High mileage poll

[MotoMartin]

Mileage

I have about 64,000 mi. on my '78 standard. I bought it with 32,500 miles in 1991. I have n't done too much work on it, I did have to repair a cracked head, which I had welded. It amazes me that it keeps on running with a minimum of maintenance. It has had the first gear problem for at least 9 years but it isn't enough of a problem to tear apart the motor for. It'll only jump out of gear if you gun it really hard. I wish I still had stock pipes, I bought a 4 into1 exhaust system a long time ago and that added a peakyness to the previously silky smooth powerband.

[80xs11ms]

Re: High mileage poll

Originally posted by MAXIMAN
One thing that has always appealed to me regarding the Eleven was it's legendary "bulletproof" design.

I'd like to get a poll of all the XSives here: What are the most miles you've ever seen on an original engine (whether it's you bike or not), before a major repair.

I'm not talking minor failures here...think scoured cylinder, broke cam chain or worn lobes or transmission failures.

I've heard stories in XS of 100,000 miles. However I've only personally witnessed a Maxim 1100 with 91,000 and NO PROBLEMS. The thing was still running strong at that point too.

Too bad the poll would not let me vote twice. I can't be the only one with 2 or more XS's.

[b1rks]

150000 killometors had mechanic do valve adjust said they were fine minor carb work, pretty good in oil dept. no smoke does not burn allot im big on changimg oil often though. No leakage . bikes got another 150000 k"s in it

[dale_1]

nothing serious

bought her in 98 with a little less than 14

professionally tuned and checked completely by a former XS11 assembly/ yamaha tech (who more than likely put together mine and my dad's bikes) at 25 and 40 thousand (cam chain swap). Everything checked out good..... I kept riding hard and fast.... at 49 in Feb 03 neck surgery (on me) no riding... then flooded home in Apr. 03..... up to the seat. After draining slush from everywhere (chocolate milk type substance) and refilling....... no riding..... contemplating next move....... later filled sparkplug holes with hydraulic fluid and let sit for 6 months~ish drained all fluids again... filled everything with proper fluids except crankcase.... again hyd fluid.... started her shut it down and swapped fluids again. hyd. in crankcase drove 50 miles... changed back to oil..... drove her and then parked it.... thought I heard spun bearings/piston slap/ something.... more contemplation..... started looking hard at it...... two busted exhaust pipes at the weld under the heat shields(mine only has one) ..... got that fixed.... less noise but still some that sounded gravely like piston slap... noticed the tell-tale sign of metal to metal movement (gray smoke) at the motor mounts by pegs removed and reinstalled bolts, torqued and wow no noise at all..... motor has a clean bill of health without having to go in.
'05 working on moving to Texas and resetting our lives after multiple house floods.... she didn't want to go..... tank rusted through at lower seam (aircraft technology epoxy fix) good to go then she balked again...full throttle 65 MPH.... just bad time to work on her so she limped almost 400 miles to new residence and she sat and waited until I could go through the carbs.... bowls were full of what could only be described as sand...... (I missed something important) I never checked there because I was running in-line filters, so I knew the tank couldn't eat my bike. The flood got them too!
After cleaning the carbs and looking closely at that end too she was up and ready and waiting for new tires. New tires and she hasn't skipped a beat but once..... (meeting of the minds pinholed tank.... more epoxy) Very soon I will have to coat the tank etc etc..... but she hasn't been apart. Everything I did was still along the lines of routine maintenance even after being under water.
Put new tires on her at 50 plus a little... She now has 55660.5 and once again the two pipes are cracked..... It looks to me that will be my biggest maintenance work on this bike for awhile to come.

I keep routine maintenance done and when she finally decides she's had enough she will be disassembled / detailed top to bottom and restored and we will do it again. I plan to be buried before she is.

[BLUEJEEPLAB]

Battle Cruiser - 57000 with the second gear fixed. Runs great, loses oil through leakage around the studs that run from case to head (exposed). Runs like a scalded ape.

[Snow]

Originally posted by BLUEJEEPLAB
Runs great, loses oil through leakage around the studs that run from case to head (exposed). Runs like a scalded ape.

