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Thoughts on 79 XS1100

  • Thread starter Thread starter hurdizzle
  • Start date Start date
H

hurdizzle

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Hey folks. Long time GSR user but haven't been active since my gs850 burned down on the side of the highway... Electrical fire... Looking to get a bike again and have a line on a 79 XS1100. Any one have any experience/thoughts on those bikes?
Thanks in advance! Y'all have always been a great community and I appreciate your knowledge and feedback.
 
For me, Heavy, kind'f bulky, normal Yamaha trans. problems, I don't know why, but under hard acceleration ie drag racing, the rear really raises up, seems more than other shaft dr. bikes. The XS1100 Special seemed smaller & lighter I'd guess probably pretty good old bikes.
 
A friend had one of those when I had my first bike, KZ400.... about that time 79-80-81

Excessive Eleven it was called then.

He let me ride it. THen he harassed me that I never got it over 5k rpm, and suggested I crank the throttle a lot more.
Okay.....
Oh Man, I was not prepared for what happened.

Yah, noticable rearend jacking up and down from the design of the shaft drive. More straight cut gears, more efficient.
(Suzuki shaft drive more spiraled gears, needs a big trust bearing, but not the jacking.)
 
The rear end jacking is not because of the gear type. It's the geometry of the rear end.
 
I had one and have to admit, I loved the hell out of it. Rode for 2 plus years, put about 15,000 miles on it. Mine had already had 2nd gear sorted out, and it ran like a raped ape. I had a friend with a VMax (years before I bought one) who talked a lot of trash, but who was a pretty *@%^$*@%^$*@%^$*@%^$ty drag racer. We came off a light one night and I left him behind from light to light. He eventually got over his fear of that bike and I couldn't beat him any longer, but the old XS was a really fun and reliable beast.
 
A buddy has the 79 standard and ive ridden it and beat on it. As for the rear raise..i think its been way over portrayed here. Yes it raises a LITTLE but its not an out of control thing like what been implied...youll love it. Best thing its a shim over bucket arrangement so you do valve adjustments same as on a GS.
 
Nessism said:
The rear end jacking is not because of the gear type. It's the geometry of the rear end.
Click to expand...

The jacking ruins the bike in my opinion. By the way, when it was new, a XS11 would pull away from my 850 Commando in a top gear roll on at 60. A GS1000E would not. The GS1000 could catch up eventually, pass, and be gone, given enough road, but lost the roll on. The jacking is fun when you take off. Its like the whole bike leaps. Chopping the throttle entering a turn and losing half your ground clearance es equally exciting but less fun.


A DS1000G fills in the big hole beloe 5000 RPM the 850 has, and a late 1100G does it better. I;m lucky to have found a 1000G with an '83 1100G motor. Great bike, but I suspect that an XS11 would still out run it.
 
A customer of mine just purchased an 80 midnight special a few months back. It seemed to be a very pleasant motorcycle. I didn't ride my GS back to back but it seemed more biased to higher rpm pulling than the grunt my 8 valve 1100 Suzuki has. That could be gearing related, as it did seem less frenetic at 70mph, but his exhaust was quieter and undamaged too so maybe that's another explanation. Had typical repairs, petcocks, intake manifolds, carb clean, fork seals, major brake work, fluids, tires, and air filter. It'd sat since the early 90s. I'll admit the dual petcock and vacuum shutoff mounted to the carbs was a huge mess of unnecessary junk, but that's alright. Overall it seemed to be a very nice bike that I wouldn't turn down for a deal. He gave about a grand, lucky dog.20190801_104924.jpg
 
That's one of the better looking customs I think. Not overdone, good proportions.

