Hi all from south west Sweden, Gothenburg. thanks for admittance into the forum.
I just got my first FJ1100 -84 (couldn't resist it) and are exited to learn to know this bike.
Previously I have two XJ900 -83 (one rebuilt to cafe racer) and one Guzzi California -01.
Need to do some work on the FJ but hope to have it on the road by june/july and I am very curios on how it behaves caompared to the XJ's
Reg
Engineerlars
Welcome to the forum Lars. Lots of FJ owners in Europe.
Joe
I met a pair of girls from Norrkoping, Sweden when I was in the Navy. "Lotta" and "LLena" Bergstrom were their names. Spent some quality time with them in Sri Lanka. Neither of them rode motorcycles. :hi: Welcome to the preeminent FJ resource in the world.
Welcome Lars, the FJ can be modernized and made to perform quite well for today's standard motorcycle. This is a rabbit hole we call Moditus. Fun but can be expensive.
Welcome in Lars :good2:
I have a very good friend who did many miles on his XJ 900 before he got the FJ1200 and he said the difference was "astounding" - from being much more comfortable and easier to ride, to feeling a LOT faster in any gear, but especially in top gear roll-on's for overtaking.
I'm sure you'll love your FJ but as Monkey says, once you start with the modernising, it's difficult to stop :biggrin:
G;'day Lars :hi:.
I think you'll love the FJ. 84/85 are particularly sweet machines (to me :sarcastic:)
A very different bike to the XJ, but similar smooth power. It will handle differently, you'll feel a tendency to turn in with the 16" wheels, but is surprisingly spry in low speed corners with some revs.
If you like modding, there are plenty of FJ projects.
Check the petcock is wired off, replace the OEM brake lines with steel braided. Then ride this summer and decide if you want to change it up. Simple and cheap mods are the timing and clutch mods.
As I've just discovered, if the airbox is still on and you want to pull the carbies you have two choices. First learn to deal with putting the airbox back on or put PODs on. I've both, and just started going back to the stock airbox style.
If you do decide to keep the airbox, when putting the carbies back, put them in the airbox first, then push the lot into the intake boots. If your intake boots are hard check for cracks & replace (plenty of EU suppliers on fleebay). Price check as some of the German suppliers for OEM bits can be very pricey. Hardened intake boots will make putting carbies back in a total misery.
Another tip with the airbox I learnt here is to remove the top two subrame bolts and loosen the bottom two. The subframe will drop onto or close to the back wheel. I put a small block of wood between the rear guard and wheel to control how far the subframe drops. This will give you more room for fooling with the (crappy) airbox.