Saw an ST1100 at the side of the road

Joined
Apr 30, 2014
Messages
141
Location
Las Vegas, , Nevada
Bike
94' 1100 ABS
Re: Saw an ST1100 at the side of the road.................................

I bought a second one as well two months ago, I just don't recall why I did that..........
 
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Fatjock

Fatjock

STOC #8872
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
262
Location
Tampa Bay Area
Bike
'18 Glowing Tour DCT
STOC #
8872
Re: Saw an ST1100 at the side of the road.................................

I bought a second one as well two months ago, I just don't recall why I did that..........
Probably the same reason as me...........because you could!
 
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Fatjock

Fatjock

STOC #8872
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
262
Location
Tampa Bay Area
Bike
'18 Glowing Tour DCT
STOC #
8872
Re: Saw an ST1100 at the side of the road.................................

If Slydynbye doesn't take that Corbin, I will. Let me know if it's gone.
I sent him some pics this evening, to let him decide.
If he doesn't want it, the option will become yours. PM me with an e-mail address, and I'll send you a link to the pics.
 
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Fatjock

Fatjock

STOC #8872
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
262
Location
Tampa Bay Area
Bike
'18 Glowing Tour DCT
STOC #
8872
So this weekend was pretty much a washout, quite literally.


I did get to spend some time in the garage this weekend, but rain stopped play for the most part.


I got my side-stand sorted out. Replaced with one I got off e-bay, but saw no appreciable difference, so I cut up an old Windex bottle to make some shims. One was all I needed, and lateral play has all but disappeared, with both stands now working fine.


I also had the time to run the engine, and spray some Seafoam down the intakes, to try to clean things up a bit, with the symptoms I'm getting, I suspect there's an air leak somewhere along the line.I'll outline what I'm seeing below, and hopefully wiser heads than mine about carburetion can chime in to let me see if I'm on the right path.
When the engine is warmed up fully (and I do mean fully), she purrs like a kitten. But when the engine is cold, it's a whole different ball game.
From a cold start, she needs full choke (and I mean taking the lever way beyond where I ever have to on my '01) and absolutely no gas to start. Start she does, but coughs and splutters, normally dying. It takes three or four rounds of this to get her to stay running, but it's very rough, and an extremely low idle.
I need to keep the choke on a lot longer than I have to do on my '01 (on it, I need choke for a few seconds, maybe 15-20, before I can gradually remove and get a good idle), having to be on about a minute before I can hope to be able to lessen the choke amount.
Adjusting the idle screw helps, and she idles, but not smoothly, at normal idle speed (1K/revs). Byt he time she's warmed up, the idle is now over 2K/revs, and I need to bring it back down on the adjuster. Then when she gets fully up to temp the roughness goes away.


With the air filter out, she idles noisily when warming up, and blipping the throttle can induce a minor backfire. Spraying Seafoam into the intakes in short burst, would on occasion cause the revs to increase to around 3k/revs, with no throttle input (at idle), but not always, and not always on the one cylinder. This also produced an occasional cough.
The amount of white smoke produced varies on the cylinder, with two producing not much, and the others producing more.


I did pull the plugs before spraying the cleaner, and they show slight signs of oiling, which would be consistent with a carb issue, but with each pot having it's own carb, I would have expected a greater variation in plug state, unless all four have a similar issue.
I have new plugs, but won't fit them until I have her running right.


So it looks like I'm going to have to pull the carbs. I'm not looking forward to having to refurbish them, as I'm much more of an FI experienced guy. I know the theory, but the last carb I pulled apart was on a two stroke, and around thirty years ago. So dealing with 4 holds no great appeal for m, but if its got to be done, its got to be done. One of the guys that works form has built a few carb'd racing engines, so he should be able to help me out, and with the excellent tips and guides available here, I'm sure it'll get done well.


On another tack, I have my replacement mirror, surround, and fairing parts in, so when she goes back together she'll be good. I also have all I need to touch-up the air-box cover where it's chipping, so will start on that soon too.
But first I have my new timing belt, so as soon as the weather cooperates to let me get out into the light and work, I'll get that done, and do the fluid changes before starting her again.
 
Joined
Apr 28, 2015
Messages
57
Location
Tucson, AZ
Bike
1997 Honda ST1100
Re: Saw an ST1100 at the side of the road.................................

I sent him some pics this evening, to let him decide.
If he doesn't want it, the option will become yours. PM me with an e-mail address, and I'll send you a link to the pics.
PM SENT!
 
