Project "Fat Man" -- XS1100 redux w/pics

Oh no, not this again! It's another hooligan with an ugly and forgotten superbike. He's probably gonna slap on a pair of clubmans and start calling it a "cafe racer" or something... all show and no go. I better press the back button, quick! He's doing it wrong!!!

You've been warned.

Now then, this project is just for fun. I'm not trying to build an ultra lightweight, corner carving, "super serial" cafe monster to zip around the country side at four times the speed limit. My XS is simply me playing that hand I've been dealt. I paid very little for this bike and it has never done me wrong, not once. Despite the fact that she moves like a cow and looks like a puddle of vomit, I've grown quite attached. She deserves a facelift.


When I bought the bike the engine would only turn over with the choke on, all 3 brake calipers were seized, the airbox was missing pieces, and the carb needles leaked like crazy. After a few weeks of tinkering, 2 cans of carb cleaner in my eye, some pod filters, new jets, and a set of gaiters I put on because I thought they looked cool, I finally got her running and made it around the block to a friends house where this photo was taken. Being that the bike I learned to ride on was considerably smaller and more manageable (a friends CB360 which seemed to break down once every mile), my first joyride ride was scary as hell.

Children, elders, or those with weak stomachs should look away...



My friend's reaction...



* actual photo

From that point forward my seat was dubbed "the couch." Every time I would overtake or speed away I would hear comments such as "Did you see that armchair that just flew past?" and the like. I rode the piss out of this thing all summer and it ran like a top.

I replaced the dented mufflers with some Emgo taper tips and installed euro bars because the stock Specials looked totally ridiculous. I also replaced the tires with some white walls (something I regret to this day) because the old ones were cracking. The bike sat in a barn for over 16 years before I picked it up so the old Dunlops were toast. I also painted the wheels black because there was too much white/silver eye candy going on. You could say it looks "better..." Not good but certainly an improvement.



Soon after I installed a Mac 4-2 because the Emgos were brutal on the highway. Imagine a constant brown note. I also changed out the euros for drag bars but they kept slapping the tank. My bars just kept getting lower and lower until I ended up with clubmans and some bar ends. I also removed the front fender and plan on running a fork brace. I think I'm finally getting somewhere. How she sits now, tucked away in the corner for winter....



Future plans...
Lower front end about 2"
Install my Progressive fork springs
Install better fitting gaiters from DCC
Lower rear .75" with all black Sportster shocks
Paint exhaust/peg mounts black
Black out engine, sand fins, polish covers so I can stop kicking myself for putting white tires on a Jap bike
Find a Mikes XS650 Standard cafe seat or build one similar looking (see pic)

Holy MS Paint rendering, Batman!



She's a brute. I'll update this as I go along.

Interesting story/pics so far! Although, I liked the looks of the '80 XS. My father had a '80 XS850 special that I cut my teeth on. They're tall bikes with lots of torque!

If you're looking for blacked out components, look for the Midnight Special parts. They made Midnight Specials in almost all the sizes (including the 1100). You might even be able to find a complete engine already black. Even though the black w/ 24 karot gold trim was a limited production, there are a surprising amount out there in scrap yards!

Good luck on the build.

Always good to see another XS11! I recommend a tkat forkbrace. Made a massive difference in my bike.

Also, what pod filters did you use? The emgo's will block the vacuum port on the mikuni carbs and make tuning a complete bitch.

dude, you're too hard on yourself...
that bike has potential...and is a fuckin screamer...for awhile I believe it was one of the fastest bikes on the planet...
can't wait to see what you do to her...
ray

BTW...that was my first post ever on this site...
can't seem to get my avatar to load up...but soon I'll find out what's wrong...
ray

I've seen a couple of midnight parts here and there but they can get pretty expensive for a 30+ year old parts. I've just been collecting pieces from eBay and have a bunch of 78E bits from an untitled parts bike I bought.

I was also thinking about making a hybrid motor out of my 81 XS and the spare motor I have by using the hotter 78 carbs, hotter 78 cams, higher flowing 81 head, and a 1196 big bore to give this bike a bit more zing but I think that's a project for next winter. That'll be the motor I'll paint satin black, sand the fins, and polish the covers. It's just starting to warm up and I don't want to miss out on some good riding weather.

I did email Tkat about a fork brace but I think I'm gonna go with a Tarozzi instead (which is just like the good ol' Telefix). They're both $100 but Tkat's is unfinished and that Tarozzi is already painted black (plus, I think it looks better because it's less bulky).

My pods came from eBay so there's a 99% chance that they're Emgos. My tune was a bit sloppy but just enough to get me going for a season. It seems to be a bit on the lean side being that my Mac 4-2 started to brown with only about 4 hours of ride time. I guess I need to modify my pods or get new ones because they're probably the cause.

