Going to look at an ST1100, need honest opinions

Bush said:
Why haven't you bought the H4 bulb adapters and just fitted standard 55/60W H4 bulbs in there? Cheaper than Honda's proprietary 45/45W bulbs too.
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Thanks for the reminder Bush. I'll just bite the bullet and pay the ransom money for the oem bulb. If I remember 10 years ago I had to do a bit of disasembly to the front of the bike. And getting the original bulb in was tedious work so I don't want to fight putting shims and adapters in. Besides if this new one last 10 years bike will be 32 years old and I'll be 78 years old. I can live with that.
 
JSBail said:
87k miles on the OD
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Mine only has 31K on the ODO, BUT!! I haven't seen anyone mention the rear splines on the final drive, and if they aren't maintained well it can be a real (expensive) problem from what I understand. Anyone more experienced want to chime in on my thoughts?
 
Uncle Phil said:
Martin - I actually own 8 complete ST1100s in total -
4 daily runners
4 parts bikes

Plus about 60+ feet of additional ST1100 parts stored in my garage attic.
I have the 4 parts bikes under their own full covers and parked in the car port. :biggrin:
In my collection, I have two ST1100 complete engines with less that 60,000 miles on them.
So I figure I should be able to keep my ST1100s running until I can't run myself! ;)
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And not one left red mirror for me!
 
When I bought mine around a year or so ago, the only issue it had was that the tach didnt work, I thought, so what, who needs a tach. Then several months later it magically started working great. So I believe the ST1100 is a self healing bike.
Change my mind.. :rofl1:
 
Beeflips said:
Mine only has 31K on the ODO, BUT!! I haven't seen anyone mention the rear splines on the final drive, and if they aren't maintained well it can be a real (expensive) problem from what I understand. Anyone more experienced want to chime in on my thoughts?
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I think this is where one has to get more proficient in doing your own light duty maintenance. For example, I take off my wheels and bring them into the shop to have them change the tires, but I will install the wheels on the bike and use the proper Moly for the splines. I do my own oil changes and I choose to change the oil in the rear diff each time.
When major maintenance needs to be done, I will take off all the Tupperware, then bring the bike to the shop. that way I can take my time removing them and not to break any pegs or lose any fasteners that a shop might do. (You save two hours of labour fees by just doing that)
This forum, as well as the”Archives of Wisdom” from the other ST forum, have been the best resource around! The Facebook groups are OK but a joke for troubleshooting an issue that comes up. (It boggles the mind…most frustrating platform)
Checking Craigslist, Kijiji, and eBay on a routine basis will net you some deals on parts, you have to be prepared to purchase as soon as that rare part comes up.
If you’re prepared to do these things then purchasing a ST1100 will give you many years of satisfaction.
 
kiltman said:
I think this is where one has to get more proficient in doing your own light duty maintenance. For example, I take off my wheels and bring them into the shop to have them change the tires, but I will install the wheels on the bike and use the proper Moly for the splines. I do my own oil changes and I choose to change the oil in the rear diff each time.
When major maintenance needs to be done, I will take off all the Tupperware, then bring the bike to the shop. that way I can take my time removing them and not to break any pegs or lose any fasteners that a shop might do. (You save two hours of labour fees by just doing that)
This forum, as well as the”Archives of Wisdom” from the other ST forum, have been the best resource around! The Facebook groups are OK but a joke for troubleshooting an issue that comes up. (It boggles the mind…most frustrating platform)
Checking Craigslist, Kijiji, and eBay on a routine basis will net you some deals on parts, you have to be prepared to purchase as soon as that rare part comes up.
If you’re prepared to do these things then purchasing a ST1100 will give you many years of satisfaction.
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on the labor hours. Dont they charge book rates for the task at hand like car mechanics do regardless of what you do to help cut the time?
 
ST Steven said:
on the labor hours. Dont they charge book rates for the task at hand like car mechanics do regardless of what you do to help cut the time?
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Not my shop. They only charge me the actual time it took to accomplish the task. So I get them to do things like changing the timing belt, repairing the clutch slave cylinder. They can do it in half the time I can and they have the specialty tools to get the job done.
 
Upt' North said:
The design is around 30 years old and they haven't been made for approximately 20 years.
I think you know what to expect. Hours and hours of ebay searches.
Buy a 96 or later and decide if you want to keep an ageing ABS bike going or not.
Upt'North.
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Decide to keep an aging bike going or not? My 83 GL interstate is the "newest" bike in my garage and I've got 4 bikes at the moment. :) Funny how parts availability is because besides my GL, I have a 71 cb350 twin, 75 cb400F that's being restored at the moment and my favorite of them all a 77 cb750F and all of them seem to be far easier to get parts for especially the 750. Ebay seems to be a good indicator in regards to parts availability for a specific bike and when I did an Ebay search on that broken mirror and came up with a dismal search result, that immediately made me wonder. Thanks for all the input, it looks like I'm going to pass on the ST1100 for now at least until I can sell my GL first.
 
Don't forget to check out local wrecking yards, especially if they advertise bike parts. Some Ebay ST1100 engine sellers show the bike they are breaking also. If the photos have a part you are needing, contact them and ask.
 
red one said:
Thanks for the reminder Bush. I'll just bite the bullet and pay the ransom money for the oem bulb. If I remember 10 years ago I had to do a bit of disasembly to the front of the bike. And getting the original bulb in was tedious work so I don't want to fight putting shims and adapters in. Besides if this new one last 10 years bike will be 32 years old and I'll be 78 years old. I can live with that.
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if I remember correctly I just cut the 2 lower tabs off and it fit right in. It's been at least 3 years .
 
After reading this thread, maybe I ought to reconsider selling my ST1100 and just part it out. Nah, I'd rather not deal with shipping all those parts. Couple of nice mirror covers though. :)
 
Al st1100 said:
if I remember correctly I just cut the 2 lower tabs off and it fit right in. It's been at least 3 years .
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Really didn't wanna do that as the tabs keep the original aim on that bulb. Would cutting it cause improper aim from the bulb? I like the plug and play of the oem bulb even though it will be cutting into some of my drinking money:rofl1:
 
red one said:
I like the plug and play of the oem bulb even though it will be cutting into some of my drinking money
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Another way to spend your money is get a European headlight assembly. Regular H4 bulbs fit in it no issues, no adapter needed or cutting of tabs. Fitting of LED bulbs is easier too.
 
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