An XS Odyssey and props to MadMike!

[Silent]

Dang Ray, that's some FUGLYNINESS going on there..
Great job and keep going!

How many USD into the project so far? I need to benchmark the KZ1300 Quacker (your next project bike!) :lol:

Dayum dude! I'm not even keepin track or I might cry!

It's not that bad, I figure at the end of this I'll be in about a grand. I'm doing some upgrades at the same time, so it's not that bad of a price.

~$30 - Dremel bits - can't really count this since I've still got the tools for other uses

~$100 - Misc Tooling - Same here

~$50 - Gaskets

~$70 - Ignition upgrade

$120 - Brake lines

$90 - Fork Brace

$400 - Fork rebuild and progressive springs (Figured I'd leave this one to the pros)

$100 - Thinkin I'ma need a new battery soon

Everything else should be minor on the dollar side. I actually haven't been keeping track, these are just the things I remember and the approximate costs. I've saved a ton by refurbishing instead of replacing in a lot of places. With proper care, gaskets can be re-used without leaks, etc.

Mostly time involved so far. Most of the stuff on the bike is in super shape for a 30 year old ride. 90% of the stuff is coming back with nothing more than a good cleaning. There's a few things that I may repair that don't 'need' repairing, like one of the side case covers is gouged fairly bad but is still functional.

 

[beerme]

Funny...my 79 XS11 special beat out a 78 GS1000 in a spirited road contest in August of 1979.

From what i've heard from quite a few old XS owners, this sorta thing happened a LOT. I'd love to ride one myself.

 

[Silent]

Update:

Whelp, the new coil came in to replace the one I damaged. So today I pulled the old coil set out of the XS, and installed the new high output set complete with new wires and caps. Made sure to put the proper amount of washers in to act as a spacers for the plastic trim piece even. Thumbed the starter and cranked the bike over, and..... Nothing. Turned over just fine, so must be spark issues again. So I pulled the #1 cap and installed an old plug. Cranked it over and.... Nothing. No spark. Checked #2 (1 & 4 come from coil #1, 2 & 3 from coil 2) and no spark there either. OK, WTF?!?? Another bad coil? No friggin way!

I put the battery on charge and took my dog to the park to think things over. Tonight I double checked the spark thinking that maybe the battery voltage was to low to trigger the coils. Sure as shit, I've got spark now that the battery's topped off! So I plugged in the caps again and hit the choke. Crossed my fingers and thumbed the starter and... She fired right to life and purred! Life just keeps gettin better all the time B)

Looks like it's time to start considering a new battery since this one has sat for at least 5 years. Even with a charge now and again or a constant trickle charge, 5 + years is a lot to ask of a motorcycle battery. It seems that the finish line is looming ever closer. Once the forks come in and get reinstalled with the rebuild front braking system, I should be able to take her for a spin

 

[dcarver]

LOL, I had deja vu reading this last post, Ray.. My 79 Kz1300 fried the stator on a 3 week vacation so I was running dead loss ignition. After about 8 hours, the bike would start missing at low rpm, and I'd have to wing it up to 6k or so just to keep going. Find a hotel, a power outlet, charge the battery overnight, and all would be good again!

 

[madmike2]

Good for you, Ray. :clapping: It's been fun to read about your adventures in resurrection of the XS1100. :yahoo:

I'm looking forward to the first ride report.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Good for you, Ray. :clapping: It's been fun to read about your adventures in resurrection of the XS1100. :yahoo: I'm looking forward to the first ride report.

gunny+100

 

[Bulldog9]

Bump................ how-bout an update?

 

[Silent]

Not much info for an update. I've been waiting the last 3 weeks for my forks to come out of the shop. Called em up yesterday and he said he'd have em done in the next couple days. Until I get the forks back, she sits on jack stands neglected.

 

[Silent]

Time for an UPDATE!!! :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

I called up LE Suspension Friday and they said they were done with the XS forks! So I ran by after work on the FJR and picked em up. I had LE go through and rebuild the forks. They straightened the tubes, replace all the wear bits, installed progressive springs and just a gave em a thorough going over. Both of the tubes were bent, one by about .040 and the other by a scant .010 or so. Still a good thing to have them both straight and true. The total bill was just shy of $300.

This evening I finally got the time to go do some work on the XS, after a long day in Tracy with my pooch, and getting home tired, I plugged in the lights and went at it. I installed the forks and front wheel so I could move her out into the work area again. I installed the tKat fork brace, and it's a nice bit of kit I tell ya. Nice fit and Finish. The front fender went back on, as did both of the rebuilt front calipers. The new brake lines were next and the various bits for the front brakes. With the brakes bled, she now has stopping power up front again! Unfortunately I get to pull both calipers and the distribution block off tomorrow. Just before calling it a night I found 2 metal clips, and a hanging bracket. Damn. The clips retain the top of the brake pads, one per side, and the hanging bracket goes behind the distribution block. At least I won't have to break the system open, so I wont have to be bled the brakes again. No harm, no foul. just a bit of time.

I topped off the oil in the middle drive and final drive. I mounted the fuel tank and saddle bags too. I've decided not to run the back box for awhile, so I installed the passenger backrest for now instead. The Vetter fairing will go back on after everything else is done. Not to bad for an evenings work I'd say. Couple steps back, but more forward progress than anything else. Always a good day when you can wrench on a scoot and not break anything :dribble:

Ya all are gonna have to wait for pics. I sent my camera off to Nikon for repairs a week or so ago, and it's not due back till Monday. I'll post up a few pics then if I remember!

