The XS1100 Winter Project has officially begun!

[mrfreeze5]

I didnt like having the bike in the kitchen, I couldnt see it very well. So I moved it back and made some adjustments to the setup and mocked it together a little better.(And of course took some more pictures).

[mrfreeze5]

Here's a nice little bonus. I bought a Ducati Monster clutch system for the slave cylinder and stainless line it had to use on my FZR hydro clutch conversion. Got a good deal on it too, but the whole thing came with a master cylinder too. I already have a few Yamaha slave cylinders for the XS11 hydro clutch conversion, and my stock clutch cover is at the machinist to have a new one made to mount the slave to. This master cylinder is a Brembo and although it is simple, its essentially free for this build and will match the Hayabus brake MC I need to use with the 6 pot calipers until I can afford aftermarket radials. Eventually, I am going to use a radial clutch MC just like I have for my FZR. Its from an Aprilia and it is oh so sexy, but for the purposes of functionality, Ill use what i have to get it going.

[mrfreeze5]

Got the exhaust today and it looks great. Did a little mockup, me likey. Theres another can for the other side, but i ran out of zip ties

[_Will_]

can't wait to see this finished, makes me feel lazy but damn is it cool

[haro504]

do you think youll have any trouble with your bars hitting the tank

[mrfreeze5]

do you think youll have any trouble with your bars hitting the tank

No. I will be using dirt bars more than likely. They should clear the tank fine, in fact, I may use the tall dirt bars or raised risers to set them more up and back.

[mrfreeze5]

I pulled the engine from the donor bike and finally got it out of my Jeep. Ill start stripping electrical this weekend or next week from the donor. That engine is a beast!

[mrfreeze5]

The engine is now in the kitchen where it will remain while I work on it. After getting the engine out of the truck and into the house I have been able to determine a few things. When I bought the parts bike for this engine I was told that it had been rebuilt and not paid for. The bike sat for a while at the shop then ended up at the salvage yard. It hasnt been registered since 04 so I was a little concerned. After getting the engine out, I noticed that the cylinders are not original. The engine is in great shape, no leaks, just a little dirty on the bottom. The spark plugs are damn near new and the engine turns over smoothly. To top it off, my buddy has a tiny flexible scope and I stuck it in the spark plug holes to check the cylinders and the bores are clean with a good crosshatch and the pistons have only a light coating of carbon, not a spot of rust or corrosion that I can see. And there is just a tiny bit of surface corrosion at the intake ports on the outside of the head. All in all, I think I can trust the innards of this engine since I dont really have the space, time, or budget to tear into this engine, especially if it doesnt need it. These engines are pretty damn burly, so I am going to put a little faith into it.

Once the buildoff is over I will very likely start devising a hopped up engine for it, but the goal is to have a running and rideable bike by the deadline.

[Fartblood]

Wow! A great bike. I'm gonna follow this project with interest. Sounds like my thing, modified to bring it bang up to date but with an eye on the fact that it's a card carrying classic.

The XS1100, at least in UK spec, was a big, ballsy bruiser with summat like 105BHP on tap in a chassis that could handle maybe half that. The stuff that legends are made of! Rare as rocking horse sh*t now.

The engine lived on in modified form in the FJ1100, which then begat the FJ1200. Who knows, maybe FJ heads, cams, exhausts etc will give you a more plentiful source of components for the build?

[mrfreeze5]

Wow! A great bike. I'm gonna follow this project with interest. Sounds like my thing, modified to bring it bang up to date but with an eye on the fact that it's a card carrying classic.

The XS1100, at least in UK spec, was a big, ballsy bruiser with summat like 105BHP on tap in a chassis that could handle maybe half that. The stuff that legends are made of! Rare as rocking horse sh*t now.

The engine lived on in modified form in the FJ1100, which then begat the FJ1200. Who knows, maybe FJ heads, cams, exhausts etc will give you a more plentiful source of components for the build?

Yeah that sounds about right. Problem was the poor forks, weird geometry, and heavy weight. One big improvement to the chassis is switching from rubber engine mounts to solid. I will be doing this for sure to stiffen it up, plus the busa forks and longer swingarm should do good things for the handling and allow me to make better use of its power. Weight is still an issue though and I am afraid I added more with the bigger rear end I am using, so its still a heavy beast. But if I need sharp handling and performance, Ill take the FZR out. This is the highway bike. In fact, I am already planning a week long trip in July through the Rocky Mountains. Should be great!

As far as I know the FJ stuff is pretty different and not much is interchangeable. Hell, there were so many variations from year to year of just the XS1100 and XJ1100 that lots of parts dont interchange between just different years or variations like standard, special, midnight, etc.

[mrfreeze5]

I ordered a header for Juggy today. Its not pretty but it was only $15 and undamaged. Its stock and will work fine until I can track down a Mac 4-2 header. Ill probably have it chromed with my new midpipes. Now I just need to get my hands on a set of carbs.

[mrfreeze5]

I want opinions. I was originally thinking about the cafe fairing pictured earlier, but in person, it looks kinda cheap and is a bit bulkier than I wanted. I am using a Ducati 996 and busa fender in carbon fiber, so I was hoping to find something that matched that still maintained that cafe look, but didnt look out of place. I think I found it.

Ducati Monster CF headlight fairing:



I think this will look really good on this bike and will match the other CF on the bike. All the body except the tank will be CF, and I think it will go well with the tank I have and the color that is on it already. I really like the tank color, but dont really want to have parts painted, so i think CF will work well, and considering the parts I am wanting to use are off Ducatis, it shouldnt be difficult to find parts.

[mrfreeze5]

Thanks to a few hours above freezing, I was able to get most of the snow off my patio and get some work done on the frame. I started by hacking off the old seat rails, battery box mounts, center stand mounts, and several other misc tabs and brackets that are in the way. I may still need to knock off a few more tabs here and there, and will probably have to add my own mounts for electrical bits onto the subframe later, but its a start.

[Fartblood]

That frame looks ripe for a bit of chrome or nickel plating. Would look sexy brass plated, especially if you're going with a black colour scheme.

PS - is that a GSXR shock waiting in the wings?

[mrfreeze5]

That frame looks ripe for a bit of chrome or nickel plating. Would look sexy brass plated, especially if you're going with a black colour scheme.

The frame is going to stay black. Chrome would be overkill with the all the silver and bare AL. The swignarm will stay silver, the front forks are silver already, and both the triples and bars will be silver. The engine is silver and has polished covers. I am just going to clean it up. The body will be the blue of the tank and then natural unpainted carbon fiber tail, fender, and fairing. The frame is going to be pretty much the only black on the bike, except the wheels. Theyll be black with polished lips. I think it will look great when Im done.

Its a good thing I am not trying to paint match the rest of the body to the tank. The color is called Indigo Blue and from what I have seen in the XS community, it is near impossibly to match to. Its a kind of cobalt blue with a very fine silver dust flake. But in direct light it turns a green color. Looks AWESOME! But from what I have found, its a single stage lacquer, not different layers of color and clear. Paint shops who try to match it come up with a green color, and it doesnt seem to be available as a premixed color from anywhere. So if I were to paint, I would have to hope whatever color was close enough, OR, strip the tank and then paint everything, but I really like this color and want to keep it.

I think overall, it should have a nice visual impact when Im done, and not cost an arm AND a leg, probably just an arm.