DouglasVB
Rising Sun Member
I'm writing this more to get some ideas out and play around with thoughts than looking for clear advice...
I have a 1979 Yamaha XS1100 Special with a King and Queen seat in decent condition. I put tires on it a couple years ago and have only put on maybe 2000 miles since then. It gets abysmal fuel economy (20mpg?) because I ride the heck out of it and use all 100 hp (at sea level) to my full advantage. Riding two up it is a bit unstable but manageable. It should be due for valve and tappet adjustment soon, and the oil plug needs to be welded and re-tapped. I imagine in another 20k miles, it will need rings. The bike has maybe 30k miles on it if I'm remembering correctly. I bought it mainly because my
liked it but she doesn't have much interest in riding her own bike and would rather sit behind me on the rare occasion we go together.
I also have a 1989 Honda Pacific Coast PC800 that I converted to fuel injection. I've loved this bike for many years and probably 30k miles. I have put a lot of time into mods for the bike (VT1100 final drive for taller gearing, Clearview +4" windshield, heat troller controllers, Mick-O-Pegs, MMoto Complete Rack, LED driving lights, LED every other light, modified front springs in the forks, modified turn signal cancel unit, fuel injection system, etc...). I don't believe that I will ever fully trust the fuel injection system for long rides like I used to do with the bike (1000 miles in a day sort of stuff). I also have been having some serious back issues that may in part be due to the riding position on this bike, primarily related to the handlebar position relative to my body. I think it forces my elbows out too far and makes me want to slouch forward, thus aggravating whatever is going on in my upper back and shoulder blades. Another thing to note about my PC800 is that I'm one of maybe a half dozen experts on this bike in the world and I routinely receive correspondence from around the globe with people asking me questions to get their bikes back on the road. I feel a duty to help the PC800 community keep our bikes running well into the middle of this coming century.
While each bike has its strengths and weaknesses, I have more of an emotional attachment to the PC800 but have been riding the XS1100 much more. I really don't have room or time for two bikes. If I were to sell both, I might consider getting an early 2000s Ural with a sidecar, a KLR650, a ST1100, or maybe a CSC TT250. I have a hard time seeing me without a motorcycle but because of the distance to work (3 miles) and not really wanting to ride her own bike, I don't see me riding all that much in the next couple years.
I could convert the PC800 back to carbureted fuel delivery by buying a new fuel pump (the old one died and sparked my desire to finish the fuel injection conversion that I had started a few years prior) and rebuild the driver seat to be much taller to try and get me over the handlebars better. The handlebars MIGHT be able to be replaced but they're covered in plastic so it would make the bike look pretty funny if I took them off. I could find someone within a 500 mile radius who would want to trade for the windshield I have on the PC800. (another problem is the windshield height is either 3" too short to block all airflow or 3" too tall to not block all airflow so I get the top half of my helmet buffeted by the collapsing air bubble and it makes for some seriously loud noise).
With building up my 4runner, I don't expect to be riding very much over the summer. I've thought about getting a little dual sport that I can throw in the back of the 4runner or on a bumper/hitch mount so I can putter around on the bike while drives the 4runner (although she's not super enthused by that either).
The reason I want to do something about my motorcycle is that they take up a lot of room in the garage and a lot of $ for insurance if I'm not really riding them. When I was in Oregon, I would probably ride 500 miles in a week just for fun. Not so out here in Colorado. It doesn't make too much sense to keep both bikes if I'm not using them.
So yeah. That's what I'm thinking about.
I have a 1979 Yamaha XS1100 Special with a King and Queen seat in decent condition. I put tires on it a couple years ago and have only put on maybe 2000 miles since then. It gets abysmal fuel economy (20mpg?) because I ride the heck out of it and use all 100 hp (at sea level) to my full advantage. Riding two up it is a bit unstable but manageable. It should be due for valve and tappet adjustment soon, and the oil plug needs to be welded and re-tapped. I imagine in another 20k miles, it will need rings. The bike has maybe 30k miles on it if I'm remembering correctly. I bought it mainly because my
liked it but she doesn't have much interest in riding her own bike and would rather sit behind me on the rare occasion we go together.I also have a 1989 Honda Pacific Coast PC800 that I converted to fuel injection. I've loved this bike for many years and probably 30k miles. I have put a lot of time into mods for the bike (VT1100 final drive for taller gearing, Clearview +4" windshield, heat troller controllers, Mick-O-Pegs, MMoto Complete Rack, LED driving lights, LED every other light, modified front springs in the forks, modified turn signal cancel unit, fuel injection system, etc...). I don't believe that I will ever fully trust the fuel injection system for long rides like I used to do with the bike (1000 miles in a day sort of stuff). I also have been having some serious back issues that may in part be due to the riding position on this bike, primarily related to the handlebar position relative to my body. I think it forces my elbows out too far and makes me want to slouch forward, thus aggravating whatever is going on in my upper back and shoulder blades. Another thing to note about my PC800 is that I'm one of maybe a half dozen experts on this bike in the world and I routinely receive correspondence from around the globe with people asking me questions to get their bikes back on the road. I feel a duty to help the PC800 community keep our bikes running well into the middle of this coming century.
While each bike has its strengths and weaknesses, I have more of an emotional attachment to the PC800 but have been riding the XS1100 much more. I really don't have room or time for two bikes. If I were to sell both, I might consider getting an early 2000s Ural with a sidecar, a KLR650, a ST1100, or maybe a CSC TT250. I have a hard time seeing me without a motorcycle but because of the distance to work (3 miles) and
not really wanting to ride her own bike, I don't see me riding all that much in the next couple years.I could convert the PC800 back to carbureted fuel delivery by buying a new fuel pump (the old one died and sparked my desire to finish the fuel injection conversion that I had started a few years prior) and rebuild the driver seat to be much taller to try and get me over the handlebars better. The handlebars MIGHT be able to be replaced but they're covered in plastic so it would make the bike look pretty funny if I took them off. I could find someone within a 500 mile radius who would want to trade for the windshield I have on the PC800. (another problem is the windshield height is either 3" too short to block all airflow or 3" too tall to not block all airflow so I get the top half of my helmet buffeted by the collapsing air bubble and it makes for some seriously loud noise).
With building up my 4runner, I don't expect to be riding very much over the summer. I've thought about getting a little dual sport that I can throw in the back of the 4runner or on a bumper/hitch mount so I can putter around on the bike while
drives the 4runner (although she's not super enthused by that either).The reason I want to do something about my motorcycle is that they take up a lot of room in the garage and a lot of $ for insurance if I'm not really riding them. When I was in Oregon, I would probably ride 500 miles in a week just for fun. Not so out here in Colorado. It doesn't make too much sense to keep both bikes if I'm not using them.
So yeah. That's what I'm thinking about.