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Fatjock

Fatjock

STOC #8872
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
262
Location
Tampa Bay Area
Bike
'18 Glowing Tour DCT
STOC #
8872
An incredibly busy week v at work this week ruled out getting anything done mid-week, I came into the weekend full of anticipation.

Weather gave me a late start, but I managed to get a few jobs done, swapping the top-box out with my otheir ST, so I now h ave a red bike with a red box, and a lack bike with a black box, rather than the other way round. During this I sorted out the wiring in the red Givi box that the black bike came with, and got the lights on that working.
Since the black box from the red bike had speakers and an antenna fitted anyway, I decided to fit the rest if the hi-fi. This brought to light the appalling state of the wiring for accessories already fitted. I made a note of what would be needed to correct things, and left that for a later day, and finished what I was doing.
With the boogie-box blasting sound, I moved on to the LED light conversion......and can testify that this is much simpler with the front off the bike, and didn't take long at all.

When I ran the bike, it seemed to be running much more smoothly from a cold start than before, so maybe the carb cleaner I put through last week did some good. So I'll keep an open mind on that.

Sunday saw me changing out the front tire, which took a while, and I got the mailbox cover rubbed down, smoothed, and primed. Ready to be prepped for paint, and painted. So I 'll give that a week to cure, and move it forward me t weekend.

Still outstanding is to do is to replace the timing belt, fluid change-out, put the new decals on, make sure the rough idle is sorted, and re-assemble with new mirror and seat.

When I took her out for a quick brake and speedo checkout with the new tire, idle was almost normal, but I'm still concerned with the amount of choke required. We'll see.

She's coming together.
 
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
9
Location
San Antonio, TX
Bike
1994 Honda ST1100
STOC #
8856
"Just like my wife can't go to Petsmart on "adoption day" without "rescuing" a dog, I felt the need to rescue this bike. So $1,800 dollars later, I'm now the proud owner of a black '94 1100 with just under 103k miles on it, to go with my Wineberry Red '01."

I recognize this impulse in myself. It'll be a great bike, rewarding your efforts and cash. As the owner of a black '94 ST and having ridden a red '95, I can state with certitude that black '94s are the prettiest, fastest, and most reliable bikes ever built.
 
Joined
Aug 8, 2015
Messages
67
Location
Zeewolde, NL
Bike
ST1300
Good to see this poor puppy found the TLC that was so needed!

Just curious how you went about removing those decals? I recently found that applying a little heat from a hair dryer seems to help. Removing any remaining glue residue can be done quite easily and with no ill effect for the paint job by using some wondrous good-for-everything-except-a-broken-heart WD40 and a paper kitchen towel . .
 
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Fatjock

Fatjock

STOC #8872
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
262
Location
Tampa Bay Area
Bike
'18 Glowing Tour DCT
STOC #
8872
Good to see this poor puppy found the TLC that was so needed!

Just curious how you went about removing those decals? I recently found that applying a little heat from a hair dryer seems to help. Removing any remaining glue residue can be done quite easily and with no ill effect for the paint job by using some wondrous good-for-everything-except-a-broken-heart WD40 and a paper kitchen towel . .
Left it in the sun to warm up for a couple of hours, then it was just a case of getting a corner started (which wasn't easy on the 0"s in "1100", or "Honda"), then a gentle even pull. Only one even tore on the way off.
I think they may not have been on that long.

I had a similar experience when I converted my 01 to "Pan European" decals (and I have the same for this one too).
 
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Fatjock

Fatjock

STOC #8872
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
262
Location
Tampa Bay Area
Bike
'18 Glowing Tour DCT
STOC #
8872
My wife says no to two bikes............They are both perfect, Which one to sell!?...............
Decisions, decisions. Glad I'm not in your shoes.
You could try what I did, and get the wife to start riding, then she'll have to have her own so you'll need at least two bikes then.

This also helps to explain why we've got two ST's, and two 650 Burgmans....................and I even let her ride one occasionally!!
 
Joined
Aug 8, 2015
Messages
67
Location
Zeewolde, NL
Bike
ST1300
Left it in the sun to warm up for a couple of hours, then it was just a case of getting a corner started (which wasn't easy on the 0"s in "1100", or "Honda"), then a gentle even pull.
Haha, solar power probably works well in Tampa! Here in the Netherlands I wouldn't want to wait for it to warm up . .
 
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Fatjock

Fatjock

STOC #8872
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
262
Location
Tampa Bay Area
Bike
'18 Glowing Tour DCT
STOC #
8872
So I had fun and games with a timing belt this weekend.