RedBaron said:
A customer of mine just purchased an 80 midnight special a few months back. It seemed to be a very pleasant motorcycle. I didn't ride my GS back to back but it seemed more biased to higher rpm pulling than the grunt my 8 valve 1100 Suzuki has. That could be gearing related, as it did seem less frenetic at 70mph, but his exhaust was quieter and undamaged too so maybe that's another explanation. Had typical repairs, petcocks, intake manifolds, carb clean, fork seals, major brake work, fluids, tires, and air filter. It'd sat since the early 90s. I'll admit the dual petcock and vacuum shutoff mounted to the carbs was a huge mess of unnecessary junk, but that's alright. Overall it seemed to be a very nice bike that I wouldn't turn down for a deal. He gave about a grand, lucky dog.View attachment 60803
Click to expand...
 
I took a short test ride on a 1100 Midnight Special. Good power, but that EZ-rider chopper vibe just not fo me.
 
Friend of mine had one that he bought new. He was a Texan and took the seat off and put a saddle on it in it's place and topped off the look with a set of longhorns bolted to the forks. He made some hand tooled leather covers for the sides and used a piece of hide with the hair still on it for a tank cover. When we where rebuilding our shovelheads every other winter all he had to do was charge the battery in the spring and off he went!
 
My cousin had a 78 for years. He really seemed to love it, and I don't remember any problems with it.
 
The XS1100 was the bike that coined the term "hyperbike". It was the 1st of the modern superbikes. Honda, Suzuki, and Kaw were right behing them. Things were ramping up.
 
My customer with the midnight special came by today and I took it for a short ride. Im not much for buckhorn bars but otherwise it was a joy to ride! I wouldn't turn down the opportunity to own one.
 
My first new bike was a 79 1100 Special , first year for the model ( the 1100 and smaller Specials were out in 78). A lot of details changes for the 80 model , 85mph speedo and big, clunky tail light replaced the smaller one located lower on the fender. As 20 yr old I replaced the rear tire several times the first season, that bike would do the smoky, tire roasting burn outs.

Added a sissy bar to prevent losing passengers when the throttle was hammered and of course replaced the silly buckhorn handlebars, but otherwise it was a bulletproof ride for me. Never had an ounce of trouble out of it, rode it to the Smokey Mts and Corpus Christi, great times and a few speeding tickets.

That being said, the bike is now 40 yrs old and some issues may come up, not unlike our GS's...
 
GS1150Pilot said:
I had one and have to admit, I loved the hell out of it. Rode for 2 plus years, put about 15,000 miles on it. Mine had already had 2nd gear sorted out, and it ran like a raped ape. I had a friend with a VMax (years before I bought one) who talked a lot of trash, but who was a pretty *@%^$*@%^$*@%^$*@%^$ty drag racer. We came off a light one night and I left him behind from light to light. He eventually got over his fear of that bike and I couldn't beat him any longer, but the old XS was a really fun and reliable beast.
Click to expand...

This post is my experience exactly. Lotta disdain for the shaft drive Yamaha. My 1979 XS1100 had no second gear problems when I bought it. Its the biggest reason I bought it. Rear end lifting? Im sure it did but I DID NOT notice. I didnt notice how heavy it was. What I did notice was how much power it had, ease of starting in any weather and smoothness of the engine. Did I say it had lots of power? Pure enjoyment. Rode two up big adults with no complaints. I replaced it with an 83GS1100E. Too often nowadays people compare the old stuff to the newer/new stuff they own. Cant do that. The XS1100 could not hang in the curves with a GS1000 but it was the 1970s-but the GS and KZ could not hang with the XS in a drag race or roll on race. The goal was to be KING OF THE QUARTER MILE and the 1978 XS1100E was the king for that year. Some older guys (myself included) dont need a lightweight nimble bike to take curves. We dont need Brembo brakes. To tool around maybe do a highway stint and some full throttle blasts the XS is perfect.
 
Personally, I would pass on that model having had one years ago. I didn't like the jacking effect of the shaft drive. Plus, first gear completely crapped out and I had to start in second.
 
I enjoyed mine a bunch. In some ways, it was the most fun bike I have owned: It cost next to nothing, had it painted by a family friend for a couple hundred, had the seat recovered, cleaned the carbs and hung a Jardine exhaust off it, put new tires on it, changed the oil and then just rode the snot out of it. That bike was a roll-on monster.
 
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