Topic: Picked up a '79 Yamaha XS1100

[mrfish2]

Picked up this bad boy today, only cost me a cool $600.



The PO told me when he bought it there was a side car attached, but he sold the side car a while back. It did come with the seat, it just wasn't attached for the picture. He also said he got it to run for a bit before parking it in a storage unit back in May of this year. It's got about 32k miles on it, and ZERO rust anywhere I can see intially. The only thing I'm afraid of is that when the PO parked it in May he did so with a full tank of gas and the carbs full of gas as well. When I popped the tank open today the smell could have taken your head off haha, the gas has started to varnish. I'm not sure yet whether to just get it running and flip it or keep it for a while, but so far I like it a lot.

[Don R]

   Nice find, I like them better than the triples.

[Stev-o]

My brother had one, was a very good bike.   Only thing I didn't like was the shaft drive, the torque effect under hard acceleration felt very odd to me. 

[mrfish2]

I've been reading over on the XS11 forums a few people mention that, they say it takes some getting used to. It seems appropriate though given that they put 70 hp to the ground in stock form. One guy over there sells chain drive conversion kits to put a front sprocket on, but it's a lot more trouble than it's worth.

Anybody else know any peculiars  about this bike I should be aware of?

[MoMo]

Excellent bike, one of Yamaha's all time best from the past(unlike Yamaha's all time worst-TX750)...Larry

[Terry in Australia]

Over here we called em "Elephants". They were really heavy, handled like crap (especially with their pissy 35mm forks) but went like stink, and the engines were so good, that with just a few mods, they stayed in production as the XS1100, FJ1100 (chain drive by then) FJ1200, (I've got one, it's brilliant!) XJR1200, and XJR1300, still in production today.

That is an amazing product run, we think CB750's were pretty good staying in production for 10 years, but that engine has survived with just a few mods over a period of  36 years, the only engine I can think of that's been around longer is Honda's Cub! Enjoy your Elephant mate, don't try to carve up the canyons on it, but enjoy some super fast highway riding. Cheers, Terry.

[MoMo]

^^^You're right about that Terry, fast and bullet proof but heavy with mediocre handling-still one of the best bikes build by Yamaha back then

[dhall57]

Picked up this bad boy today, only cost me a cool $600.

 

This bike looks familiar fish. Was it on CL just a few days ago. If it was, its the one that caught my attention also.

[mrfish2]

Picked up this bad boy today, only cost me a cool $600.

 

This bike looks familiar fish. Was it on CL just a few days ago. If it was, its the one that caught my attention also.

Yep, it was listed in Charlotte. It had actually been on craigslist for a few weeks i think.

Over here we called em "Elephants". They were really heavy, handled like crap (especially with their pissy 35mm forks) but went like stink, and the engines were so good, that with just a few mods, they stayed in production as the XS1100, FJ1100 (chain drive by then) FJ1200, (I've got one, it's brilliant!) XJR1200, and XJR1300, still in production today.

That is an amazing product run, we think CB750's were pretty good staying in production for 10 years, but that engine has survived with just a few mods over a period of  36 years, the only engine I can think of that's been around longer is Honda's Cub! Enjoy your Elephant mate, don't try to carve up the canyons on it, but enjoy some super fast highway riding. Cheers, Terry.

I had seen a few of your posts Terry talking about these bikes, when you had one did it come with a kickstarter? Mine only has a rubber dust cap over the kickstart shaft, I'm thinking someone took the kickstarter off because of the sidecar and never put it back on.

[Stev-o]

Dont believe it came with a kickstart pedal.

[Old Moe Toe]

[quote/] I had seen a few of your posts Terry talking about these bikes, when you had one did it come with a kickstarter? Mine only has a rubber dust cap over the kickstart shaft, I'm thinking someone took the kickstarter off because of the sidecar and never put it back on.
[/quote]

Don't mean to butt in here....I had one of these 1100 specials. A low mileage machine. It went like stink. Tiny fuel tank and a really low range between fuel stops. As for the kickstarter. Yes they do have a rubber cap over the starter splines....the kickstart lever should be clipped on to the frame between the rear of the engine and the back wheel. Beats me why they did that? perhaps there was still some LSD hangover going on at Yamaha back then.

[Stev-o]

Good article here.....

http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-japanese-motorcycles/yamaha-xs1100.aspx

[mrfish2]

Don't mean to butt in here....I had one of these 1100 specials. A low mileage machine. It went like stink. Tiny fuel tank and a really low range between fuel stops. As for the kickstarter. Yes they do have a rubber cap over the starter splines....the kickstart lever should be clipped on to the frame between the rear of the engine and the back wheel. Beats me why they did that? perhaps there was still some LSD hangover going on at Yamaha back then.