 

[madmike2]

Good for you, Ray. It looks like the right person got the bike! The good news is the forks were repairable though I knew they were bent from the incident I told you about. I assume the rear brakes are already done?!?

I used to run it without the top case, too. In fact it only had the backrest when I got it. It's a classic looking bike. Congratulations on the work you've accomplished. You're going to love that old bike.

 

[dcarver]

Way Cool! Pix, Pix, come on Nikon, I need some foto-graphs!

 

[kaitsdad]

I'm lookin' forward to this, Ray, can't wait to see her.

 

[Silent]

Good for you, Ray. It looks like the right person got the bike! The good news is the forks were repairable though I knew they were bent from the incident I told you about. I assume the rear brakes are already done?!?
I used to run it without the top case, too. In fact it only had the backrest when I got it. It's a classic looking bike. Congratulations on the work you've accomplished. You're going to love that old bike.

Yes sir! I went thru the rear brakes before I sent the forks off to LE. I ran across a deal a couple weeks ago where I wound up with a bunch of XS parts for free. Some of them are in better shape than some of the parts I'm running. In the mix were 4 forks! 2 for the Standard, and 2 for the Special! So now I have spare parts for the forks should they need to have parts replaced. I've toyed with the idea of changing the configuration of the bike more, but I keep coming back to the classic look that is just so damn appealing B)

 

[madmike2]

Just for fun AND to whet your appetites until Ray posts a picture, here's a picture taken in front of my place when I first got the '04.

 

[Silent]

Now that my camera is back from Nikon and working just as it should. I took a few pics to post up to satisfy all you ravenous dogs B)

This is how she sat last Friday when I got home from work. Well, almost. She was sitting on jack stands off of the case savers instead of just a jack. But she was defiantly in this state of undress!

And how she sits now, more or less.

tKat's fork brace installed. It just clears the fender and is rock solid. It does emphasize the fact that I need to tweak the front fender a little tho. It doesn't sit quite center.

The rebuilt forks and the bare aluminum calipers. I do like the look of the bare calipers. You can even see the date codes on the new brake lines 4/18/08 as opposed to 1/79 :dribble: I'm thinking the stickers have got to go tho.

The stupid little clips that I found on the bench after installing the calipers. They keep the fork bodies from wearing out when the pads ride against them. At least it didn't take that long to replace them. At least next time I'll know to look for them. It's all a learning experience for me when first working on a new bike.

I did fire her up, let her warm up a bit and then went for the gusto. Pulled the clutch in and drooped her in first with the engine running! And..... She died. Fired her up again and pulled the clutch and dropped her in first and she fell right in just like it should. Motor purring with the clutch in B) I jacked the rear a couple times with a little clutch work while holding the front brakes. The rear end jacks up a bit, but that's normal for these bikes according to the XS forum, so no big deal for me. I've got to bleed the front brakes one more time after letting the system rest for a day. There's not to many items left to check off the list! A couple basic safety checks then she should be ready for a maiden test ride down the street. Of course I have to be mellow since the bikes not registered or insured :blink:

 

[Niehart]

Awesome, just damn awesome. All that work is paying off.

 

[madmike2]

:yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo:

 

[wheatonFJR]

:yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo:

 

[Carol]

:yahoo:

:clapping:

Now that my camera is back from Nikon and working just as it should. I took a few pics to post up to satisfy all you ravenous dogs B)
This is how she sat last Friday when I got home from work. Well, almost. She was sitting on jack stands off of the case savers instead of just a jack. But she was defiantly in this state of undress!

And how she sits now, more or less.

tKat's fork brace installed. It just clears the fender and is rock solid. It does emphasize the fact that I need to tweak the front fender a little tho. It doesn't sit quite center.

The rebuilt forks and the bare aluminum calipers. I do like the look of the bare calipers. You can even see the date codes on the new brake lines 4/18/08 as opposed to 1/79 :dribble: I'm thinking the stickers have got to go tho.

The stupid little clips that I found on the bench after installing the calipers. They keep the fork bodies from wearing out when the pads ride against them. At least it didn't take that long to replace them. At least next time I'll know to look for them. It's all a learning experience for me when first working on a new bike.

I did fire her up, let her warm up a bit and then went for the gusto. Pulled the clutch in and drooped her in first with the engine running! And..... She died. Fired her up again and pulled the clutch and dropped her in first and she fell right in just like it should. Motor purring with the clutch in B) I jacked the rear a couple times with a little clutch work while holding the front brakes. The rear end jacks up a bit, but that's normal for these bikes according to the XS forum, so no big deal for me. I've got to bleed the front brakes one more time after letting the system rest for a day. There's not to many items left to check off the list! A couple basic safety checks then she should be ready for a maiden test ride down the street. Of course I have to be mellow since the bikes not registered or insured :blink:

 

[Silent]

I think I'm almost done! I re bled the front brakes this morning and buttoned everything back up. I wasn't able to get the electrical on the Vetter faring to work right, so I opted to just run without it for now. I'm to anxious to take the beast out on a test ride damn it! I fired her up and rode her out into the driveway proper (That can be classified as a test ride right? My feet were on the pegs ) and gave her a bath

After the bath, I went in and geared up for the test ride. Not gonna ride this in a T-shirt and shorts Fired her up and something wasn't sounding right Reved her a few times and something defiantly wasn't sounding right. So I shut her down and felt the exhaust pipes. 1 - cold. 2 - hot 3- hot 4 - cold. Damn. number 1 coils shorted out from the water. I'm gonna let her sit out in the driveway awhile catching some rays and see if things dry out enough that I can take a test ride later this evening before it gets dark.

Do ya think the Po-Po will mind 2004 tags?