Have you checked your cam cover, cam chain tensioner, and oil tube (can't remember name, but it gets oil up into the cams from the back)... there shouldn't really be any way that you could leak oil from the head aside from the cam chain valley...and if it did, you'd probably have bad compression and run like crap...

[nashville_bill]

I have a little less than 43k on my '81 Special and I need to back cut the gears and replace the clutch so it doesn't slip. I really don't ride it much now, but I have four other bikes to ride. My '93 ST1100 has 115K on it and is still going strong.

[Dragon Tamer]

The Fire Dragon has 56K+ miles on her and NO major problems! I did replace the cam chain at about 42K because someone told me that 45K was about the longest you should run one, like a fool I believed him. After I installed the new chain it was noisy. I ran it about 3K to let it break in and it was still noisy. Remembering that there had been precious little difference in the position of the tightener between the two chains I took the new one out and re-installed the old one. It now runs smooth and quiet and I have not had to adjust it since. This bike has never been stored (except for these Wisconsin winters) and is now a daily rider (weather permitting) The PO changed the oil religiously at every 1,000 miles, I went to synthetic and change at 3500. I started with Amsoil and liked it but it turned the clutch into a black tarry mess that took me all day to clean up, so I switched to Scheaffers synthetic and have been with that since 35K.
She will smoke a small bit if I twist her tail hard but uses less than a cup between changes.
I like this bike better than ANY other one I have ever owned and plan on riding it a LONG time. Just found another one, 1980 Standard full bagger with only 14K on it and am planning on buying it just to have another to play with. Might be a long project as it looks ok but has been in storage for 20+ years, engine turns over but carbs won't move and exhaust is pretty much rusted away. Tires look new but I won't trust 'em
Would be nice to have two though, as I put on about 12K a year the last couple of years and plan on keeping that schedule up!

[RichB]

My sf has 26000. It had 16000 when I got it July 06.

[Axel]

10k this season

I started at 36000km in April and finished the season at 46000km at the end of October . At this rate its easy to figure out the mileage forcast .

[webbcraft2150]

67k on the hard bagger, recent clutch replacement has been the only thing i have had to open a case for. Dare I say valves have never been adjusted since I have owned it. Still have all 5 gears. Thinkin it may be time for rings or valve guide seals, #4 hole can be real smoker sometimes.

BTW, had 98k on my Kaw 1100 Spectre when I sold it (got my XS), cam chain sounded like a tow chain in a dryer. Told the guy I sold it to to take it easy till he fixed it. He cratered it a week later.

[van]

Originally posted by scalded dog
1978 xs 80,000, still runs great. uses very little oil, 79 xs 42,000, 30,000 in the last two years, still runs great, uses very little oil. Later 'Dog

Are you the same Scalded Dog that lives on the South side of Atlanta?


Van

[Eveready1100]

mileage

Hi, My old girl (1979 SF Special)has currently got 173,000 Klms on it and still runs extremely well. Regular oil and filter changes probably help a lot and the fact that I ride it hard sometimes, but don't flog it may be of some significance, though I have been towing amy trailer round for quite a few long runs as well. The fact that it gets ridden all year round as opposed to have it hibernate for some time through winter as most bikes in the U.S. have to do,probably helps as well. It's still running the original pipes and mufflers as well. Only main drama was electrical, not mechanical, with the main connector from the alternator shorting out and melting which was ultimately cured with a complete wiring harness change from my spare 'E' model parts bike.
Precautionary camchain replacement at 97,000 K's after it started to get a bit of a rattle up, plus got the shims & carbs looked at while it was in the shop. I bought it 6 years ago with 18,000 K's on it and it looks like it's going to do fine for a long time to come.
Regards,
Errol.
P.S. Has anyone thought about the number of chains & sprockets we would have gone through to attain the mileage some of our members have clocked up if these fine clcles weren't shaft drive?

[bobaluey]

Mileage

Bought 2.5 years ago with 34,434 miles. Currently shows 53030. Running Mobil 1 in all boxes. Has all 5 gears and original cam chain. Very dependable daily driver. Used to even ride rain or shine.

[horsedriver]

mileage

my 79 has 137,000 still runs good ,smell oil smoke when she gets loaded ,took her out of service for a 78 with 11,000 , the 79 has alot of 'slack' from acell to decell