1981 XS1100 Midnight Special Restoration - Pic Heavy

Ok here we go...

6 months ago I purchased this 81 XS...












As you can see I have my hands full with this one.....

Up until a couple of days ago all I had managed to do was remove the carbs (& ruined 1 carb body), seat and tank.

In the last couple of nights after work I've managed to remove a few more bits...














Plan of attack is to crank up my sandblaster and cleanup a pile of small parts ready for painting. Remove everything off the frame & swingarm, strip back to bare metal ready for painting.

Hopefully I'll get a bit of spraying in over the next few weeks before autumn and then winter roll around.

She's going to be a slow rebuild from the look of my budget... I already have the paint and equipment so I'm tackling the easy wins first.

I'll throw up some more images as I go...

8)

 

Hey Alive, jack up the cluster & drive a new bike under it. :lol:

 

That salt air has taken it's toll on it for sure!
Shame about the header.
Just finished replacing the carb boots on my 79 XS1100 tonight.

 

But the cluster's rusty too

:lol:

I'd be really happy if it even came close to looking as good as that quacker you're working on right now.

Where'd you get your new ones from? $90USD is about as good as I can find and with the exchange rate being crap right now, I doubt I'll be importing too many parts this year.

 

Found a set on Ebay with gaskets for just under $88 delievered.

 

Alot of work for sure. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

Too bad the exhaust is wasted. I have had a Mac 4 into 2 on order for a few months now for my 1100. What are going to go with?

 

Too early to tell yet.... I do like the Mac 4 in to 2 but cost is too high right now and It's probably going to be one of the last things I get unless something suitable comes along at the right price in the meantime

 

Tonight I rolled her on her side and got the oil filter off as well as removed the last of the wiring and undid the swingarm universal.

Tomorrow the motor comes out, wheels forks and triple clamps off.

It's a long weekend here this weekend so I'm hoping to get a box full of parts sand blasted and make a start on preping the frame so they're ready for painting before I return to work on Tuesday.

Have another long weekend the following week with the Friday off so hopefully I'll be spraying then.

 

A long weekend huh? Are you folks in New Zealand celebrating Martin Luther King's birthday late or are you celebrating the US inaugaration on New Zealand time????

 

Contrary to popular belief the world does not revolve around the good ol US of A 8)

This weekend is a regional anniversary in my area and the following is Waitangi Day.... To celebrate the day the crown signed a treaty with Maori.

 

Hi Alive, we have Australia day on the 26th, have you got NZ day?

 

every day here is America day, god i love being an American

 

It's Auckland Anniversary on the 26th. We don't have an NZ Day.

Hahahha God save the Queen :lol:

 

Buckle in there Schooter, you're in for a sharp ride. :roll:

 

awww hell no Obama's gonna fix all our problems, Obama is great, Obama!
Is it ironic that obamas name is hussain, like saddam hussain, and last name rhymes with osama... i heard obama changed his name, it was Hitler Hussain Osama...

 

Work today came to a screaming halt when I ripped a hole in my finger while making a new bracket for a cot for my son.

Couple of hours and the hosp & 6 stitches in my left index finger and I was back in the garage but plans have changed.

No way I'm going to be able to pull this frame off this motor one handed

Might still be able to get front and rear end off though Might look at that tomorrow.

 

Sorry to hear hope you heal fast so you can get back on it.

 

6 stiches- - OUCH ! Using your hand as a drill press??

Suggest to sand blast steel parts, but baking soda blast all aluminium.

I'm building a cabinet from scraps big enough to hold an engine, particle board, a piece of glass. What to make the arm gaiters from?

 

My cabinet has a pair of heavy duty rubber gloves (green) and a big set of hose clamps hold them on.

 

Yea... I'm going to go look at the price of a vice today.

There are some things every garage should have and a vice is one of them.

 

Bet the vice is cheaper than the ER bill. Sorry to hear about your injury.

