BIG PROBLEM, Please HELP!! rear wheel seized up

[ripchord11]

Hello Fellow XS'ers, I am new to this group, mainly because I am the new owner of a 81' XS1100 G.......MY first rally experience, to the FIRE & ICE rally in Grants NM, was anything but exciting, After getting my new XS out of the shop for the once over, since it was new to me, and sat for approx. 2-3 years in a nice garage, I wanted to make sure it was road worthy. Anyway.....took it for a midnight cruise after getting it out of the shop with a fairly clean bill of health, and the bike ran great, got up early and cleaned the bike up, and looked good if I say so myself.......and the wife and I headed out to the Rally, which was approx. 120 miles from the house..........things went smoothly for approx 100 miles, and then we heard a small high pitched noise, and decided to pull over to investigate, luckily we stopped at a gas station that was fairly busy (only 4 miles from the rally!!)now it ran ok going to the station, approx 1 mile from the exit, stopped at a pump to fill up, and that was all she wrote...........she would start up nicely, but would not budge......thought it was the rear caliper, which had seized up before, but moved with a little pushing, and releasing the pressure, but t would still not budge.......had 5-6 truckers bikers and an entire MC club look it over, even had the biker club take it completely apart (caliper) and put it back together for me, with no luck, I had to slide the bike on the sandy pump area, to a parking spot, where we had no luck moving it, again.......sat for 8 hours before we got my brother in law to bring my truck to take it back home.....bike has been in the shop for 4 weeks now ( bye bye summer) and they are telling me that it is the mid shaft, and very hard to find another one.......700 dollars for a new one. or 350.00 for a used one in their back lot, if they have it, that does not include labor !!!! Is this unusual?? are they hard to find? too much money wise???? Please help me, I do not want to get "midshafted" so to speak.....I would appreciate any replies or help.........This bike ran great just before the mishap,, I am unfamiliar with this bike, as it is new.....ex Harley rider.........this is the abreviated version, so if you need any other info please write me!! THANK YOU in advance fellow riders.......

[ripchord11]

Addition to thread XXXXXXX

I wanted to also ad that if anybody knows a good XS1100 mechanic in my area ......Near GALLUP New Mexico, I would appreciate that also, as this shop I am at currently, seems to specialize in dirtbikes, four runners, but it is a Yamaha shop, and the mechanic there owns a nice Royal Star, and seems knowledgeable, but appears to be tooooo busy for this shop, and to dedicate too much time to any particular bike...........

[mitch]

Middle drive

I would bet your middle drive was drained by that shop and not refilled ! After about 100 miles you would seize it up same thing happened to my cousins Midnight! So you need a Middle drive they are on the back of the motor on the left side if your sitting on the bike. The drive shaft hookes to it. It is simple to remove and replace with a used unit. I bet there are lots of used units avalible right on this site. Or check out ebay you should be able to get one for about 100.00 dollars Good Luck ...............MITCH

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Ripchord11,

Didn't look at your profile before hitting the reply button, but guess you like to skydive!?!?

Anyways, once you get the replacement Middle Drive unit, get the bike OUT OF THERE and NEVER TAKE IT BACK TO THERE!!!!!
READ as much as you can on this site, and then do your own work from now one, your bike is older than most of these "mechanics", and they are strong, but you need to know the bike, or you can mess it up, as probably evidenced by your recent experience.

Yep, they gave it the once over, either probably drained the middle oil and forgot to fill it back up, or never drained it and it had a small leak, OR, the P.O. drained it before storage, etc.

Lots of scenarios as to why it failed, but the main thing is that it probably didn't have enough or any oil in it!! It takes 80-90 hypoid gear oil.

Now, to the good news. A couple of years ago, I thought I needed a Mid Gear set for a friend, and Mr. Brian Shepley was kind enough to send one to me for cost of shipping, around $10.00. I didn't have to use it, and never took it out of the box. It's yours for same offer, cost of shipping! PM me or Email and send me your Snail mail addy and it'll be on it's way tomorrow!

Welcome to the friendly world of XSives!!

PS, if yours is an actual 81, then it's an "H", but it might be an 80 "G" 1st registered in 81, so it got that year tagged by mistake!? You can take the Serial Number and search this Tech tip to verify it's YEAR:
Miscellaneous Tech Tips, Year references

While you're at it, go to the Links section and D/L the PDF owner's manual for the 81H/SH, it's close enough to your model whether it's and 80 or 81!!

[strom]

I got mine cause of middle drive seizure... PO thaught the engine seized.
Two bearings went out due to the lack of oil that seeped out thru the oil seal.
Anyway, I replaced the bearings and it worked OK since.
But I noticed a lot of oil in the middle drive, where the rubber covers the U-joint.
Had to replace the oil seal (thaught the PO forgot to put the oil in, but it just ran down the shaft.
Anyway, bout 50$ of new bearings and seals fixed it, good as new.
Good luck!
And take the topcats offer! And check the rubber boot for oil after 50 miles or so. Just in case.

LP

[ripchord11]

THANK YOU, GREAT WEBSITE !!!!

WOW, I am pretty much speechless, I never expected these kind of answers, although I was hoping!!! And TOPCATGR58, THANK YOU, how very Gracious, which is rare in these times.......I would love to purchase this Mid Gear Kit, so that maybe I can enjoy what is left of the summer !! My Wife was so depressed that we could not ride these last couple of beautiful weekends here, and we had to watch a lot of rallies from a 4 wheeler. or from word of mouth...........I will pay your price TOPCAT, I will give you my address by PM K? I have to go out right now, but I will post it tonight if you do not mind.........THANK YOU !!!!!

