11/01/2020 Follow Up

Here’s my thirteen year follow-up report.

My XJ1100, who is a “Red Head”, now has a name, Laverne, and she’s still running great. My other bike, Laverne’s BFF Shirley, who is a “Brunette”, is an ’80 XS1100 Special and she’s also running great. A friend at work gave me Shirley at no cost. She was just taking up space in his garage and had not been running for 11 years; my gain, his lost. Shirley lives in my mom’s garage in East Texas. I only ride Shirley whenever I go up there to visit my family.

Summary

Details

• 09/22/2006, 34,000 miles; She got her gas tank and side panels painted ($241.50).
• 03/09/2007, 40,000; The second gear started slipping. This is a known factory design problem in the XS/XJ 1100 drive train, which generally shows up around 40k miles. I replaced the 2nd and 5th gears Yamaha Part #’s 2H7-17221-01-00 ($82.41) and 2H7-17251-00-00 ($97.82). I also replaced the No. 1 Fork Shift, Part # 2H7-18511-00-00 ($58.96). It’s possible the EFI upgrade contributed to this failure; I definitely could tell a difference in the engine torque coming out of turns.
• 02/22/2009, 47,000; I replaced the foam air pods with 52mm (2”) Tapered Oval Pods; MikeXS, part # 15-0036, $16 each. The foam was showing wear and the replacement pods were a better quality.
• 06/08/2009, 49,550; The throttle cable broke. I bought a steel cable from a local hardware store and soldered it in. $1.50
• 10/10/2009, 50,500; I rode Laverne to the XS/XJ 1100 rally. It was a terrible trip; it rained, Laverne’s engine misbehaved, and one of our riders was killed. The engine problem was caused by bad connections on the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS). I changed the spark plugs and repaired a leaky oil filter gasket. On returning home, I soldered the TPS wires to the sensor.
• 11/27/2009, 51,367; I replaced the fuel pump in-line pressure gauge with an oil filled gauge to dampen the vibrations. $19.95
• 06/16/2010, 53,400; I made software changes to the Megasquirt ECM. I changed the “Fixed” cranking pulses from 3 mSec to a “Temperature” controlled variable setting. I reduce the acceleration time from 1 to 0.5 seconds.
• 08/08/2010, 54,260; The O2 and the CLT sensor stopped working. I found the O2 cable pinched by the battery and the wiring grounded. I also found the CLT sensor problem; the multi-pin connector at the Megasquirt ECM was corroded. I cleaned the connector and used aluminum tape to seal out moisture.
• 10/11/2010, 54,454; I soldered the connectors located on the master ECM relay. I was worried about future corrosion issues.
• 12/23/2010, 54,818; I repaired the ECM connector but I’m not sure why. I think I straightened up the wiring harness. No cost involved.
• 05/07/2011, 55,500; I rode to Talihina Arkansas. No issues.
• 06/12/2015, 59,384; Laverne took a ride to the local Federal Credit Union and stalled; that’s 4 years without a problem. I retired from NASA in September 2013. The next many months were spent cleaning up a rusted gas tank and replacing two internal gasoline filters and a fuel pump located inside the Hayabusa fuel pump housing (case). I ruined the paint job on the gas tank due to the harsh chemicals I was using. The Hayabusa fuel pump, filter, and strainer, were expensive ($132.15) I sealed the gas tank with Dragons Blood and repainted the gas tank with K2 Urethane spray paint. She’s still a “Red Head”.
• 07/23/2015, 59,384; I relocated the EFI fuse panel to the under-seat tool storage box. It’s easier to check and remove the fuses but I sure miss the tool box.
• 04/29/2017, 60,395; I replaced the Yamaha XJ 1100 instrument cluster with a KOSO Replica, RX-2N SS182. ($50) It was a nice upgrade since the speedometer had died.
• 03/25/2018, 62,395; I added a turn signal warning buzzer. ($10) I hate to leave turn signals “ON” and so do my wingmen.
• 08/05/2018, 62,870; I added a FOBO Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) and Tee valve stems ($100). I’m getting older; checking the tire pressure is a pain in the knees.
• 10/14/2018, 65,401; Mike, my wingman, and I successfully completed a 2,900 mile ride to Tennessee. Laverne ran great. However, she did perform four safety shutdowns due to over-heating. It was an unusually hot week with 95F degree days in heavy, mostly stopped traffic.
• 07/10/2020, 68,499; I replaced the front headlight with an LED Super Bright LED bulb, Part # H4-HLV5M ($36)

In 13 years, I’ve gone through 3 batteries, 2 front and 4 rear tires. I’ve performed all the routine maintenance tasks: oil changes, Texas State safety inspections, replaced front headlights, turn signals, inspected valve clearances, rebuilt and cleaned brake calipers (about every three years), replaced leaking master brake cylinders, replaced leaky engine oil seals, and changed front fork oil and seals.

Final Note: EFI Analytics is currently the source for the Megasquirt software, which includes the TunerStudio MS and the MegaLogViewer. There is a licensing fee for the enhanced versions of this software.