 

Alive, lay the bike on it's right hand side & lift the frame off the motor, 1000 pc easier.
BTW. do you have Bunnings there? only I got a 100mm engineer's vice for $24.00

 

Bill.... Emergency health care is free here. Covered by ACC.

Wizard. That's exactly how I'm planning to do it. I was originally going to keep the wheels on, but now they must come off first.

I have a bunnings just up the road. It's just across the road from a Mitre 10 Mega... 2 huge hardware shops less than 10 minutes drive away is a good thing

 

I forgot your location - be a few hundred dollars here easy....

 

That's scary. We do pay for it through our taxes. Operations an illnessess can cost too but primary health care is basically free.

 

sorry to here about your finger, our health care is "free" to if you believe anything is free we used to pay monthly $44 for a single $88 for family but they stopped charging (at least in alberta) starting jan 01/09 so they must be getting it out of us somewhere else!
Shaun

 

Well I finally made a little more progress...

 

mmmmmm, rusty...

 

Overall it looks pretty good. Hate it when they get that neglected though.
Did you have to take those calipers off to get it to move ? :roll:
How many miles/KM on it ?

 

Looks like a lot of cleanup not much money, I used CLR to clean up the rusty bolts ,but then you have to clearcoat them or they just rust again.

Looks like you have a nice project.

 

Yea there's plenty of rust... But not for long

It's done 53k kms or 32k ml... but it's been left sitting outside for the last couple of years. Seat, tank, exhaust are all junk. The frame needs the shock and centre stand mounts fixed but is in better condition than I thought.

Front calipers were already off when I got it. I started taking the rear one off but stopped when I couldn't get it off because of a stripped screw.

It's all repairable. Just a matter of time and money... I do have a bit of cash t throw at it from time to time, I'm just wary of spending more than it's worth so I'm trying to keep the spending to a minimum,

 

That tank and seat were from an XS1100 standard and not the special model. It will look better with the right parts. I used to assemble those bikes from crates. Your pictures bring back a lot of memories. thanks

 

Alive,

Looks like your project will start going the other way soon. I was wondering are the wheels supposed to be gold and is the engine supposed to be black or did someone get wild with a couple of spray bombs. I know the company made "Midnight Maxims" it kinda looks like thats what the bike looks like. If it is a Real "Midnight Maxim 1100" I can't imagine there was many of those running around.

 

I believe with the 1100's that they called this one a midnight special. So yes the gold rims and disks are original. The engine side covers have been replaced on both sides at some point so the originals would have been different.

There's been a fair amount of paint thrown around this beast so lord only knows what's truely original and what's not :lol:

I like the black and gold so will be sticking with these when I start repainting.

 

Thats great, Can't wait to see.

 

Great way you have of removing the engine from the frame!

Also, are you sure this is an XS1100 and not an XJ1100? They made Midnight Maxim XJ1100's also.......only for sale in Canada, I believe.

 

Yes the ID tag on the frame says XS1100

 

I actually removed the frame from the engine 8)

 

Can't wait to see more. Are you going to reuse the oil cooler? I've been looking for one.

 

Yes I'll definately be putting the oil cooler back on... Sorry

 

wow man...... speechless......that is a SERIOUS undertaking. you must be a glutton for punishment! haha it looks like it got thrown off a cliff then sat in the ocean for a few weeks. Looking forward to seeing the ending product. You did an amazing job on that XJ900 by the way!

 

I wanted a challenge... This one's a little bigger than I anticipated but what the hey :lol:

I wish I could take all the credit for the 900 but it was already well on it's way when I got my hands on it... That's part of the reason why I wanted a ground up rebuild... Want to know if I'm up to it.

I've done a few cleanups before (like the 550 in my gallery) & finished off the 900, but never a full restoration.

 

I've done very little with this for some time now... Until last night when I bought an 82 XS1100 Midnight Special... lol

Just have to finish the XV750 off roader first