Butt in all you want!  I'm trying to learn everything I can about this bike, it's even better if someone used to have one! From what I've gathered from the XS11 forums the kickstarter was supposed to be for "emergencies only" and yes, they were mounted under the battery box. There is a fella on ebay that sells a kit that includes a folding kickstarter, I'm probably gonna order that from him.

Turns out this bike had a lot of missing pieces, and is also a Frankenbike. The headlight and turn signals aren't correct, neither are some of the electrical components. I'm not really complaining though, the round headlight looks a lot better than the stock rectangular one.

So far I've got a Clymer manual, right side foot peg mount, right side cover, brake pedal, swingarm cap covers, kickstarter, and the top to the battery tray on the way to me. Parts haven't been too hard to find. The only thing that worries me is the hack job wiring that some PO did, it's gonna take a while to sort it out and get everything correct.

Thanks for the link Steve-O! The general consensus with these bikes is that they can't handle in the curves very well, but live for the straghtaways. I'll be adding a fork brace and progressive suspension all around to help out the stability some. The guys on the XS11 forums swear by a fork brace, they say it makes all the difference.

[Retro Rocket]

Fish, have a read of this, the XS1100 was raced very successfully  in endurance racing in Australia, beating everything from GS1000's to the CBX1000 Honda's and the big Kawasaki's. I knew a guy that had a well set up one and he rode it very hard, It actually handled quite well...

http://www.motorsportretro.com/2009/09/the-day-the-yamaha-xs1100-won-the-castrol-six-hour-part-1/

[Stev-o]

Fish - my brother went down on his due to handling. 

We were on a bike trip in Colorado and was on the "Million Dollar Highway" [CO 550]. He on his XS, I had a Kaw 1000 at the time.
He stopped to take a scenic pic, while we continued on. He tried to catch up and was pushing and lost it on a turn. Luckily, bent handlebars was the only damage, easily replaced. 

He had a little "cafe" fairing on it, I always told him to throw that thing away as it caused wobbles in the high speed twisties!

[dbbrian350F]

Congrats on your new bike.

I was fortunate to have a friend let that me ride his XS1100 all one summer.  What a blast that bike!  We used to call it the "x-sessive".

I cruise the want adds to see how much they go for locally, just for fun.  A fellow at work just mentioned he is trying to sell his for a grand (CAN$), doesn't have room to store it.  But neither do I.

What are they like to work on compared tio the CB sohc's?

[mrfish2]

What are they like to work on compared tio the CB sohc's?

So far fairly similar. The only difference is the shaft drive and the CV carbs compared to my 550.

[Old Moe Toe]

Yeah, the carbs are pretty over complicated. I think they are referred to as an octopus (fuel lines everywhere).
Also they have valve adjustments that need shimming compared to the nut and lock nut easy honda type ones. However they seldom need to be done. As far as power goes though, they do make the CB750 seem somewhat pedestrian...and light weight, with good fuel economy.

[cb650]

Back in the day (79?) at the yam dealer was a little cartoon.  A parts clerk on the phone " your XS1100 rear tire wore out after 20 miles?  And you only drove it 1/4 mile at a time?

[Stev-o]

...and light weight

You kidding?  They are 602 lbs!

[mrfish2]

...and light weight

You kidding?  They are 602 lbs!

I'm gonna have to +1 on that, have you tries muscling one with a flat tire into the bed of a truck?? Cuz I have haha.

[Terry in Australia]

...and light weight

You kidding?  They are 602 lbs!

Ha ha, he meant that the Elephant makes his CB750 feel light Steve!
 

[Terry in Australia]

I went to the Castrol 6 Hour (Australia's premium production motorcycle race back in the day) in 1980/81 and remember watching Stephen Gall (Mister Motocross) and Ron Boulden wrestling their XS1100 around the tight Amaroo Park track to come third in 1981.

That bike handled like #$%* too, but (like the BMW that won in 1977), the winning XS1100 in 1978 won because it only had to do 3 fuel stops, as opposed to the 4 fuel stops needed for the other big Jap bikes with smaller tanks. 

Still great bikes for sure, but you'd spend more money on than it's worth to make it a canyon carver, if you want to go fast around corners for not much money buy an FJ1100/1200, with basically the same engine, (albeit with a lot more power) and way better handling. Cheers, Terry.

[Old Moe Toe]

...and light weight

You kidding?  They are 602 lbs!

Ha ha, he meant that the Elephant makes his CB750 feel light Steve!

Thanks Terry, that is exactly what I meant.

[Stev-o]

...and light weight

You kidding?  They are 602 lbs!

Ha ha, he meant that the Elephant makes his CB750 feel light Steve!

Thanks Terry, that is exactly what I meant.

My bad.....