Problem

[Firehawk]

I have a 1981 XS1100 with 41000 miles on it.

I took my bike to a shop to get rid of the really loud clacking in the upper engine that my bike suffered from when it first started. Which they did. And then I put on some new exhaust shortly after I got the bike back.

After this however, the engine started cutting out under hard acceleration. I've purposely began accelerating harder to see how often it will cut out, but it does it intermittantly, sometimes at lower RPMs (around 5-6k) but under normal accelleration it will not do this at those RPMs. And, it only will do it in 2nd gear.

Is this a sign of the 2nd gear missing some teeth?

(I only include the bit about the shop action for more information, as I had no problem with this prior to it going in.)

[GNEPIG]

.. do you know what the shop changed/ adjusted or fixed to remove the loud clacking noise? what did the shop tell you was the cause of the noise in your engine?. also did your motor cut out under hard acceleration after the repair and before you changed your exhaust? and what exhaust did you change too?
..also it would help us to know the color of your plugs, if they are real dark or real white or are they tan
.. sorry for the 20 questions but the answers will help us (the XS community) to diagnois your problem

[Ken Talbot]

The loud clacking in the top end was probably a slack camchain. Fixing this is very easy to do, but it involves taking off the left side engine cover so you can align to the proper mark to reset the slack adjuster. With that cover off, it would be very easy to disturb a flakey pick-up coil wire. That would explain the 'new' symptom of sudden, intermittent loss of power. This is a fairly simple repair as long as you have a few basic tools. There's lots of us here at the forum to talk you through it so you don't have to give any more of your money to the shop.

[GNEPIG]

.. or the pinched wire hanging to close to the bottom of the cover?
thats why i asked how it ran after the fix and before the new pipes

[Ken Talbot]

Originally posted by GNEPIG
.. or the pinched wire hanging to close to the bottom of the cover?
thats why i asked how it ran after the fix and before the new pipes

I think you're on the right track, Gnepig. Something under the cover is not the same as it was before the shop went in there...

[Dragonrider]

Yep, sounds like pick-up coil wires.

http://www.xs11.com/tips/repair/repair8.shtml

[TopCatGr58]

Devils Advocate

Well, I hate/love to disagree, but from his symptoms he clearly described, it's the 2nd gear malady. It only happens in 2nd gear, and mostly under hard accellerations. The slowly rounding off of the dogs/slots reveal themselves under harder throttle levels, and with the timing chain tightened, and newer pipes, he may also be putting out more power, which can further contribute to the forces against the gears causing them to slip out and back in to mesh....his "cutting out", although it's not really cutting out with regards to power, just the engagement of the gears!!

[Ken Talbot]

I've still got my beer riding on pick-up coil wires, TC, but I'll be more than happy to pay out in person when you come up to Revelstoke this summer to collect.

[Dragonrider]

Re: Devils Advocate

Originally posted by TopCatGr58
Well, I hate/love to disagree, but from his symptoms he clearly described, it's the 2nd gear malady....\snip

I suppose....but I would have never described the second gear thing as "cutting out"....the one I rode/fixed would have been described more like bang jump Bang jump BANG!!! "Holy mother of shattered gears WHAT WAS THAT!?"

"Getting on it" means mucho more advance....happens in second cause that's the gear most use the most throttle....(with the XS, don't have time in first and full throttle twists above 3rd put you into relavistic territory anyway)....

I'll go for the beer bet too....but it has to be in person!

[GNEPIG]

.. Now, if we can get Firehawk to describe to us what cutting out means to him, this could be another piece to this great mystery that he has so graciously shared with us

.. is it cutting out like the engine is dying/coughing/back firing
or cutting out like the engine revs up suddenly but there is power loss, like you've pulled in the clutch and released it real quick

.. the more i think about it it sounds like TC is right

[Firehawk]

I'll describe the cutting out as accurately as I can:

I'll be rocketing along and then it will drop RPM by about 1.5-2k and then shoot back up after no more than a second. And it sometimes does this 3-4 times during a pull through second gear. Other times, none at all. But on average, about once, maybe twice.

Now, to be completely honest, due to the season, traffic, and the fact that hard acceleration through 2nd puts me at 75ish, I haven't been able to fully test that its only 2nd, because it could happen in 3rd. . .but I just don't recall it ever happenning in 1st. I just know it does do it in 2nd.

They tightened the chain. Something I could have done, but I didn't know what might be causing it and didn't want to tear into it and then find that I had no idea what was wrong. I'm no mechanic. . .I've taken some classes and have some experience, but I won't claim that title.

I put the pipes on the afternoon after I got it out of the shop. They came while it was in the shop and I had that Friday off. So I did it then. There was very little riding between then, so I can't tell you. I like the pipes quite a lot, though I wish they had done a different job with positioning of the pipe as it snakes out to the side of the bike (MAC 4-into-1 Chrome). Though that is a little off subject.

Anyhow, I'll bring this 'essay' to a close with a thank you to all who responded.

[Firehawk]

Also, here's some photos of the exhaust on the bike:





The seat and tank don't mesh well cause the seat was for the larger tank. And the gauges stick out and look kinda funny. A lot of the parts are kinda what I could gather for the money I had at the time. I would rather the exhaust have connected at the point the stock exaust connected. Oh well, though.

[gerkenbruce]

The bike was a standerd 17 inch rear wheel gages front forks are all standerd I have the standerd headlight and turn singels if your are interisted if so pm me we will work something out.

XSively
Bruce

[xj11john]

Hmm. 4 into 1 pipes....

Did you re-jet?
I'm betting this question is in the back of most of our minds, so I'll go on and ask it.

Maybe too lean, and could cause some problems now or later.

Too lean a condition (and you may know this and have taken care of it) can cause holes in your pistons if bad enough.

I'm not sure if it could cause the problem you are describing but it still may need to be addressed.

good luck,

[Firehawk]

No, I haven't rejetted, and I do need to do so. But I don't know what to resize the jets to and don't have the money for a jet kit.

And, I'm fine with what it looks like, I think I'd rather get a different gauge set than switch out the headlight and whatnot. Though the headlight is from a 1983 Suzuki GS850. Thanks for the offer though.

And to answer a previous question: The sparkplugs look fine. They are a brownish color, but not fouled in any other way. And its only lightly so.