High mileage poll

[50gary]

The bike I bought a 1978e, was in storage for 18 years and a full dresser. I had to rebuild the carbs and new carb holders battery/ and bled brakes.. It uses some oil I think it's from valve guides? The bike has only 16,000 miles. No trans slip but shifts like a dog (not too smooth)
Cheers, 50gary

[thewiz]

My original 79 Std had only 3200 miles on it when I bought it in 80. Was still burning oil then but stopped once I got on it some. Broke it in in South Park. Co sold it in 81. My current 79 Special has an instrument cluster from an MNS .... not original ... so it's hard to tell ... My good friend has a beautiful blue 79 Std with a hundred K on it. Needs a new exhaust but never had 2nd gear fixed and it's still not bad yet ..... go figure ???

[3boatwait]

78E

I have a 78E that I got free, the odometer says 30K, I got it with 26 K last fall, been riding the crap out of it, Runs like a swiss watch, had some slop in the drive train, check out my rotten teeth post, looking forward to putting 10K on it this next year...I guess here in the Pacific Northwest, bikes sit in the garage a lot, people don't want to get wet while riding?? All I can say is I haven't melted yet!
Rich C.

[The Dutchy]

Ahum, could we have a low milage poll as well ???

My Odo barely reached 5.5K miles ...

Though it needed a tranny fix already at 5.5 k miles.


Think I have a very young almost new engine on mine, but I do worry on the wrist pins on the low milage though.

Dutchy

[crazypainter]

My 78 standard has 62000 mi. Smokes a little on start up other than that no issues. The 80 special has 43000 mi. no issues at all. The 81mns has 23000 needs tranny fix and new headers runs like dream other than that.

[strom]

Well..... an update. My 1st XS... the 78E... was abused as hell by a variety of PO. I friend of mine knows a few of them and he said he never ever saw someone abuse a bike like that before. The idiot had it for 9 months before selling it on. He said any other bike would disintegrate, but not XS. Made him a huge fan of the XS11 even tho he is not a biker. He is a good car mechanic tho.
Anyhoo... that XS from when I got it, it needed cyls honed, one piston replaced, new piston rings, carb kits, 4 mixture screws, new clutch springs, 1 tranny, 1 middle drive, new camchain, new primary chain and various other bits and pieces. Since I got it on the road, it mostly needed gas. I think the clock is around 150k miles. Not sure. Maybe more.
Got my 2nd XS recently... its a european 1.1 standard... black&silver one. Paperwork says 1979, but it is a 1980-81 model. It has under 15.000 miles. Runs like a dream.... awesome. It looks and rides like a new bike. I only did about 60 miles on 20 yo rubber and brake pads that dont work. But still, what a difference! This bike sat since 1986 or something... the last service sticker is from that year, at 15k miles. The bike had new battery, new oil all round etc. when the PO bought it at a scrapyard. Dissasembled it for import purposes, then it sat in his garage since 1991. I assembled it, started on the first push of a button and it ran great. So my tech tip on what to look for in a neglected XS: Check if it has gas!

LP

[STEPPENWOLF]

Newbie here. Just turned over a little over 70,000.The only work on the engine has been to replace the rubber intakes on the carbs,set the valves and replace the advance timing wire because it broke and would kill the engine above 2000 rpm's.
Original owner.

[Crazcnuk]

I am new to the XS's, and as such have put a whopping 1.5 miles on mine before needing a major repair!

To be fair however, the bike has 52,000 kilometers on the odo, and the only reason it needs a repair is because I brain farted and bent a couple valves doing a tune-up....:^(

[exquized1]

My 79 Xs11Sf has 22,304 still running strong. but not sure if it is the right motor for the bike. Did 79's have a black motor?

[OneHand]

Approx 50,000 km (I've only done about 1,000)

Minor surgery only: 2nd gear fix, 4 burnt exh valves, carb boots, and carb re-build. Uses no oil, but has a minor leak at cam-chain tersioner bolt. Also a bit of smoke on startup if not run for a couple of days. Otherwise just cosmetic.

[John]

Originally posted by exquized1
My 79 Xs11Sf has 22,304 still running strong. but not sure if it is the right motor for the bike. Did 79's have a black motor?

No, but the 80-81 Midnight Specials did, and the 81 Special has black jugs. The case and the head are silver. Maybe a PO painted the engine.

[mro]

but not sure if it is the right motor for the bike

Check if the numbers match
(frame and engine)

mro

[exquized1]

check engine # to frame

will have to go out to the garage and check that thanks guys for the info. the engine # would be on the right side correct?

[John]

Re: check engine # to frame

Originally posted by exquized1
will have to go out to the garage and check that thanks guys for the info. the engine # would be on the right side correct?

Right above the oil fill hole you will see the serial number. Check it against the one stamped onto the steering neck. The correct serial number will begin with 3H3-xxxxxx for a 79 Special.

[Brent]

Re: milage challange

Originally posted by superdave
My opinion is there are going to be very few that dont need help. These bikes just beg to be wound up ! Which attributes to a lot of tranny issues and smoking pipes. look at all those bmw ribers that have 80k miles plus. They cant touch the grins on our faces! Those opposed cyclinders dont have anything on our inline 4's Word ! peace out ! sorry im getting a little out of hand now .

I have about 80,000 on my XS1100SG. It smokes a little when I "flog it hard".
previous middle gear problems I have had are likely due to operator error ie. Run Cheng Shin rear tire out of balance, wear seal, do not check gear oil level, run dry and seize bearing. Easier to do than it sounds.
Cheap and easy fixes included:
Cleaning ground strap connections at turn signal bulbs,
Cleaning "Spooge" holes in brake master cylinders.
Repairing pickup coil wires.
Cleaning out clogged vacuum hose to ignition advance.

While riding last month, I saw a new looking BMW flat twin showing off. When he got on it hard, It blew a black cloud of exhaust smoke, larger than I have ever seen at an XS rally.