1980 xs1100 rebuild

got a new project bike last week for an old saw i had laying around. its been sitting since 1996. tank is worthless. seat needs recovered and carbs are gummed. it had 7/8 bars on it but every handlebar i find is 1"? i have multiple Harley bars around. is there an easy conversion for 1" bars? and i was thinking about a Harley split tank on it. i've seen it on here before but cant find it now. any advise would be great.

 

while reading some thing on here could i swap the triple trees from a virago onto my bike to make the handlebar conversion easier?

 

I've seen a 7/8 to 1" riser conversion kits around like this:

http://motorcycle.motorcycle-superstore ... 20Adapters

 

There's not many, if any, alternative triple tree's that will fit on the XS1100.
You could try some DT175 'bars or similar like i've got on one of my XS's in the photo below.
Renthal make a lot of 7/8 'bars. Try ebay.

 

o.k. so you want to put on 1" bars. Now you will have to get 1" controls for the bars.

 

if i can get the universal kit that Jjmilliken ill rewire some Harley bars my buddy has around

 

this is what im starting with. it has good compression. don't have a battery yet. got a set of ape hangers coming for it. carb kits and intake boots next month then fitting harley fenders to it along with a solo seat. looking for ideas

 

Before you get to chop happy I'll let you in a piece of information.

That is a xs1100 midnight special

Left stock they are worth 3times what a "stadard" or a normal "special" is worth.

If you found a buyer as it sits its still worth almost $1300-2000

If you want then buy a standard or a normal special which go for 600-1000 and use the profit to fund your build.
You might see if you can find a buyer on WWW.xs11.com or WWW.xs11.org
.com Is the main one.

It's. A beautiful bike when cleaned up.

Good luck

 

The condition of that bike (from the pictures) the value is only $300 to $500 as it sits. I picked up an 80 XS1100 LG (Midnight Special) in that condition for free as a parts bike when I got My 78 XS1100 E.

If in pristine show room condition it might bring in $2000 (Yes I know one sold for $4000 a few years ago to someone in Europe and paid for shipping on top of that) To get it to show room quality would take $2000 to $3000.

Restoring an old bike is an act of love, but so can modifying one to fit your own style. If you want to retain as much resale value keep the parts you take off and don't modify the frame. Then if you decide to sell it you can put it back to stock and get max dollar for it.

I am curious to see it with the Harley fender. I'm not a big fan of ape hangers (they make the bike look short and stubby) but I know they are available in 7/8 in. the XS11 sites have examples of bikes brought back from years of neglect (and yes some are heavily modified) .

This is what I brought mine back to:

basically stock with the gold removed and new paint .

From this (this is after the weeds were pulled from it and cleaned up, it sat in a field for a few years)

 

Biggy, mindwebs is right.... you have a collector's bike. That's one to be restored, not chopped/modded. If you want to do a mod build, you could sell it as is and finance a good chunk of a build. Do you have side covers and does the engine and frame VIN match?

 

its numbers matching. the rear frame rails where split already. most of the wiring in the front is destroyed and i have to redo the whole tank. no side covers. clusters where destroyed in a box. bent bars i got my apes yesterday for $30 im trying to figure what to do about the seat. the pan is split and cracked. hopefully ill have the time and money to rewire it and put new intake boots and rebuild the carbs over the next month

 

Intake boots on a xs11 have a steel core.
If you want to go cheap then sand the outsides of the boots with very course sandpaper and coat with black rtv silicone.

Please see xs11.com for many great tips on repairing
These old beasts

That is a very helpful crew there as well as here.

Good luck

 

You might find something useful in my rebuild thread.
XS 1100

 

thank wiz. a bit to involved for me at the moment. Limited tools and im using my buddies garage. only enough room in there for the bike and people to walk around it. but nice build. what tanks fit on the xs11 my tank is rusted out and has multiple pin holes in it.

 

The only straight fit tanks are from the XS11 itself, either the Standard or the Special.
I've cobbled an XJR1200 tank onto one of my XS's, it's held in place by force and cable ties, but there is too much gap between the bottom of the tank and the carbs for my liking. Still it's there and i can't replace it unless i buy an XS front end because the one i'm using is from an FJ and it can't be used with an XS tank. :?

 

i thought about buying a tank and making the tunnel wider. but i dont know what to do yet. the original tank is junk. i got my apes a couple days ago it looks good. im gunna use a solo seat out of the original pan. waiting for a buddy to take my carbs to his work to get cleaned in a dunk tank.

 

That's what you might have to do.
I thought about that with this XJR tank but that tank is more expensive than the rest of the bike 8O :lol: