the seat. Bars are easy. If I can fix the rest, this bike will come out nice. Motor sounds incredible. It only has 7K miles.

Send an email to Len at www.xj4ever.com. If anyone has it, it will be Len.

http://www.xj4ever.com/

I rebuilt mine last year and I was able to acquire all the parts needed. I did re-use the large circlip that holds the dust boot in place.

[MPittma100]

Seals

The seals appear to be readily available on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/K-L-Supply-...1ZAnNC&vxp=mtr

[gene]

Send an email to Len at www.xj4ever.com. If anyone has it, it will be Len.

http://www.xj4ever.com/

I rebuilt mine last year and I was able to acquire all the parts needed. I did re-use the large circlip that holds the dust boot in place.

I ordered the front caliper seals. Len responded really quick.

Thanks for the lead.

[gene]

Has anyone converted the brakes on the XJ11 to the standard XS11 setup? I'm not a fan of the front and rear brakes working together. Can I just cap the rear master cylinder? Or will the XS1100 Rear master cylinder and easy swap?

[jetmechmarty]

You might be opening a can of worms. XS1100 calipers don't cross to XJ1100 unless the XS1100LH does. I'm not qualified to say. Linked brakes work well. You just get used to them.

[soccer4m]

do a search

Hi Gene, do a search for the unlinking the xj brakes at the top of the site, a few members have done it and will save you a lot of time if you decide to unlink them. I have an Xj1100 also and the linking does work, but having a strong rear brake only would be very nice and on my bucket list. The strength of the xs versus the xj rear brake is very noticable. The xj is smooth but not strong the xs will stop a train and in a curving brake a lot safer as the xj tends to go straight on braking in a curve. So,,,,again just do a search at the top of the site and you will be rewarded......Mike in Sun DIego

[gene]

Hi Gene, do a search for the unlinking the xj brakes at the top of the site, a few members have done it and will save you a lot of time if you decide to unlink them. I have an Xj1100 also and the linking does work, but having a strong rear brake only would be very nice and on my bucket list. The strength of the xs versus the xj rear brake is very noticable. The xj is smooth but not strong the xs will stop a train and in a curving brake a lot safer as the xj tends to go straight on braking in a curve. So,,,,again just do a search at the top of the site and you will be rewarded......Mike in Sun DIego

Thanks for the feedback Mike. I'll let you know how it works out.

Gene

[Jerry]

Just a comment or two on the XJ brakes. I had switched my XJ over to braided steel lines when the kits were available. Four lines involved: (1) MC to rear caliper, (2)MC to a junction on the steering head then another (3) from the junction to the left front caliper and the final (4) from the front master to the front-right caliper.

I never worried about the strength of my brakes and I pulled a trailer behind the XJ for thousands of miles going to and from various rallies. I am not a light guy, 245 pounds, and the XJ was equipped with a full fairing and bags. Quite a load for the brakes!

I don't know that I buy into the idea that the XJ brakes are inherently less powerfull than the XS brakes. I do know that in many cases I did not need to use the front brake; the rear brake (operating the rear and front-left calipers) was sufficient for routine riding conditions. When I did need more stopping power adding the front brake to the mix took care of it.

If you are in the habit of using just the front brake lever, on the XJ this gets you just one caliper! Learn to apply the rear brake and "finesse" your technique by using the front brake as well. I don't think you would loose a braking distance contest to an XS if you use the right technique.

Again, bear in mind this was with rebuilt calipers and SS brake lines. I used EBC organic pads in all three calipers.

[jetmechmarty]

Just a comment or two on the XJ brakes. I had switched my XJ over to braided steel lines when the kits were available. Four lines involved: (1) MC to rear caliper, (2)MC to a junction on the steering head then another (3) from the junction to the left front caliper and the final (4) from the front master to the front-right caliper.

That kit is available from XJ4Ever.com I just received a kit for my 11 Special a few days ago and it leaves nothing to be desired. I'll give a report after installation.

I had a Moto Guzzi with linked brakes before I drove it head on into a truck. I learned to like the linked brakes. The only time I had a problem was steep downgrades on dirt and gravel.

