New to me ST1100! I find another community to belong to!

VidGameKing said:
Well look at that! A California ST owner! Fantastic! I grew up in the Bay Area, Union City in fact!

think a poorly tuned set of carbs could make it down to Fremont? The bike runs, but it’s also my first non-inline bike, so it sounds weird (not bad, just different enough to make me have no idea if there is a problem lol).
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If it's not running too rough it should make the trip.
These bikes run better after a couple hundred miles of highway.
Send me a PM let's set it up.
 
Uncle Phil said:
No roll over - the ST1100 speedo clocks in hundreds of thousand because there is no 'tenths'.
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So I was fretting on getting it registered in California, reading into the vehicle code and the guidelines on the DMV. In California the DMV considers any highway-use vehicle with less than 7,500 miles to be new. that’s for vehicles from 1982 to present, with exceptions made for all kinds of legal crap… so here I’m thinking register it with my brother in oregon get 1000 miles on it, and transfer to me… however… what you said resonated with me. I double checked the ODO, and by what you said, the bike has 62K miles on it. please check attached photo.


That being said… ST1100 62K miles with salvaged title… worth the $800 i paid?
 

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As UP said, the clutch is switch like. Have you changed the oil? I found syn. oil helps making the shifts smoother (engine and trans. share oil). Maybe run some carb. cleaner for a couple tanks?

$800? Depends on how much you have to put into it to get it acceptable to you. :)
 
VidGameKing said:
So I was fretting on getting it registered in California, reading into the vehicle code and the guidelines on the DMV. In California the DMV considers any highway-use vehicle with less than 7,500 miles to be new. that’s for vehicles from 1982 to present, with exceptions made for all kinds of legal crap… so here I’m thinking register it with my brother in oregon get 1000 miles on it, and transfer to me… however… what you said resonated with me. I double checked the ODO, and by what you said, the bike has 62K miles on it. please check attached photo.


That being said… ST1100 62K miles with salvaged title… worth the $800 i paid?
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If it is running reasonably well and the bodywork is in decent shape you did alright.
Three of my ST1100s have over 140,000 miles each and still run fine.
At 62,243 miles it's almost broke in ... ;)
However, if it still has the original rear shock you might want to consider replacing it.
Wilburs (what I use) and Hagon both make rebuildable units for it and they are built to your weight/riding/etc. specs as part of the process.
 
VidGameKing said:
So I was fretting on getting it registered in California, reading into the vehicle code and the guidelines on the DMV. In California the DMV considers any highway-use vehicle with less than 7,500 miles to be new. that’s for vehicles from 1982 to present, with exceptions made for all kinds of legal crap… so here I’m thinking register it with my brother in oregon get 1000 miles on it, and transfer to me… however… what you said resonated with me. I double checked the ODO, and by what you said, the bike has 62K miles on it. please check attached photo.
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When you said 6.5k originally I was surprised, its hard to find one of these that was ridden that lightly. So 65k makes a lot more sense, and is what your odometer shows. And, it easily overcomes the CA 7500 mile limit for considering it a "used" bike so I think you can probably title/register it here. With the DMV you never know what kinds of rules they'll throw at you until you're all finished, but I suspect it will go through.
 
Just so you know, before going to the DMV the engine serial number is on the bottom of the engine just behind the oil pan.
They will want that number. Chances are it will be covered by road grime. Clean it up and take a picture with your phone, you can't see it easily by just looking.
 
This is a relief! I'm glad these bikes are such dependable machines. I'm also glad it's still a smart buy too. in the non touring world 60K+ miles is the life of the bike... I remember getting to 40K on my Suzuki Sport-Tour, and thinking: "Man I got to sell this bike before it explodes on me.". I am still very excited to have this bike, and even more so because it's one the wife and I can both be on. (we are not the skinniest folks in town lol!) so a bike with this capacity is awesome! that rear-wheel 160mm, widest tire I've ever had on a bike!

Now I have a new set of things I'm going to have to work on:
front/rear shocks
final drive inspection
wheel bearings
Timing belt change
I'm going to flush hydraulics and coolant as well
Do fancy hoses make a difference for brakes and clutch? On my previous bikes getting those steel weave hoses made barking more responsive and less squishy...

Also probably going to do a valve checkup and shim as needed, and pull the oil-pan and check bearing tolerances. lots of stuff now that I know the age, but for me that's more than half the reason to own the bike. I watched that video series on YouTube where Allen in the UK rebuilt the whole engine (minus pistons/rods/rings) Where he found the incorrect bearing on one of the connecting rods. That video was very inspirational and has me jones'ing for a spare engine to wrench on.

also @ Uncle Phil I'm 100% positive I would just buy an ABS bike and use that instead of doing the conversion. I think the only reason I would commit to such a task (aside from the ability to say I did it... Because I could gall-darn'd it...) is that there was a diner bike and EVERYTHING except 100% of the ABS gear was trash.
 