[ripchord11]

THANKS !!

YES TOPCAT, You are right, this is an 80' XS1100G, just registered late in the year I guess, but what is weird is the color seems to be that 78' macho maroon color !! with matching windjammer, and saddle bags, rack with passenger back rest, and a maroon seat!!

[ratbyk]

Seized Mystery

ripcord11, welcome to the Forum. The best M/C site around. From your comments and actions it appears that you are or have not been into doing your own wrenching. Half the joy in owning an XS is doing your maintenance, care and feeding of your beast. There is a tremendous amount of satisfaction and great benefits to yourself and your wallet in doing it yourself.
If you don't have after you RETRIEVE the bike and have it sitting in your own shop/garage/carport what ever is to buy a Clymers shop manuel for the XS. Get hold of a brother/cousin/good buddy who is familiar with cranking wrenches and let the games begin.
We are still guessing as to whether it is the middle drive gear or drive shaft that is causing the problem. Still could be something else. First up is to trace down the exact problem then devise a way of correcting the short coming.
Place the bike on it's center stand. Following Clymers remove the rear wheel. As you take components off lay them out in order on a clean shop rag. A rag for each set of parts from each sub assembly. So all of the rear wheel parts are in order that retain the rear wheel. Set that rag aside so that it does not get kicked/disturbed whatever.
Next drop off the rear end. Only about 4 nuts to remove and the whole rear end is in your hands. Make sure that it is turning freely. Where the drive shaft enters the rear end is right in front of you. Turn it to ensure that it is free and not seized.
Next the drive shaft spline is sticking out of the drive shaft tube right in front of you. Try turning it. Possibly use a pair of pliers with a rag around the end to protect the splines. If it rocks slightly but will not turn (just the back lash in the U joint) the drive shaft is not seized. If it will not move at all then it is the drive shaft or some supporting component in the drive shaft assembly that is seized.
For a capable person about 20 minutes has now passed. If it is your first time through you still are only an hour into this project.
Keep referring to your Clymers and keep tracing forward until you find the problem. Then you will be able to determine a sensible course of action. There must be 3 to 400 parts bikes available from members on this site and a wealth of knowledge that is unfathomable.
It is doable at home with access to parts and knowledge right here on the Forum.
Welcome to XSive land.
Ken/Sooke

[JohnSg]

Post pictures!

[chevy45412001]

mid gear

did anyone offer one up? if not i have one i'll part with.Price to be determined by friendly web site. It is my only spare .Off an xj1100, aprox 49,000 miles on it.

[chevy45412001]

oops sorry

didn't take evelen woods speed reading class. Besides i'm not that generous....lol,good luck and welcome to the site. Best bunch of people here on earth(in my opinion).

[UncleSpot]

IF you need a Clymer manual...

I have 3 - I originally won an auction on the 1st one on a "nationally known auction site" - after FIVE weeks, and NO replys to my eMail inquiries I figured I got 'burned'... so I bid on the ONLY one on the "auction site"; it was in REAL bad shape - pages coming out, greasy - you know; used. I thought "Perfect, I didn't want a new one anyway..."
When it got here I found out the manual was only for 1978 and 1979 XS1100s, and I have a 1980... so I won the auction on ANOTHER manual (new, this time...) just in case there was something on the G model I 'needed to know'...

...well, out of the blue, came the FIRST one - with NO explaination WHY it was sooooo #*&@* LATE.

sooooo, the last one I got is still in the plastic wrap if you want it - for what I paid for it ($18) and shipping...

eMail me if you're interested: RonATunclespotDOTcom (change the AT and DOT....)

[ripchord11]

2 good 2 B true ......THANKS

I never expected these kinds of replies, and I truly appreciate your offers and answers to this problem........YES, I would like to do work on this bike myself, and no I am not a "Natural" mechanic, in other words, I am not one of these guys who has that certain knack at fixing mechanical/engine/power......although I wish I did, Most of my relatives are good, but unfortunately, live too far now, but I do have tools, and have done work on my vehicles in the past, but nothing major.......the main thing is a fear of taking something apart, and not being able to put it back together again, now this deals mainly with engines, trannies, motors only......I can take a stereo apart, or computer, but deal with any kind of motor, FEAR!!!!!!LOL , by the way, Please accept my humblest thanks and appreciation for your help, I was pretty locked between a rock and a hard place there..........

[skids]

Re: 2 good 2 B true ......THANKS

One of the most important things that a shade-tree mechanic MUST learn is to know when a screw or bolt is tight enough. There are so many threads into uluminum on these bikes!!!

Originally posted by ripchord11
I never expected these kinds of replies, and I truly appreciate your offers and answers to this problem........YES, I would like to do work on this bike myself, and no I am not a "Natural" mechanic, in other words, I am not one of these guys who has that certain knack at fixing mechanical/engine/power

[chevy45412001]

YOU CAN DO IT

Go ahead take the plunge,the water is refreshing, You can't hurt it anymore if it's already broke...lol.It can be a little dawnting at first,but theese bike are fairly easy to repair,and you got all the tech help you need right here.Worst case senereio a fellow xs'er might be close enough to lend a hand?So step up and be a man,grab the bull by the horns................. you get the point