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Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT~ Current Issue - Frame crack :(

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by onlyxj, Apr 15, 2010.

  1. onlyxj

    onlyxj New Member

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    Greetings all :D
    I just finished my '81 XJ550 project... well not finished, but enough that it runs pretty well, got me to work today with a smile on my face!

    My first bike as a youngster was an '82 400 special.
    So when I decided 2 summers ago that I wanted to upgrade my 550 to something larger, another XJ seemed logical as it had been the only bike I had ever owned. :?

    Looking on CL, I found an '82 1100 that was not far from me for $300, I was sold without even seeing it :(
    I went to pick it up, it was in a dark basement. It started right up on the first push of the button but had a frozen clutch cable so I was not able to drive it.
    33K mi. 8O Loaded it up and home I went.

    I started to take it apart, part by part, cleaning and shining all the bits.... thinking I would paint the frame, repaint the tank and valve cover.

    Not knowing if the trans/drivetrain was any good or not I stopped all my work as I didnt want to invest any more time or energy into something that was a broken POS.

    I finally got a clutch cable, used of ebay... thinking that now I could finally test the drivetrain, if I could change gears Ok and make the rear tire move that I would then return to working on spiffing up/fixing everything else.

    SOOO, tonight I replaced the tank, installed the battery and put some gas in her. :roll:
    Drumroll... Insert and turn the key... push the button... cross fingers...
    She turned over and sounded great, I expected to hear her purr but instead GAS started pouring out of the airbox and breather tube.

    ?? why is this? IDK...
    Ideas?
     
    onlyxj, Apr 15, 2010
    #1
  2. onlyxj

    onlyxj New Member

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    Re: Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT

    I wondered if I attached the fuel lines to the petcocks properly.
    4 lines coming off the "4-way".
    from the way that these sat there, it seemed obvious that 1&4 lines went to the rear connections on the petcocks and 2/3 went to the forward petcock connections.
    This is the only thing I can immediately think that may be different from when she last ran before I took her all apart.

    Did I put these fuel lines back on the petcocks correctly?
     
    onlyxj, Apr 15, 2010
    #2
  3. stereomind

    stereomind Active Member

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    Re: Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT

    You should have one of these under your seat:

    [​IMG]

    It sounds like your float needle valves are leaking. Try rapping on the carb bowls a few times with the blunt end of a screw driver, which will sometimes seat a stubborn valve. Best course of action would be to take the carb rack off and do some thorough cleaning.

    My buddy that has an XJ1100 opted to bypass the octopus completely, and we capped off the front outlets (prime) and hooked up the rear outlets to the carbs with inline filters. The only disadvantage is having to remember to turn the fuel off.
     
    stereomind, Apr 15, 2010
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  4. chvbob

    chvbob Member

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    Re: Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT

    I agree that it sounds like the floats are hanging up. If it has been sitting any length of time, it would be wise to go through the carbs and clean then. Also make sure you clean out the brake system, calipers, and masters. Don't forget to clean the spooge holes in the masters.
     
    chvbob, Apr 15, 2010
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  5. shnuffy

    shnuffy Member

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    Re: Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT

    I had this issue after my bike sat for a long time.

    The float in carb #3 what jammed... it difficult to move with my fingers let alone "free floating"! That was causing a beauty of a fuel overflow.
     
    shnuffy, Apr 15, 2010
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  6. onlyxj

    onlyxj New Member

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    Re: Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT

    Hmmm...
    Stereomind, my seat pan does not have that sticker...did I look at 2am last night?? will def look when I get home later.
    Looking at that chart, looks like I got my lines backwards.
    It shows 1/4 going to the front connections on the petcocks where I have 1/4 connected to the rear facing connections.

    Will rap on the bowl's to try to free something
    Dont really want to invest the time of breaking down the carb rail until I have verified the drivetrain... obviously this may not be possible.

    Thanks for the help so far :)
     
    onlyxj, Apr 15, 2010
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  7. WesleyJN1975

    WesleyJN1975 Member

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    Re: Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT

    You don't have to take them off the rack to go through that part of them. You can take all the carbs off all together, flip em' over and do your thing.
     
    WesleyJN1975, Apr 15, 2010
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  8. shnuffy

    shnuffy Member

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    Re: Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT

    This is true, takes about 5 minutes.
     
    shnuffy, Apr 15, 2010
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  9. schooter

    schooter Active Member

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    Re: Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT

    ya, no one in their right mind would takie apart a rack of carbs to clean them, unless they had a leaking seal
     
    schooter, Apr 15, 2010
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  10. onlyxj

    onlyxj New Member

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    Re: Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT

    Ok, yes i didn't mean actually splitting the rack... :)
    I have RickOMatic's Carb cleaning guide and will follow it to a T.
    If not anything this will give me the experience to also do this on my 550.
    Thanks all
     
    onlyxj, Apr 16, 2010
    #10
  11. onlyxj

    onlyxj New Member

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    Re: Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT

    Sooo, I swapped the fuel lines from the octopus to the petcocks and she started right up! Yay :)

    Again my goal of getting her started was to verify the drive-train integrity the best that I could. If she is good, I continue to restore her, if not good then I re-evaluate and possibly part her out.

    Drumroll...

    Got her into first gear and upon release of the clutch the tire started spinning but there was a nasty clicking noise coming from somewhere in the tranny.
    Second gear seemed ok as well as all the others.

    Not really sure what to do or where to go from here.
    I have read that these xj1100's can have 1st and 2nd gear problems and can be a bear to fix.
    Hmmmm...
    Thoughts, ideas and comments are appreciated.
     
    onlyxj, Apr 19, 2010
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  12. onlyxj

    onlyxj New Member

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    onlyxj, Apr 19, 2010
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  13. onlyxj

    onlyxj New Member

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    Re: Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT~ Current Issue- Frame crack :(

    Sooo, yesterday I flipped her over, upside down to start tackling the transmission/first gear issue I have. It was late, after midnight is the only excuse I have for not having seen it before I spent the time removing the cover...
    Only AFTER I got the tranny cover off did I see a split in the frame :(
    ...Time to go to bed

    Bummin...

    Sooo, what yall think?
    Is this easily and safely repairable?
    My guess is that some H2O got in the frame somehow and then froze, causing the frame to split... not sure, just a guess... not sure how water would have gotten in anyways...

    Is it time to part her out and then find myself another 1100?

    Thanks for your input
    Dave
     

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    onlyxj, May 30, 2010
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  14. wingnut325

    wingnut325 Member

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    Its fixable. If you fabricate a scarf patch and wield it on you should be ok. Couple of guys over on the XS11.com site have had to do it and had good success.
     
    wingnut325, May 30, 2010
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  15. FABFABINC

    FABFABINC Member

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    Re: Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT~ Current Issue - Frame crack :

    I removed the octopuss and made it much simpler just add an inline filter to this image and cap the to other inlets to petcocks
     

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    FABFABINC, May 30, 2010
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  16. WesleyJN1975

    WesleyJN1975 Member

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    Re: Dave's '82 XJ1100 PROJECT~ Current Issue- Frame crack :(


    If you really want to go "all out" on her you could find yourself another frame that's in better shape and do it up the way you want to. Just sayin'.
     
    WesleyJN1975, May 30, 2010
    #16

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