I started off the weekend by plastic welding the cracks in the fairing I knew of, and painting the air-box cover, which I managed to get a couple of good coats on before I ran out. I understand that rattle cans will never hold a huge amount, but on something this size, I had hoped to get at least 3 or 4 coats of an $18 can. What I have looks good, but I?d like to have as few more coats before I begin rubbing down, cutting, and polishing. So I guess I?m stopping to pick up one or two more on the way home today. By the time I?m done in materials, I?d probably have been cheaper sending it out???.oh well!

The last big job I had to do was change the timing belt, and so figuring I had the manual (Clymer) I may as well use it, I began by draining the oil and coolant, and pulling the plugs.
While the oil was pretty much as expected, used, but not bad, no metal, or other debris in it. But was a good bit darker than I expected by looking at the sight glass. Checking the glass again after draining, it still looked like it was full of fresh oil. So I realized the sight glass was contaminated, so I had to pull that off and clean it. What a delightful job that was, but tedious, rather than difficult. When cleaned it made a good difference.

So far so good. The coolant was a different story. It was a pale muddy color, and opaque. It made me wonder if someone had added some kind of radiator sealant chemical to it, and the filler was crudded-up with some semi-solid material of the same color. I was surprised how little fluid seemed to drain out. More on this later.
However, the rad came-off easily enough, there was no sign of any damage, and when flushed didn?t take long until things were flowing clear, so I don?t think there was any issues there.

This where the fun began, or should I say, ?The comedy of errors?.
Next steps in the manual were to remove the clutch slave cylinder, and the clutch cover. The manual says ?you may have to move the RH exhaust slightly to allow access to the slave cylinder bolts, which can be done by loosening the exhaust clamps? and gave a nice pic to illustrate. What it didn?t say was, In order to get sufficient movement for you to be able to clear the exhaust with the bolts for the clutch cover, you will need to fully remove the exhaust clamps, disconnect the stainless pair control pipes at the head, and remove the engine guard bar. But in order to access the one of the securing bolts for the engine guard, you need to relocate the plastic box (part of the fuel system) below the tank.
So I removed the securing bolt for the plastic tank, and moved that out of the way, so I could remove the engine guard, disconnect the pair pipes, and pull the exhaust pipes loose. This allowed me sufficient movement, to wrestle the exhaust around, and get the clutch cover bolts out. So just over two hours after the rad came out, I got the clutch cover off. BTW, when the slave cylinder came out, there was a bunch of goop on it that needed cleaning off, before I hung that up out of the way.
With this off, the plastic covers came off really easy, and the belt was exposed.
But by this time, I had been out in the Florida sun wrestling with the bike for about five hours so I was tired, hot, and wary of making mistakes, so I wheeled her back inside, and decided to tackle the belt change in the morning. I went for a much needed and deserved shower, and a drink.

Saturday evening I did some research, and that?s when I learned I didn?t really have to remove the clutch cover, which would make the whole job a fantastic amount easier. I read about the mod to the plastic cover, but wasn?t really getting it. But I figured that as I?d already got everything off, and it it?d be another 90K miles before I needed to do it again, I didn?t have to be too concerned about this. I?d just put it back together. I also watched the belt fitment video on you tube a few times to get that down pat.

Sunday morning, and the belt change went simply and smoothly, not a difficult job at all. I had an OEM belt, so didn?t encounter the issues some of those using the Gates belt have encountered, and it only took me two attempts to get the belt on without moving anything, and having everything perfectly aligned. I was pleased with that.

I was changing the belt because the bike had 102K mile son it, and the PO told me he?d had it for a year, but could not tell me if the timing belt had been replaced. So, better to be safe. Once I got the old belt off I could examine its condition, and was basically new. The water pump and idlers were in perfect condition (I?d elected to review these once the belt was off, and order then if I needed them. I see no point in replacing things for the sake of it, you could be taking out a proven item which may have another 200K left in it, to fit a new, but defective item, which could fail in a short time. So sometimes it?s better the devil you know), so saw no need to mess with these. I believe this had been done on schedule, so I now basically have a spare belt which should be good for 60K-90K miles yet. Maybe I?ll stick it on my 01 when it?s got another 30K or so under its belt.

So onto reassembly. I put the plastic cover on unchanged, and the clutch cover went back on far more easily than it came off, and the cleaned slave cylinder too. Now over the years, I have gotten into the practice of putting bolts back into the holes they came out of whenever possible, if I?m leaving things disassembled for any length of time.
And so it came to pass that as I was removing the bolts for the for the cam pulley cover to refit them, I allowed myself to get distracted with a neighbor walking past, and dropped one into the cover. I exclaimed ?Oh dear?, or words that effect??..and I began removing the cover to get the bolt out.

