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[steppenwolf]

Purdy new banner

 

[Kynan C.]

I just love that bike. It is the one thing that steals my heart from Yamaha.

 

[Larry Fine]

Yamaha Goldwing?

 

[Kynan C.]

Nope, Honda Goldwing, Yamaha XS1100.

 

[Larry Fine]

I know who made what. Maybe we're not looking at the same picture, but I see a Goldwing up top.

 

[Kynan C.]

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.

 

[brianinpa]

There is nothing wrong with having more than one brand in the stable...

 

[steppenwolf]

Oh no Brian...once you have an XS1100 you won't want any thing else

 

[brianinpa]

It doesn't matter the brand... when the bike is loaded up for a cross country trip, they just look cool!

 

[Kynan C.]

XS Eleven

 

[brianinpa]

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

 

[Larry Fine]

Ohh, I meant the Honda in the banner is probably one of the only bikes that can make me look away from my Yamaha.

Aha. I took your statement to mean "it's the one thing from Yamaha that could . . . "

As Roseanna Roseannadanna used to say: "Never mind."

 

[Kynan C.]

I wish my XS11 had one more gear!

 

[Larry Fine]

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]

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.
Original..

Ready for 750 final drive,and 850 works also.

New to me...

 

[Kynan C.]

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]

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 installI helped but not the brains.

 

[Scott]

I too have an xs11 that I was thinking about doing that to. This is the link to the xs11 site with the info.
http://www.xs11.com/xs11-info/tech-...al-drive-conversionthat-elusive-6th-gear.html

 

[brianinpa]

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.
Original..

I see what the problem is... The Yamaha has the final drive on the wrong side of the bike!

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.

 

[Larry Fine]

If you can start from a stop in second gear, you'll have no problem with a lower final drive ratio.