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Kynan C.

Admin
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Ohh, I meant the Honda in the banner is probably one of the only bikes that can make me look away from my Yamaha. I have wanted to build a GL for a long long time.
 

steppenwolf

Vetter Master
Oh no Brian...once you have an XS1100 you won't want any thing else:)
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brianinpa

Five Star Vetteral
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I still like doing 55 at 2800 rpm... If I turn the radio off, I can even hear the birds chirping...
 

Larry Fine

Moderator
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I wish my XS11 had one more gear!
That's not an uncommon complaint with my bike, too; it just doesn't need to be screaming at 5000 rpm on the interstate. Adding a front sprocket with one or two more teeth than stock is easy for a bike with a chain.

With a shaft drive like the XS, it's likely that your only hope is a gear swap, IF you can find a compatible model with a slightly different gear ratio in the rear end.
 

steppenwolf

Vetter Master
I have the 750 final drive and like it. The original lower gearing at the time was because the speed limit was 55.
I run about 500 rpm lower now,just took a little getting used to taking off.
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Ready for 750 final drive,and 850 works also.

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New to me...

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Kynan C.

Admin
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Steppen, Thats really is appealing to me. Do you know exactly what parts to buy for my 79 Special? I would love better freeway experiences. How does your ride now?
 

steppenwolf

Vetter Master
Two things..a different final drive from a 750/850 Yamaha and a spacer is needed....I will have to find out about that spacer as I forgot how big and where it went.I also went to syn in the drive but never in your engine.
I traded a headlight for my drive plus the labor to install:)I helped but not the brains.
 

brianinpa

Five Star Vetteral
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I have the 750 final drive and like it. The original lower gearing at the time was because the speed limit was 55.
I run about 500 rpm lower now,just took a little getting used to taking off.
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I see what the problem is... The Yamaha has the final drive on the wrong side of the bike! :D

Seriously, with the 1100 Gold Wing you can tweak things even more by swapping final drives and rear wheels from different years and lower/raise the gearing to get the rpm/speed ratio.

One thing that I recently changed on mine was the ignition system - I changed it to a C5 ignition and then I added a switch that allows me to select 4 pre-programmed timing curves as I am riding down the road. That allows me to climb a lot better than I ever did before. Sure it hurts fuel economy, but my bike just chugs along.

This give you the idea because you can see the tach, speedo, and see when I am shifting... oh and I am climbing the entire time.
 
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