Yes, the legendary Yamaha XS Eleven. 
My father is getting older, mid-70s. (Read the rest with deprecating irony, ok? ). I look after his health by giving him difficult projects and guilting him into doing them. For example, this 15,000 original mile 1981 Yamaha XS1100 (oh yes). It was outside parked for over a decade in the rainy Pacific NW. The challenge was strong in this one, yes (read in Yoda voice). But, he's winning.
Unfortunately, he had neglected to account for the fact the original bike came with an aftermarket 4-1 exhaust (which had to be meticulously rebuilt and re-coated - one pipe was crushed), and forgot to swap out the exhaust studs on the replacement head he fitted. Such amateur work; I wish I'd been around to supervise better.
A lot of Kroil (there is no substitute), ridiculous amounts of heat, and a stud puller got all but two of the studs out after the rebuilt engine was back in-frame. The remaining two were blocked by the downtubes from easy extraction. You younger folks may not know what downtubes are; Google that if needed. In a massive application of "let's do everything we can to avoid the obvious" of pulling the head quickly back off, lots of work was spent. And flesh seared. Yes.
Upper right shows one of the too-short replacement head exhaust studs hiding behind a downtube.
Concerned about his health and level of exercise, I suggested he crawl around on the ground and braze a bolt on the recalcitrant stud, then we just wrench it out.
A glowing mark of success:
I felt this was all a fantastic exercise, since I sat in a rolling office chair to the side, sipping a little Jameson's and enjoying the show.*
I hope this post helps:
A) Those of you with under-utilized, under-exercised elderly parents. Get them to work for their own benefit! (and later you can sell or enjoy their product, of course)
B) Those of you idiots like me who cannot weld with skill, maybe this will make you finally learn (as I have known I should have a long time ago!
* - No I didn't just sit around but was actually involved and on the ground, too. But unfortunately, since my dad was always so good at it and around when I needed it, I never learned to weld and it irritates me...
My father is getting older, mid-70s. (Read the rest with deprecating irony, ok?
). I look after his health by giving him difficult projects and guilting him into doing them. For example, this 15,000 original mile 1981 Yamaha XS1100 (oh yes). It was outside parked for over a decade in the rainy Pacific NW. The challenge was strong in this one, yes (read in Yoda voice). But, he's winning.Unfortunately, he had neglected to account for the fact the original bike came with an aftermarket 4-1 exhaust (which had to be meticulously rebuilt and re-coated - one pipe was crushed), and forgot to swap out the exhaust studs on the replacement head he fitted. Such amateur work; I wish I'd been around to supervise better.
A lot of Kroil (there is no substitute), ridiculous amounts of heat, and a stud puller got all but two of the studs out after the rebuilt engine was back in-frame. The remaining two were blocked by the downtubes from easy extraction. You younger folks may not know what downtubes are; Google that if needed.
In a massive application of "let's do everything we can to avoid the obvious" of pulling the head quickly back off, lots of work was spent. And flesh seared. Yes.Upper right shows one of the too-short replacement head exhaust studs hiding behind a downtube.
Concerned about his health and level of exercise, I suggested he crawl around on the ground and braze a bolt on the recalcitrant stud, then we just wrench it out.
A glowing mark of success:
I felt this was all a fantastic exercise, since I sat in a rolling office chair to the side, sipping a little Jameson's and enjoying the show.*
I hope this post helps:
A) Those of you with under-utilized, under-exercised elderly parents. Get them to work for their own benefit! (and later you can sell or enjoy their product, of course)
B) Those of you idiots like me who cannot weld with skill, maybe this will make you finally learn (as I have known I should have a long time ago!
* - No I didn't just sit around but was actually involved and on the ground, too. But unfortunately, since my dad was always so good at it and around when I needed it, I never learned to weld and it irritates me...
