1979 Yamaha XS1100 Special

By 1981 I was riding almost exclusively in the dirt. My love of long distance touring hadn’t raised it’s head yet, but my need for speed was well established. I had sold my Z1000 and bought a snowmobile in 1980, when I got a great deal on a 1980 XS1100 Special. The guy said the bike scared him to death and he just wanted to get rid of it.

That XS1100 showed me the possibility of easy, long days. It was just ‘dammit’ fast, but smooth and comfortable and the seed was planted. I found I just wanted to see what was over the next hill.

The XS1100 was introduced in 1978 and immediately became ‘the most powerful production bike’ on the planet. Cycle World turned 19 quarter mile passes on their tester, all under 12 seconds. Yamaha used a shaft drive obtained under an agreement with BMW and more or less successfully mated huge torque with the drive. It had some ‘traits’ which were not common on chain driven bikes.

The 1979 Yamaha XS1100 Special used an 1101 CC air cooled four stroke dual overhead cam four cylinder transverse mounted motor that made 95 HP with a five speed transmission and shaft drive that showed a top speed of 126 MPH. Good not great suspension, disc brakes at both ends and a hefty 602 LBS wet weight completed the package.

This particular 1979 Yamaha XS1100 Special (VIN # 3H3008300) is in American Canyon, California and is listed as ‘Runs perfectly. Very fast and smooth’. The bike is currently bid at $2,500