I always viewed my XS11 as the ugly duckling when compared to the other bikes I usually ride with. However, I never really seemed to care all that much because it's so much more unique than the Sportsters, a billion times more reliable than the CB360, and it's got an 1101cc party piece that provides the most fun I've ever had in a straight line. Now the only thing left to do is make her corner and look good... Once that's done I'm certain I'll hold onto this thing for a looooooooooooong long time.

Here's another sketch of what I'm going for. Something about black and chrome just looks so sinister to me. I love it.



Disregard the mess of wires where the battery should be. The old battery leaked acid all over the box and ate through the driveshaft boot. I plan on making my own custom battery box out of an old SPEED RACER tin lunchbox to hide all of the electronics and ditch the side covers! I'm also thinking about lowering the gauges + headlight, installing clip-ons, and swapping out the upper triple tree for that of a XJ1100 (the XS has handlebar mounts molded into the tree which would look odd without 7/8 bars in em) all to lower the front end a bit. I might stick with the clubmans but I'm not sure. I'm just tweaking until I get everything just right.

It's not easy to make the 11 look good but it's doable. Here are some bikes I've been drawing inspiration from:







The elusive Mikes XS650 seat!!!!

Much prettier than my big girl.

^^^Hey Mike, where are the milk jug bark busters??? Don't tell me you did not make those a permanent mod.

They're in the garage, you bet.

As far as the emgo pods, what I did was take the rubber velocity stacks from the stock airbox and use them as adapters between the pods and carbs. Adds a little bit of length, but resolves the port issue.

That's a really great idea. Time to go pull apart one of my junk airboxes.

Fix, your bike was one of the ones that made me really want to buy a Dyna seat and build a bobber at first. It's 99% of the reason I bought those white walls lol. Here's another Dyna seat...



I eventually changed direction for a more cafe look after my friend installed some clubmans on his CB360. The cafe style has really been growing on me for the past few years.

I love what I'm seeing here. I'm getting bored with my XS850 Special being daily rider all stock- everything you guys do to these xs11's will apply to my 850 if I ever pull the trigger on modifying it. I'm watching.

Fatso, continued
"Big girls need love too"

I finally got around to revisiting this project after more than a year of sitting. Other projects and priorities brought my build to a screeching halt. But I'm finally back in the game and my bike is the center of attention once again.



Replaced the fuel lines, battery, and played with the wiring harness for a bit. After that she started right up and seemed to idle just fine. Now it's just a matter of finishing the battery box (made from an old PC power supply), mounting up the seat, and rigging some signals/lights to make it road worthy. There's a ton of little tweaks I'd like to make but they're all for aesthetics, right now I just want to ride.

What I have planned for the future...
-Lower gauges
-Clip on bars
-Replace fork gaiters
-Upholster seat
-Fork brace
-Black out final drive and other parts (too much white/chrome right now)

My cow is back!!!

Fantastic! Make sure you check the pick-up wires. They're a common gremlin on these bikes. You can tell there's an issue if gently pulling on the pickup wires causes the bike to die. Multimeter lead wires make good replacements.

Also, on mine there was grit in the bearing for the vacuum advance mechanism, so it didn't rotate freely. Worth checking while you have that cover off looking at the pick-up wires.

Put the new gaiters and fork brace on. I also modified the bracket for the gauges so they're lower and much closer to the headlight than before. Clip on bars are coming in the mail and I'll be installing them just under the top tree to replace my clubmans.



Still working on the seat mount. It's made of 4 pipe clamps, some studs/nuts/washers, and a piece of plywood. It's almost done and then it will be time to get the seat upholstered and painted.



I ditched the PC power supply battery box because it was too flimsy and a hair too small. I made the new one out of a .30 caliber ammo tin cut up and on its side. Turned out pretty well and is a lot more rigid.

Now it's just a matter of reassembling and mounting the seat before I can ride it.

Making good progress!

I slapped it back together yesterday and went for a ride around my friend's neighborhood. Bike ran like a champ despite sitting in the corner of his garage for more than a year and a half. Still no signals, brake light, expired plate, etc. I was getting kicked out and no one with a pickup was available to help me get it back to my house. Rode the bike home 7 miles and had a friend follow me in case of cops... luckily the bike didn't skip a beat and there were no encounters with the law.



Got it insured, renewed my registration, and got my motorcycle permit today (lost my old one). All I need are signals and a tail light and I'll be legal enough to cruise around whenever I want. Needs inspection too but I've never been heckled about that.

There's still a bunch of other work that needs to be done. Preventative maintenance, better seat mount, installing my clip ons, and a bunch of finishing work. But it's finally mobile and I'm happy.

Mobile is always better than the alternative.

nice box. I like that battery box a lot