xs 1100 compression

I have been trying to find a 1979-1982 xs or xj for under $1,000 as a rebuilding project.
A guy brought a 1980 xs1100 over to my house to show me yesterday. He was asking
$2,000, but the bike was filthy,missing a side cover, brake pad dust caked the front forks
and rear wheel rim, the plugs were filthy and oily, and when I did a compression test I got
#1@ 60 lbs,#2@ 65 lbs #3@ 58lbs #4 @ 90lbs. I told him I could only give him $1,000
for it since it probably needed a cylinder head overhaul,a ring job and possibly new main and
connecting rod bearings. Also both brakes rebuilt and a new front tire. He said he could
only do $1,5oo, so, I told him no way but give me a call if he couldn't sell it.
But, it started right up and accelerated smoothly when he left.
My question and what I would like feedback on is this. How long can an xs110 last on such
low compression and did I let a bike that had potential go because I was offering too little ?

 

i think 1500 was generous

 

Do you mean he was being generous offering to sell it for $1500 or I would be generous
giving him that much for it ? What about the low compression ?

 

You offering $1500. $1 per cc for a runner in decent condition. A runner with oily plugs and low compression across the board is not in decent condition.

Gary H.

 

With it burning oil and having such low compression I think that $500 would have been a fair offer. The SX11 is desirable, but there are a ton of them out there in running, useable condition. Keep looking.

 

The compression numbers seem low enough that that bike should have hardly ran let alone have enough power to move. You sure your gauge is accurate?

 

The threads on the plugs were in rough shape. All of the plugs were somewhat cross threaded. Everything about the bike screamed neglect.
I have used the compression tester for years. I've got an 81 650 maxim that I tested in July at roughly 125 lbs across all 4. Its a real peppy
bike after valve shims and carb work and an 82 seca that varied from 100 to 115 lbs. On that one I did valves,carb,colortuned the mixture
and balenced the carbs and now it runs well (but not like a new seca) On the xs 1100 that I tested yesterday the gauge started at "0" pumped up
to peak compression and released back to"0".I could only get 3 of the plugs out and the #2 plug would spin around but not come out. For each
cylinder I screwed the threaded end of the gauge hose as far as I could after several tries because the threads were so bunged up. On #4 the threads
were better but it still only tested at 58 lbs. Can compression leak past bad plug threads ? I did notice that the tester threads would not go in as far as my other bikes maybe a poor seal was the problem. But again it did run ok, started up and ran smoothly. Could the engine be running on twice the amount of gas with a poor ring seal ? XS 1100s don't show up very often in New Mexico, I was trying to get the guy down to 1k because I figured I would have to rebuild the engine and who knows what else. He said he needed at least 1,500 because he was getting evicted and needed pay for a new pad. But,to me, that didn't
have any thing to do with the value of the bike. Maybe if it's still on craigs list for another 2 weeks he'll take less money for it.

 

Sounds like the price is way to high for that bike with the problems it has in my opinion. There has to be better bikes out there for that kind of money.

 

+1. Sounds like it's a parts bike.

Gary H.

 

There is an XJ1100 in Charlotte NC on Craigslist for $1000. If I had room, I would buy it for a running parts bike. It has pods which I would immediately replace with an air box. It appears in excellent condition.

 

You guys just live too far away from my 1100 for $750.

 

One thing I neglected to mention was that Santa Fe's elevation is 7,500 feet above sea level. An old bike mechanic told me to expect readings of 10-15 lbs
below what would test at sea level because the air is less dense here.

 

Your mechanic friend is correct, but the compression is still low regardless. If the seller really is in dire need of money he'll sell at your asking price. Write an offer of $500 on a business card and let him call you. $1000 is just too high of an offer consiering the additional problems you have mentioned. My advice: save your money and keep looking. You can pay the shipping costs on a better example from the midwest for less than it will cost you to rebuild the engine on the one you're looking at.