New owner step by step work....

[excess.11]

I believe you only have to remove the pin.....below the bolt your pointing to.
The pad should slide out . Lever the brake piston back into the caliper to allow for the thicker new pad when re inserting .

[Lumberjack]

Just about to go and exchange the wrong brake pads that the shop gave me for the correct ones.  My rear calliper is very different to the standard XS1100s, and very different to most motorcycles.  For anyone who has had experience, I'm guessing that this is the bolt I have to undo in order to remove the calliper and change the pads?

http://flic.kr/p/dwj3mM

[Lumberjack]

Yep, just had a set delivered!  Might have to do a bit of jiggery pokery to get the mounting correct.  Looks like the current mounting on the stock horns is from the rear (http://flic.kr/p/dwj3g4) whilst the Stebels are side mounted (http://flic.kr/p/dwpzYh) so I'm guessing I'll need something that turns 90 degrees to make the setup work....

Any advice welcome!

[Fred]

Guys,

loud horns are like loud pipes "THEY SAVE LIVES"

Highly recommed the Stebel range. I fitted a pair of "Stebel TM80" 128db and they came with a fitting kit which included a relay, all the wires, wire fittings, mounting brackets and instructions that were easy to follow for a non lecky nerd like myself.

I can post some pickies of them mounted later if you like but right now the Officer Commanding, Household Command says she has a need to spend some money so its off to town we go. Only an hour and a half each way mind you.

Check in later.

[Eveready1100]

LJ, I like your thinking. Better horns are good! Just be sure to run them through a relay, as high output horns will quickly fry the factory wiring (too thin) and the horn button. The more you can make your bike sound like a truck in an emergency, the better, I say!
Here's a link to previous horn discussion on here - CLICK

[Lumberjack]

Hey Everready,
Thx  for all the info - will definitely copy and paste into my XJ Folder on my computer.  I'm sure it'll be handy in the future.

As for the battery sensor elimiator....finally got it sorted.  I work at a school so I went to the science department and got them to run some tests on a series of resistors (they had hundreds of the buggers) to see which one would work best in my bike.  They loved it!  They carried on about 'ohms law' and 'variable resistors' etc etc  Then they ran some tests on the resistors that I bought with a multimeter.  Turns out that when I went to the electronics store and asked for a 2000 ohm resistor, they gave me a 20000ohm resistor, so bugger-all current was getting through. 

Is it just my overly high expectations, or is it reasonabe to expect that when you go to an australia wide electronics store and ask for something, they give it to you?  Is it too much to ask for a motorcycle store to give you the right brake pads first time?

You can't trust anyone anymore.

Anyway, with the science department's help, the resistor is in, the warning light is off, and I can say goodbye to its evil red glare once and for all.

Next job:  Double air horns.

[Eveready1100]

Lj, I was thinking about your bike last night while I was at work and thought I'd make you a small list of comparable parts that you will replace over time, to make it a bit easier for you to find them here in Australia.

The front forks are identical to the XS1100RH / 5N5 as marketed here, so all parts for them should be able to be sourced through that model designation. The only difference is the upper triple clamp, where the design was changed to suit the handlebar mounts for the XJ. The clamp could be swapped for a 5N5 / Special one to allow for a more standard bar configuration if the XJ ones didn't suit you, or got damaged. Trying to find a replacement handlebar won't happen here. You'd only source one from the states.
The fork seal size is 37 x 48 x 10.5mm to fit your bike. Be sure to clarify this with any place you are dealing with as the ones for the Standard models are 37 x 49 x 8mm, which will create a problem if you get these.

Anything beats making pointless trips across town to purchase the wrong bits......

I've previously done a 120klm return trip to my local Yamaha dealer to collect some fork seals I'd ordered through him. Got home and tore the front end off and dug out the old seals and went to fit the new ones.... and they didn't fit!!  Despite me supplying the model designation and frame and engine number and telling him a number of times that it was an 1100 Special that wasn't marketed here, the "fella" supplied me with the ones he thought I needed for my bike. Needless to say, I haven't been back since.

Speedo cables likewise to suit either the 5N5 or Special models which will look like this.



The ones to suit other models have the knurled nuts on both ends and are shorter in length.