VidGameKing said:
This is a relief! I'm glad these bikes are such dependable machines. I'm also glad it's still a smart buy too. in the non touring world 60K+ miles is the life of the bike... I remember getting to 40K on my Suzuki Sport-Tour, and thinking: "Man I got to sell this bike before it explodes on me.". I am still very excited to have this bike, and even more so because it's one the wife and I can both be on. (we are not the skinniest folks in town lol!) so a bike with this capacity is awesome! that rear-wheel 160mm, widest tire I've ever had on a bike!

Now I have a new set of things I'm going to have to work on:
front/rear shocks
final drive inspection
wheel bearings
Timing belt change
I'm going to flush hydraulics and coolant as well
Do fancy hoses make a difference for brakes and clutch? On my previous bikes getting those steel weave hoses made barking more responsive and less squishy...

Also probably going to do a valve checkup and shim as needed, and pull the oil-pan and check bearing tolerances. lots of stuff now that I know the age, but for me that's more than half the reason to own the bike. I watched that video series on YouTube where Allen in the UK rebuilt the whole engine (minus pistons/rods/rings) Where he found the incorrect bearing on one of the connecting rods. That video was very inspirational and has me jones'ing for a spare engine to wrench on.

also @ Uncle Phil I'm 100% positive I would just buy an ABS bike and use that instead of doing the conversion. I think the only reason I would commit to such a task (aside from the ability to say I did it... Because I could gall-darn'd it...) is that there was a diner bike and EVERYTHING except 100% of the ABS gear was trash.
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Welcome. I'm an unrepentant ST1100 enthusiast. Others will tell you that they are getting old, and parts are difficult to come by. They are somewhat correct. Most everything is available used but that takes a lot of time searching and waiting sometimes. Apparently the timing belt has been discontinued recently. This means what is out there is it, done. There maybe another belt that will work, but as of now I haven't heard. A timing belt failure, even in the earliest machines is unheard of. Every report you read will say that the belt was replaced but the old belt looked great. There are plenty of other major parts that are no longer available new from Mother Honda. Things like final drives, and coolant pumps. Right now these parts are on the used market pretty frequently. But that won't always be the case. I know that I won't be able to keep mine running forever, but I'm still gonna try for a bit. Uncle Phil has 4 runners and 4 parts bikes. Likely a lifetime of riding, and that may be the way that it has to be in the future. Its not for everyone, and you better be able to turn a wrench. That said, they are amazingly capable and reliable. Just know exactly what you are getting into.
 
Timing belt at 65,000 miles? I'm just curious as to why as IMHO those belts are way over engineered (which is a good thing! ;)).
I've got 4 used ones hanging on a hook and if I put them down on a table with brand new one you probably could not figure out which one was new.
I don't change them until 100,000 miles regardless of 'age' and I am now in the 'camp' of changing the water pump at that point also while I'm in there.
I've had two water pumps fail - one at 140,000 miles and one at 135,000 miles though I have one that has 184,000 miles on it.
 
VidGameKing said:
Hey, think a gasket kit like this would work on a 2001?

www.ebay.com

Complete Performance Engine Gasket Rebuild Kit Set for Honda ST1100 [1990-1996] | eBay

ST1100 (1990-1996). Sumo Performance Parts are made with High quality materials. Each kit contains all what is shown in the picture. This High Quality Gasket Set include all necessary Pieces (Pcs).
www.ebay.com
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Do you really intend a full engine revision? :unsure:
(valve shaft seals, crank case and gear box gaskets?)

I'd suggest:
- valve cover gaskets & grommets (is the loaner shim set still avail?)
- carb insulators/boots
- coolant hoses, overflow line, elbows & O-Rings
- thermostat + O-ring
- radiator cap
- brake caliper pistons & seals
- brake master overhaul kits front & rear
- clutch overhaul kits master & receiver (+ paper gasket on clutch cover)
- clutch lever, pushrod, brass piece

Essential: Vessel #2 & #3 JIS screwdrivers/bits
Essential II: OEM Honda w/shop manual
 
VidGameKing said:
and pull the oil-pan and check bearing tolerances.
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Why?
ST1100's have no history of this type of mechanical failure. One video that was a one-off seemingly factory error is a poor reference data point in the face of millions of miles with no failures to speak of. If it isn't knocking, wrapping, or making any other funny noises why touch it?
 
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