I originally purchased this bike with the plan to polish it and flip it. At some stage, I fell in love with her. I had a few minor problems getting her going to start with, but , I have really enjoyed riding this big, powerful and thirsty bike with her custom paint job.
Not long after I had her on the road, I dropped it in a tired blond moment. I stupidly tried to pull her up on to the center stand while in gear and damaged the paint job I spent so long getting just so.
(//)
I put in the largest front sprocket, and smallest rear I could find to fit. She now is a little slow off the mark, and I have to ride the clutch a little, but I love the long legs, and she can take most bikes once moving. Just to see what she would do, I redlined it in 1st, and she came mighty close to 100km/hr. I mostly let her purr around at 2500rpm, until I hit those mountain roads.
Ive clocked up around 7000 km, so thought I had better give her an oil change, since I am heading on a 2000km round trip next week from Brissy to Mackay and back. The oil was fairly clean considering, and still slightly opaque.
When I return, I am planning to pull her down, and paint and polish her from the ground up, probably do the timing chain, valves and carbs, repair the damaged fairings, and I am planning on finding and installing some Honda hard saddlebags on custom mounts.
Can't wait to see some in the build photos. Whereabouts in Brissie are you?
Quote from: Tarsier79 on February 24, 2016, 05:32:48 AM
I put in the largest front sprocket, and smallest rear I could find to fit. She now is a little slow off the mark, and I have to ride the clutch a little, but I love the long legs, and she can take most bikes once moving. Just to see what she would do, I redlined it in 1st, and she came mighty close to 100km/hr.
Not sure what's going on here but I think 100kph in 1st gear is about normal on standard gearing, that's why they're faster than a Hyabusa to that speed. With those gearing changes maybe there's still a bit more to unleash.
Noel
Im up in Petrie, but moving to Kallangur into a house we purchased, where my FJ "workshop" will be.
Re the sprockets: I purchased the bike secondhand, so don't know if they were still original, and can't remember exactly what ratio they were. Before the change, in top gear she would run at around 4K cruising at 100km/hr, now she runs around 3300 rpm.
Since the FJ is my daily, I will have to get my other bike back up and running first also. (2003 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 putt putt).
Dunno how I missed the fact you`re a Brissie Bloke, but (very) belated welcome Kaine. You`ve got a lot of FJ mates nearby. (Check out zeemaps in intro section). Funny how so many fall in luv with these things....they just seem to fit!
I`ll let you know the next time there`s a ride or a mancave on locally.
If you have no prob with the Mackay run, you should really stretch her legs and come to Harrietville March 19th. :drinks:
I grew up on the Sunny Coast, but had to move to Brissy for work. I have enjoyed a few trips through the Sunny Coast Hinterland, but haven't done a decent ride through there on the FJ.
Harrietville might be a bit too far too soon I think, but I'd enjoy meeting up with a few of the guys for a ride at some stage a bit closer to home.
I do expect the strip down and rebuild to take 3-6 months depending, so will be mostly out of action over that time. I don't think the enfield will be able to keep up.
Quote from: Tarsier79 on February 26, 2016, 01:30:34 AM
I grew up on the Sunny Coast, but had to move to Brissy for work. I have enjoyed a few trips through the Sunny Coast Hinterland, but haven't done a decent ride through there on the FJ.
Harrietville might be a bit too far too soon I think, but I'd enjoy meeting up with a few of the guys for a ride at some stage a bit closer to home.
I do expect the strip down and rebuild to take 3-6 months depending, so will be mostly out of action over that time. I don't think the enfield will be able to keep up.
Well that should have the rebuild done in plenty of time for the annual Mapleton Muster in October.
Be sure to keep an eye on the down under section for local events.
Cheers
Darran
As usual, running further behind than I would like. As the FJ is my daily, I can't take her off the road till my dusty little putt-putt is back on the road (pictured). My wife's little CBR would be OK too, but it also needs some work, and I plan to work on it in parallel to the FJ.
While I continue to use her, I have had something odd happen a few times now while under hard acceleration, but I think it is only in first or second gear. As it only happens so rarely, I haven't been able to pin it down fully. Once the revs get up to maybe 4.5K, it seems to slip out of gear. Im pretty sure it isn't the clutch slipping, but not 100%. When it happens, my immediate automatic reaction is usually to back off, pull in the clutch and change gear. This doesn't help with diagnosing the problem, and I am unable to reproduce it at will. Could it be anything to do with the oil I am using? :scratch_one-s_head:
Also, I have seen a few of these bikes for sale at around 75,000km, stating a recent timing chain change. When do they usually require replacing?
You are most likely seeing the early symptoms of the infamous 2nd gear problem haunting so many of the old FJ's, especially the FJ1100's, but also seen on the early 1200's.
2nd gear dogs are worn and the shift fork is bent. Only fix is to take the engine apart and replace gears and shift forks :sorry:
This happens due to too many missed shifts from 1st to 2nd at high revs. Search the forum, lots of info on this.
