XS1100 First Start

[Mister Fishfinger]

Well the weather was miserable yesterday so I hid myself in the shed for a bit of restoration work on my XS1100 Yamaha. It's an old shaft drive juggernaut from 1979 (apparently the fastest accelerating production bike in the world at the time, although I don't suppose the record lasted very long).

Anyway I have been rebuilding this poor neglected old beast for about 3 years and yesterday we crossed off a little milestone - the first engine  start (at least, the first since I got it).

I'm only slightly exaggerating when I say it started first touch of the button (it was second touch, as the starter didn'r engage first time round). And it felt quite solid, even without an airbox I got the feeling it would have kept running as long as it had petrol. Although of course I would have been dead by then because of the fumes.

Anyway, here's the moment:

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[Andre]

Nice first start. Bet it took a load of your shoulders

[Mister Fishfinger]

Yeah, it gets to the point where you want to start the engine before spending more money. But now I'm happy it's not a dud.