Rebuild...

[Miti]

Thanks Mick...

That Tacho cable has been like that since I bought the bike... Dave Hartell commented that it should be under the oil cooler cowl when he saw the bike at Moniave... He also commented that they're prone to snapping, which mine never has - it doesn't touch the mudguard either - wish I could say the same for the speedo cable, which wore a neat hole right through the paint on the original red 'guard...

Even though it's quite a bit shorter than the original, This one will be getting a neat piece of clear "Fablon" (or similar) on the area between the speedo cable and the guard, just in case...

Any joy getting those camshafts out yet..?

Jeff

[Miti]

Getting fed up with this now...

Got the bike started on Sunday... She started up albeit immediately, as the button was pressed, so all good there... But...

When the choke was pushed in, the revs didn't come down...  In fact, nothing I could do would bring the revs down... BUGGER..!!

It was clear that the front cyl was holding the revs high, so the tank would need to come off and everything re-checked there... I turned the bike off and went for a ride on my XS1100... Boringly reliable...

On Monday evening, I set about checking the front carb - airbox off (again) carb off (again), only to discover that the new throttle cable was holding the carb slide open... The inner is 10mm too short..!! What..?!!  I triple-checked that..!!

Ah well, dementia will have it's way... I made a new inner (getting quite good at making cables now...) of the correct length and refitted everything, bar the tank.

I set the bike up with a remote tank and vacuum gauges and left to re-join the fray the next evening (Heskeths are too noisy to be playing about with after 9pm, if you want to maintain good neighbour relations).

Came back to the bike yesterday evening... Again, she started "on the button", but this time the revs dropped as the choke was pushed in... The front cyl appears to be running fine... Can't say the same for the back cyl, which was popping and farting badly... The occasional POP! from RH silencer made me suspicious, so I went around that side to inspect closer... There was actually fuel leaking out of the header/silencer joint...

Aaaargh....!!!

I turned the bike off... Removed the RH silencer (to drain and dry it out), removed the rear spark plug (to give the cyl a chance to dry out), drained and removed the remote tank (to stop any more fuel leaking into the cyl) and took the XS1100 out for another spin (That is one sweet engine, by the way...)

Tonight I'll take the battery, rear airbox and rear carb back off... This auld bugger won't beat me..!!

Jeff

[MICK]

Cables need very careful installation.
free play and total movement
You cannot do the final carb balance with the tank off.
popin in the exhaust is the slides out of position
You cannot set the slides up physically , only on the vacuum.
Hope this helps.

[Miti]

I left the bike alone for a couple of days - been working on it for WEEKS and getting sick of it...

Came back to it, pulled the rear airbox and carb off... Looks like an idiot has been in there (whoops)  :-

Float height wrong, slide adjustment wrong, not holding my mouth correctly either... 

So, sorted the carb and cable adjustment... refitted everything and gave it another go...

AFTER taking the XS1100 for it's MOT - which it totally sailed through...

By midday today, the bike was ready for the road...







Took her out for a spin... 60 miles without major mishap... Although the new chain needed adjustment immediately

Points to note include just how much better the bike rides with the 46T rear sprocket and how much better the engine pulls with the new exhaust system (sounds ACE too...!!)

It'll need re-jetting to suit these new pipes, but I've had her up to 70mph and she seems absolutely fine - better than before, in fact...

The voltmeter works fine, but not easy to see in bright sunlight... I haven't missed the clock as yet...

Oh... Must mention the sidestand - still terrifyingly shite...

Thanks to everyone who posted advice and particular thanks to Paul and team at Hesketh Motorcycles and my pal Gus for the paintwork...

Jeff