XS 1100 Midnight Special 1981

[Rollie]

Not mine and selling quickly

http://www.ebay.com/itm/361901985865?ul_noapp=true

 

[stobrien]

Great Old bike

 

[Rollie]

Sold at $ 1,699.00 I would have liked to own it.

 

[Fire-medic]

I didn't really care for the Midnight series, I thought they looked gaudy. Those bikes are good candidates for turbocharging (the 1100's) and there were more than a few here in So. FL in the early 1980's. The local Snap-On dealer had one, and I believe he still owns it. I haven't spoken w/him in awhile, but last I did, he still had it.

A couple other acquaintances had the regular XS11's, and they really liked them. I thought the burgundy bike and the silver bike XS11's looked great, much more-classy than the gold-lame' Midnight series.

Years ago a neighbor's son had one for sale, I went and looked at it, and the gold was starting to craze, and it would need the usual return from neglect as it hadn't been kept running, and was allowed to sit and putrefy from disuse. Non-running. I offered $1000 and the dad was all in-favor of his son taking the money (Dad was a NYC retired police detective) but the son thought this was some paragon of artistry in motorcycle design, despite its going-to-seed finish, and non-running status. He wanted something close-to $3K! I told him if it was running perfectly, he might get something over $2K, but $3K was a dream. I didn't find-out what happened to it, the old man died, and the house was sold.

This one does look pretty-clean, but they must have been bidding in ten-cent increments to get 37 bids and only to $1699.

 

[Rollie]

I thought they looked sharp in the day , but I can see where they might be a pain to keep the gold looking good. The 1100 motor was stout in it's day. The Midnight series was used on other Yamaha models too if memory serves me correct.

 

[Fire-medic]

Yamaha 'Midnight' color scheme: Japanese bikes emulating the style of British bikes. HRD Vincent used black & gold trim, also Nortons.

 

[caseyjones955]

Cant argue the gaudy nature of gold trim on anything really, but the word "midnight" makes it sound badass-er than a standard. My first bike >1000cc (Not counting the anemic HDs) was a burgandy XS1100 I bought off the rez for next to nothing and rode it home after a couple tweaks.

A mighty grunty bike for the times. There must be a lot more aftermarket support for these than I realized at the time.

 

[Fire-medic]

For all short while the XS11 was the fastest bike, I think it was the CBX which displaced it. Like the Z1/KZ1000, & the GS1000 they had stout bottom ends capable of handling much more HP making it easy to hop up and to live.

 

[SpecOps13]

Had an XJ and an XS. Both ran great but the XJ was a Rocket Ship. Never ran against a Vmax but it would have been a good run......

 

[Rollie]

I was thinking the Yamaha Midnights.... Black has been a staple color for bikes forever , with H.D. probably making the most of any other manufacturer by a long shot.

 

[Rollie]

It's baaaack ....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/391708671232?ul_noapp=true

 

[caseyjones955]

I was thinking the Yamaha Midnights.... Black has been a staple color for bikes forever , with H.D. probably making the most of any other manufacturer by a long shot.

Your definately right, it looks great. The only issue I have with black is its the hardest color to see. With all the in car distraction systems today I cant justify taking any additional chances.