Clutch and throttle cables off the RH's will be too short due to the raised bars on the XJ, so cables to suit the Special models will be needed in this case. Measuring yours and then requesting that any seller verify the length would be safest here, as I've seen quite a few dealers with little knowledge about what they're selling.

Engine-wise, the XJ is slightly different to the XS's mainly in the head, and for tuning the carbs, the YICS ports have to be blanked off in order to synch them successfully. Also the idle mixture screws will be blanked off with a cap for emission control reasons which will have to be prised out to adjust idle mixture settings if using a colourtune kit on them.
One huge advantage with the XJ is the alternator, which is a brushed type of 364 watt output, as compared to the XS11's wimpy 280 watt unit, so fitting of extra electrical stuff (lights, heated gear) is not such a worry for you.
Just keep an eye on the battery electrolyte levels, as they will drop more quickly when being worked a bit.

Hope this helps

P.S. One question about your rear wheel. It's a 16" swirly as opposed to the RH's 17 incher. Is it tubeless?

[excess.11]

Did you double check the resistor is ok after soldering the wire to it?
Use a multimeter set to a suitable ohms scale........or if it s autoranging......no need to set the scale.
Too much heat will/can damage electronic components.

[excess.11]

There will be a slight increase in voltage if you have the bike running....which may be just enough to get the resistor installed cct over the line.

[excess.11]

Does your brake tail light come on automatically with the ignition.......or do you have to turn them on at the handlebar switch?

Did you try the reset with the bike running......or just ignition on?

[Lumberjack]

Hi Excess.11, thanks for the advice.

I put the resistor back in place and pressed the check button as you suggested but still no joy.  Warning light stays on.

As an idea, maybe there is too much resistance?  I mean, if there is no resistance, the light goes off, with a 2000ohm 1/2 watt resistor, the light stays on.  Maybe I should try a few different resistors of gradually decreasing resistance until I hit a sweet spot where there is enough current getting through to switch the light off, but not enough to fry the rest of the circuit?  Resistors are only a couple of bucks per packet....

Would this be reasonable?

[Lumberjack]

Hey, thanks Everready - I actually came across this site a while ago but didn't buy anything from it because I'm a bit of a luddite when it comes to purchasing stuff over the internet.  I'll definitely use it in the future, though.  Anything beats making pointless trips across town to purchase the wrong bits......

[excess.11]

The resistor serves to lower the voltage .........in place of connecting it to a battery with the sensor mounted in the 3 rd cell .
The computer is manufactured  to recieve the lower voltage as a signal.

Bypassing the resistor i would not recommend.....and will result in a short life of components in that circuit.

When the sensor was connected.......did you try and reset the warning light.
 Some posts i have read ...talk about a reset function. .....

I had the impression the computer had a reset on it you depressed to clear a fault.

[Eveready1100]

Hi LJ, as you have found out, talking to your average bike shop will result in them ordering the bits they think you want, instead of the bits you need, as I've found out numerous times trying to get stuff for my Special.
here's some info fro the UK part number finder that might help in the future.



This is what they have listed as models with the same pads. The ones for the rear of your XJ are the same as the right front of any of the Special models listed, and I'm sure that the ones from an XS750 SF will fit as well. That's the model that I found Yamaha Australia actually has part listings for, as they were marketed here, and is where I sourced my first set of pads for my 1100 SF from.
It's interesting to see that the pads also fit the IT465 H& J models so that could also help in your search for caliper parts in the future.
I've subsequently found that you can't go past good ol' Ebay for finding the "odd" parts required for these bikes.
Hope this helps you out.

[Lumberjack]

OK, just went out to the shed and had a crack at the battery sensor eliminator.  Found the tail light connection no problems.  Made up the Y cable, put on the connectors, put in the resistor.  Plugged the connectors in.....battery warning light was still on.  Bugger.

So, I pulled out the resistor and kept everything else the same....bingo!  No more battery warning light!

So here's what it looks like now:
http://flic.kr/p/duKevT

The blue cable in the top right of the image comes from the power source.  It goes down to a split in the wire (y joint?). (All I did was to strip the cable and divide the copper wires in two and connect a female connector to each)  So at the Y joint the bottom right blue wire goes to the tail light.  The left fork goes to the redundant battery level sensor (bottom left of image).

So, it works...but can anyone explain why this setup didn't work with a resistor?  Secondly, what will be the effects of not having the resistor?  Is some sort of catastrophic failure imminent?