Oil Change for 1980 XS 1100 Midnight Special

[tennis23]

Hi, I recently purchased a completely resotred 1980 XS 1100 Midnight Special. It had about 50 miles on it. The entire bike was completely restored to a Grey, Chrome, Light grey frame. It's sweet!

I want to get the oil changed and the transmission oil changed. Should I take it to the dealer ship? They want about $125.00 to do this. ALso, is it my imagination, or do these bikes seem like they need a 6th gear? I know aound 65 mph, at around 4,000 rpms, it seems like it's ready to shift. Unlike my old Vstar 1100. But, this also feels like you can crank the throttle and you'd better hold on as it want's to go over the 85 mph on the speedometer.

Thanks!
Brian S. Tinsley

[randy]

Brian,

DON"T take it to the dealer for the oil change. You can do it yourself for about 12 bucks, including filter. The engine and the transmission share the same oil supply, so it's only one operation to change it all.

Get a good service manual, unless it's been abused in some way, these bikes only need simple maintenance.

Keep reading the posts here and look up anything you have a question about. I can almost guarantee that you'll find the answer here.

Good luck with your 'new' bike!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Brian,

Ditto on what Randy said, and if you'll follow this link, you can D/L an owner's manual for the 81H/SH series, essentially the same as the 80G/SG/LG, and you'll be able to learn alot just from it!
81H/SH Owner's manual in PDF format

Secondly, you say it had 50 miles on it? Did you mean the engine was rebuilt with new rings and such, and so after you putting 50 miles on it, you want to change the oil??

If it was rebuilt, folks usually recommend oil change after about 500 miles, then every 3000 or so. There is a second "middle" gear oil chamber, and the final drive gears that also require checking and changing, but not nearly as often as the main engine oil. They take 80-90wt hypoid type gear oil. The owner's manual tells you about it.

Go out and buy a decent set of metric wrenches(box and socket), and hopefully your bike came with the OEM tool box, which has the needed metric allen key/wrenches for those allen head bolts/screws.

Welcome to the FORUM, nice choice of model, you lucky dog!!

[dpotter58]

A sixth gear would be great. You could probably use a seventh as well. I have an '80 Midnight also and when you twist it , hold on 85s no problem and you are there quick.

[andreashweiss]

Lets see I have shifted my FAVORITE BIKE (79f) so many times at 60 mph just coming out of first gear .... that the problem your are having .... needs another gear is a mute point. Ride it hard shift forcefully pull hard to redline in every gear ... them ask if it needs another gear. I find that I am done and the xs11 is not...

[RS Thornton]

85mph is wrong, the bike wants to be over 100 mph. The redline on the tach is no joke and 4000 rpm is at the bottom end of the power band.

As others have said, get a manual and learn to do this yourself. You will save $$, plus if you look at the some of the other threads you will see a lot of horror stories from letting dealers put wrenches on these bikes. If you were anywhere nearby I'd help you do it the first time, but if you were anywhere nearby we wouldn't be riding for another month either.

My 2 cents is that if you do not know and trust the history of the bike or have any maintenance records change the oil. The cost to change is low, the price of old or contaminated oil is incredibly high. If it wasn't in an earlier reply, check out the local auto supply store for filters and oil, take them the specs from the manual and they will help you.

Scott

[excess11]

Bike Service

It is easy to service your bike, You can learn how by doing a search on any topic in this site. I would not take a bike to a dealer. The people on this site can walk you through anything! Just ask and you will get more help than needed.On the left side of the screen is a colom of topics.Click on Tech Tips and then maintainance icon. This will give you some info to get you started.