[soccer4m]

Go braided stainless

I will second what Jerry said,,,,I did upgrade to stainless braided brake lines and it makes the feel nice and solid, especially the front, it stops strong. I got mine from Techna Fit. But, I did feel that in hard braking in corners, the back brake which links with the left front caused a straitening feel rather than allowing the bike to flow with the turn. So I use the front brake, throttle and gearing mostly in hard carving to lessen the feel of the bike to want to go straight in corners using the rear linked brake. However, as body age creeps in the scraping screaming fast cornering days are getting less, also the xs doesnt really like being thrown too hard in corners. SOo,
enjoy, ride on.............Mike in Sun DIego

[gene]

I will second what Jerry said,,,,I did upgrade to stainless braided brake lines and it makes the feel nice and solid, especially the front, it stops strong. I got mine from Techna Fit. But, I did feel that in hard braking in corners, the back brake which links with the left front caused a straitening feel rather than allowing the bike to flow with the turn. So I use the front brake, throttle and gearing mostly in hard carving to lessen the feel of the bike to want to go straight in corners using the rear linked brake. However, as body age creeps in the scraping screaming fast cornering days are getting less, also the xs doesnt really like being thrown too hard in corners. SOo,
enjoy, ride on.............Mike in Sun DIego

Thanks for the feedback Mike.

I order the caliber caliper rebuild kits from Len at http://www.xj4ever.com/. I should have them by Monday.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Gene,

A little late to the party, but a few more notes. The XJ's rear MC is metered and split, I can't recall the exact values of pressure output, but it's like 60% rear and 40% front(Or vice versa). Folks have capped off the front line feed and ran just the rear line but it won't be as strong as an XS11's, but with SS lines, may still be adequate and firm enough for your liking. Remember that the fronts(Both calipers used together) provide a majority of the braking power for a MC anyways.

Now the other fun part. The XJ front MC is smaller and provides less volume since it's supposed to only drive 1 caliper. If you put either a splitter or an extra long hose bolt and 2 hoses at the MC to drive 2 calipers, you will have more finess in the feel and application of the front brake, but will possibly require an extra pump before being able to push enough fluid into 2 calipers to adequately squeeze them with enough force to be effective. Again, installing SS lines goes a long way.

I replaced my front MC in 2000 during my initial rebuild on my 81XS, got a used replacement XJ (1 caliper)MC that I didn't realize was for 1 caliper at the time, my OEM MC was shot, and I was running OEM vinyl lines. They didn't feel too strong and had to pump it an extra time before being able to feel a good squeeze. Once I put on SS lines, they felt and worked fine with just a single pull. I then did an extreme dual piston caliper MOD on my special, calculated that the dual pistons actually required less total volume than the single LARGE OEM caliper pistons, and that helped it to feel even firmer with that smaller XJ MC.

I'm not a fan of the linked brakes because of the concern of having the front lock up on sand/dirt/oil, etc. in a turn causing it to slide and sending me down on the low side. I think I would rather handle a rear wheel slide in the same situation/turn with being able to apply and release the rear alone.

IIRC, the XJ's front forks have the 2 point bolt on design, so being able to make an adapter plate for a more modern dual piston caliper should be doable without too much fabrication/modification.

T.C.

[FJ111200]

I de-linked the brakes on my 81 Midnight Special, it's the same set up and parts that are on the XJ, but I found that the rear brake became weak due to the way that the actuating valve in the m/c works on both brakes and so swapped that over to an XS1100 Standard rear m/c which seemed to improve things.
So then on the front brakes I used a m/c from an FJ and used braided steel lines which also helped the situation. Don't forget to use a brake line splitter from another model for the front set up in whichever method you go for.
Since all this I've now got an XJR1200 complete front end set up on my Midnight.

[gene]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm definitely going to split the front and back after all the feedback. I just went deeper in this build than I planned on. I pulled the motor out today and the frame is loaded in my van for the powder coater on Monday.

Lady at the powder coater is going to think I'm nuts. I have the triple tree parts ready for pickup and now I'm bringing the frame. lol A little backwards, but after cleaning up the bike more I didn't want to put all this work and have paint chipping off the frame.

I can work on assemble and set it on my rolling rack.