This time I wasn?t going to mess with the clutch area, and I remember reading that the cover could be removed with a bit of prying, and commenced to do this. This is when the epiphany occurred?..I immediately saw exactly what everyone was on about with the cover, and exactly what modification would be needed to make this a whole bunch easier. So when I got the cover off and retrieved the offending bolt, I broke out the Dremel, and modified the cover. Things went back really easily after that, even getting all the exhaust stuff done.
With it all back together, I fitted new plugs, and filled up with fluids??.and that?s when I discovered the coolant leak!

From the evidence I have, I don?t believe this was anything I had done but had been there since I owned the bike. There is a small pipe coming down from the thermostat, and going across the top of the engine, which had a split. This explains why there was so little coolant to drain out, why it looked like someone had been adding radiator repair chemicals, and why I had been getting white smoke faintly from one side of the engine. I?m surprised that there was no overheating issues. So I believe that this has been there for a while, and the coolant level has dropped to a point where it wasn?t an obvious leak, but just the occasional spurt when under pressure onto a ho engine, giving the visible tendrils of smoke I was seeing when I stopped a hot engine.

So now I just have a coolant leak to take care of, and I?m ready to fully reassemble and put on the new decals. If I can put in a hour or two most evening this week on the air-box cover, I may have her back on the road next weekend.

Color me happy!
 
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Fatjock

Fatjock

STOC #8872
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
262
Location
Tampa Bay Area
Bike
'18 Glowing Tour DCT
STOC #
8872
Had a go at the coolant leak last night.
When i went to disconnect the offending pipe, it basically disintegrated. It had not aged well, and become extremely brittle.

Getting the thermostat end off wasn't too bad, but the other end that's buried in the engine wasn't fun. I got the old one off, and a new pipe on at the thermostat end, but need to get some longer reach pliers to have a chance of fitting the new pipe at the engine end. So it's off to Northern Tool on the way home tonight (because luckily enough I pass one on the way home).

Then once that's done I'm down to finishing the repainting of the airbox cover, reassemble, new decals, and a bit of polishing to tidy up.

With a bit of luck I'll be riding this weekend.
 
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Fatjock

Fatjock

STOC #8872
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
262
Location
Tampa Bay Area
Bike
'18 Glowing Tour DCT
STOC #
8872
Coolant hose replaced. And reassembly begun.

So I've already told my wife that next time I suggest removing all the Tupperware, remind me of this.

Getting the upper fairing back on is a nightmare! I don't know if it's the age of the bike making the plastic less flexible, but after a an hour or three at it, I just c an't get all the mounting holes to align the frame at the same time.
Gave up in frustration to come back fresh another day.

But I believe that once I get the upper fairing back on, the rest will be plain sailing.....then it's getting the air box cover finished, New decals on, and I can post some pics.

I did throw another another coat of color on the cover tonight. Two or three more, and I can begin rubbing down, and cutting back to develop the gloss.

Hopefully done soon.
 
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Fatjock

Fatjock

STOC #8872
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
262
Location
Tampa Bay Area
Bike
'18 Glowing Tour DCT
STOC #
8872
IIt's alive!

Everything is back together, and taken for a shakedown ride. She's ready to into commuting service tomorrow. :)

Only things left are cosmetic. She still needs a good clean, and some scratches need polishing out, and there's plentry of time for that.

I seem to be having trouble uploading photos to the site currently, so below is a link to a couple of pics of how she is now.

https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/folder/tnji08UeRa2ZOVFlrqbe4w

One new tire,
New timing belt,
New RH mirror , and surround,
Seat back to standard,
Headlamps converted to LED,
Carb cleaning (chemically, no fear-down),
Box change,
Add audio system,
New Decals,
Air box cover repainted,
Two gas leaks addressed,
One coolant leak addressed,
And a full service, later, she's ready for another 100k, with routine maintenance.
 
Last edited:
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Fatjock

Fatjock

STOC #8872
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
262
Location
Tampa Bay Area
Bike
'18 Glowing Tour DCT
STOC #
8872
Got it to upload a pic......so here is a quick before and after. But I'm sure the after will change, like re-applying the decals where there is more light and more space, so I can get them on straight!
Just as well I bought three sets.

20150725_102203.jpg IMG_20150823_163623.jpg
 
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