If you felt it jump out of gear like a sudden change then it may be a bent shift fork. A slipping clutch is rise in revs but no acceleration. The early FJs did have this problem, my '86 would jump out of gear under hard acceleration in 2nd gear. I learned to short shift 2nd (before 6K). The later years got stronger shift forks and were less prone this problem but not immune. You can now get even stronger shift forks but to fix the problem requires splitting the case. And once you are that far down the rabbit hole you might as well get the gears under-cut to better protect your investment. The good news is you can live with it if you don't keep pushing it. The problem will get worse every time you push it till it jumps out of gear. It will begin to jump out at lower and lower revs. It sucks not having that Kookaloo in 2nd gear but there is always 3rd gear....
That is a bit nasty, and I love second. I will check out the relevant threads and make a decision. At the moment, I am leaning towards doing it, as I wanted to remove the engine to paint the frame properly anyway. At least I found out about it before I pulled it all apart and reassembled.
Thanks for the info guys!
Here you go:
http://www.fj1100.com/pages/2ndgear.htm (http://www.fj1100.com/pages/2ndgear.htm)
Took her out for what should be its last ride before the teardown.... months later than I was hoping to. I was giving her bit of a thrashing out at Somerset dam, then up Mt Glorious when I lost power, gradually but quickly. I thought it was an overheating problem, so left if for a few minutes (not too long as it was in a dangerous curve in the road). When I powered her back on, the fuel pump sounded like it went for a substantial time. I took it easy, and didn't have another problem on the way home.
Do the fuel pumps overheat? or does the computer shut it off under certain conditions? Just want to know if I should be looking for something when I disassemble.
And it begins.
Quote from: Tarsier79 on July 09, 2016, 04:24:24 PM
And it begins.
Been a while so what's happened with this bike?
The unforseen circumstances of life. She is waiting patiently in the corner for her turn. Unfortunately nothing will be happening before January, as I need a cash injection from the sale of one of my other bikes first.
Ok. So, I finally have some time, space and motivation. (The motivation is I really need to get her back on the road to explore some winding mountain roads!)
Step 1: Removing the engine: complete. In the process I found plenty of other small things I need to attend to before reassembly. This is going to cost a little more than I expected..... Oh well, it will be worth it.
Managed to remove the clutch basket, with the help of the tool shown (saw it on the internet searching for the actual tool). I'm sure it isn't the best way to do things, but it's done. Just about to flip and split the engine, which I have never done before on anything, so it is a big learning curve for me.
Fingers crossed!
OK, removed the lower half of the crank case, and I have the culprit. I am not sure how to remove the gears. I am guessing I have to remove the collar on the end with a bearing puller? Or should I just take like this to the experts?
I am still no good with the search on this site. Is it correct I should replace the shift fork with one from a xj1250?
Side note. I broke one of the bolts removing it. Not sure if I should try drilling it out... It is one of the thin long bolts at the rear RHS. I think it would probably survive without that particular bolt, but Im guessing the correct thing would be to fix it.
By the time you add in the cost of new gears and the machine work for back cutting the dogs, you will save money by getting get a gear cluster off the shelf, with all the work done (and no waiting):
(http://rpmracingca.com/prodimages/large/UCT-1.jpg)
Send in your old one and save a $150 core charge
http://rpmracingca.com/proddetail.asp?prod=UCT&cat=39 (http://rpmracingca.com/proddetail.asp?prod=UCT&cat=39)
Replace all 3 shift forks (left, center, right) with the latest design also available at RPM
left
(http://rpmracingca.com/prodimages/small/3XW-18511-00-1.jpg)
center
(http://rpmracingca.com/prodimages/small/4KG-18512-00-1.jpg)
right
(http://rpmracingca.com/prodimages/small/3XW-18513-00-1.jpg)
http://rpmracingca.com/products.asp?cat=39&filter=shift%20fork (http://rpmracingca.com/products.asp?cat=39&filter=shift%20fork)
Been there, done that. Don't fool around! Do it all, do it once, do it right! If you think this job is hard/expensive/time consuming, imagine doing it twice! Get all the gears undercut, not just 2nd gear. Change all the shift forks, not just one.
I fixed 2nd gear, only to promptly go out & torch 1st gear. Stupid plan on my part, learn from my mistake. Or don't--your choice.
Ed
Quote from: Tarsier79 on March 25, 2017, 02:47:19 AM
Side note. I broke one of the bolts removing it. Not sure if I should try drilling it out... It is one of the thin long bolts at the rear RHS. I think it would probably survive without that particular bolt, but Im guessing the correct thing would be to fix it.
Look at the case where the bolt head is. There is a number cast into the case for next to every bolt for the case. What bolt number is it?
Some of those bolts are part of the transmission oil galley.
Randy - RPM
I will have to check that bolt.... I had a quick look and can't remember where exactly it was.
I spoke to "Solo Tooling", in Albion, Brisbane:
The gears cost around $60-$80 AU to get the dogs machined, so I am going down that path. Most of the other dogs are already cut at an angle except the one at the other end of the shaft. The bloke at the local Yamaha dealership wasn't too helpful, and couldn't order the shift forks for an XJ1250. I noticed someone said that the forks were stronger on the later FJs, so I am ordering the ones from a '92 FJ1200.
In the meantime, how do I remove the sleeve off the end of the shaft to remove the gear to get it machined? Or is the answer to undo the nut off the other end and disassemble the whole assembly?
I put a bearing puller on the gear, and pulled it against the two washers sitting against the sleeve, but stopped before I broke something.