Yamaha XS Eleven

The Yamaha XS Eleven, also sold as the XS 1100, was a large Japanese standard motorcycle built from late 1977 to 1983. It was the first four-cylinder four-stroke motorcycle and, on its introduction for the 1978 model year, the largest and most powerful production motorcycle on sale, with an air-cooled 1,101 cc double overhead camshaft engine, shaft drive, three disc brakes and cast aluminium wheels. The engine was a clean-sheet design that sent power to the clutch through a hy-vo chain and a jackshaft, sat in rubber mounts to cut vibration, and used multi-angle polyspheric combustion chambers to allow high compression without knock. Magazines praised its straight-line strength, and it recorded a quarter mile under twelve seconds in 1978, but testers criticised its weight and cornering. US versions included the 1979 Special with a factory custom look and the 1981 Venturer touring model, and tighter emission rules from 1980 reduced performance. Europe received the Standard, the limited Martini and the sporty XS 1.1 S before the XJ1100 Maxim and the FJ series followed.