1981 XS1100 Midnight Special anyone know anything about ??

Anyone know anything about 1 of these beasts?

How Rare ?

One is listed on Craigslist...
2K or best offer
It's in VA. Beach VA.
I looked at it decent bike.....
Owner says only 200 or so made.
He is the second owner.

It needs a few things a seat or seat cover and possible seat mouting hardware, sparkplug boots, and it has a dent in the tank. Inside of fuel tank extremly clean.

The bike has ~4,400 miles showing on the odometer
Back tire has a lot of wear looks original though.
My rear tire on my XJ650 didn't look as worn after 12,000 miles.
Could it be that the weight of the bike contributes to the wear or possible burnouts?
Any ideas what it might be worth?
I was looking for a daily driver ~ 80 rt to work now looking at a 1100 also on craigs list.
Would hate to ruin a gem by driving the heck out of it 15 K on my XJ650 in a year.

Thanks,
George

 

only sold 200 more like, sorry personal opinion I really dont like midnight specials

The tire will be borked if original after all this time irrelevant of how much tred it has, the reason for the wear is xs1100 are seriously heavy beasts with questionable handling

IIRC some midnight specials have a linked break system (front and rear's linked) which is erm interesting.

If you want to keep it original pay very careful attention to the exhaust as the black chrome exhausts were as far as I know unique to the special and no doubt made of unobtainium these days.

 

They only made so many per model year, the report of how many seems to vary. Rumor has it that each one was hand assembled. One thing I can tell you for sure, a well running XS11 is one awsome cruise missile. Heavy, yes. Questionable handling, NO. One has to learn the machine and it will NOT run the twistys with a 650 Maxim but over all it will eat up just about anything on the road even at its age. They are kind of a puppy mother to handle at under about 15mph but that is easily learned. As for the rear tire, 8000 is about all you will get from an XS11 it is in a terrible position. Located between an unmovable road and an irrisistable engine.
Price is a bit high with one with damage to it! Ones in real good condition can go as high as 4000 but damaged ones that don't run good are real lucky to get 1200 unless located by someone like me and are close to home! Over all it is one HELL of a machine.

 

gotta agree... the Elevens are one of the bikes that started the whole "let's see how big of a motor we can put on two wheels" game. Some Elevens have a bit of an issue with front forks flexing slightly under load, but that can be rectified with an aftermarket fork brace. Another "weakness" is the transmission, which shifts kinda loud, and repeated missed shifts might result in 1st gear going out prematurely. Although at less than 5K that shouldn't be a problem, you have to "shift like you mean it", and not allow the gears to grind. Other than that, the bike is great fun.