SELLER SAYS: 1980 model (stamped 12/79) Yamaha XS1100 Midnight Special. What a very comfortable bike to ride and not exactly short on a bit of horsepower either. This bike has had a good mechanical going over from 3x brake caliper piston/seal kits & pads, stem head bearings & seals, carb intake rubbers & carb kits, air & oil filters, tank cleaned & lined, valve clearance done & new cam chain fitted. Lots of old rubbers replaced, new battery, shaft drive stripped, cleaned & inspected. New uni joint, boot, seals & bearing etc repacked & re-oiled. New rear shocks (I have the originals). New tyre plus much more. All the gold items were stripped, painted and clear coated. Rode this bike around Tasmania & the Great Ocean Road to South Australia in March 2023. Best experience ever. Have spares to go with it. This is ready-to-ride and licensed in WA. Bike is currently on club licence and on display at a local museum. Happy to talk price and help with shipping for interstate buyer. Contact Andrew on 0450 526 713 or email andrewjand@southernphone.com.au (Geraldton, WA).
EDITOR TERLICK SAYS: What a great looking bike. When Yamaha unveiled the base-model XS1100 in 1978, it landed to rave reviews. As well as being Yamaha’s first four-cylinder four-stroke, the XS-Eleven combined a monster of motor with compliant highway-friendly suspension, creating a bike that was a superstar at the local dragstrip and when chewing up open-road miles on the highway. Bike journos of the day said race-speed cornering was a bit sketchy, but hey — the bike still racked up plenty of race track success including glory at the Castrol Six Hour at Amaroo Park here in Australia. Of course, the unmistakeable black-and-gold Midnight Special variant like this one of Andrew’s wasn’t meant for the race track — it was a “factory custom”, as was the fashion of the day, designed to look as cool as a cucumber down at the cafe and still go like the clappers … or cruise the Great Ocean Road (with a black open face helmet and Bolle sunnies, I hope.) Very nice indeed.
