In preparation for my Scotland trip, I recently fitted an Oberon clutch slave cylinder to my FJ.
I'd been having to bleed air from the system every 1000 miles or so and the paint had started to peel off the oil filter cover again, so rather than just cleaning up the piston and bore and replacing the seals, I decided to splash out the £117 ($140) for the upgraded Oberon unit and I must say, i am heartily impressed.
It looked like a great quality unit, has given a slightly lighter feel at the lever and gearchanges, especially down the box, actually seem noticeably smoother.
All in all, it seems to have been a worthwhile upgrade.
Dean,
That looks really good. Although I note that they say it is not serviceable - must be returned to the UK if it needs work. I had planned to buy a new slave from RPM the next time I need to redo my clutch. Or even better, before the next time.
Dean, don't throw away your old clutch slave.
https://fjowners.com/index.php?topic=12294.0
Quote from: Pat Conlon on August 30, 2025, 10:49:22 PMDean, don't throw away your old clutch slave.
https://fjowners.com/index.php?topic=12294.0
I won't Pat. I'm going to rebuild it anyway (as I have the kits and parts) and will likely donate it to another FJ owner at sone point, as I already have 2 spare rebuilt OE units on the shelf in the garage, from my previous spares donor bikes :sarcastic:
I too have recently fitted the Oberon Clutch Slave... I could not be happier with the unit. In all my years of owning an FJ (from 1987 on) bleeding the clutch has always been such a pain in the ass. As you all know, there are whole threads dedicated to the tricks and methods use to try to purge all the air from the stock system.
I believe the seal design and bleed screw placement on the Oberon unit are superior to stock.
I was able to bleed the Oberon in minutes using regular methods and it has provided me with better lever feel and engagement than I have experienced in a long time with the stock set up. My bike shifts better and I can find neutral more easily.
My conclusion is that I was not truly getting all the air out of the system so - not full lever engagement - despite thinking that the system was fully bled because no more air bubbles were appearing.
Highly recommend the Oberon
Are the materials better? My stock slave cylinder has to be taken apart every couple of years and cleaned out.
I've just bought one.
Quote from: Waiex191 on August 31, 2025, 04:32:07 PMAre the materials better? My stock slave cylinder has to be taken apart every couple of years and cleaned out.
You can read about them here: https://iwt-customparts.com/en/product/clutch-slave-cylinder-black/
I fit a red one on my '89 a few years ago and have had no issues. Actually he used my bike to promote his product on his website.
My clutch slave had a fair amount of corrosion when I put a rebuild kit in this spring. Now I have drips of brake fluid under my bike. I looked at the oberon slave . Since the oberon isn't rebuildable by the user I've decided to go with the oem unit while they are still available. I'm betting rebuild kits will be around for a long tume.
My last OEM slave unit lasted 20+ years, not a bad value.
My original slave cylinder seemed crappy when the bike was new. I found I had to disassemble and clean it up every couple of years. I'm hoping the Oberon is an improvement. If it lasts 20+ years I'll call it a win.
My original had lasted over 100,000 miles and 36 years, but I'm happy with the Oberon one for now. Better "feel", lighter pull.
I also put an Oberon on my 84 FJ. Haven't had much opportunity to give it a try tho.
Got my Oberon clutch slave yesterday. Less than a week from the UK - brilliant. Hope to install it this weekend.
I got it installed and bled tonight. Haven't had a chance to ride it yet but it feels good when I work the lever. I observed a couple of oddities in the kit. First, they gave me 3 new stainless allen screws to install it - but the two long ones were about a cm too long. So I had to use my old ugly ones. Second, they gave me 3 seals and a spacer for the banjo connection to the slave. But if I used the spacer and 3rd seal I would have only had about 1 thread in the slave, torqued to 26 n-m. So instead I used my original banjo fitting and two new seals. I'd post a picture of it installed, but it looks like Dean's. Except for the fact that most of the paint is missing in that area. I found the reservoir was low and it looks like the old slave was leaking.
My guess would be that it's more tailored for the XJR platform. I was looking at the sprocket covers between our bikes and the XJR1300 doesn't have the mount for the slave cylinder on the cover. Still weird though because you would think the thickness on #10 would be the same as our mount, keeping the same bolt length imo. Not sure about the banjo bolt length though that's honestly something I also assumed would have stayed the same.
Quote from: Waiex191 on October 30, 2025, 11:02:32 PMI got it installed and bled tonight. Haven't had a chance to ride it yet but it feels good when I work the lever. I observed a couple of oddities in the kit. First, they gave me 3 new stainless allen screws to install it - but the two long ones were about a cm too long. So I had to use my old ugly ones. Second, they gave me 3 seals and a spacer for the banjo connection to the slave. But if I used the spacer and 3rd seal I would have only had about 1 thread in the slave, torqued to 26 n-m. So instead I used my original banjo fitting and two new seals. I'd post a picture of it installed, but it looks like Dean's. Except for the fact that most of the paint is missing in that area. I found the reservoir was low and it looks like the old slave was leaking.
Johnny is right, the 1700 kit is "universal" one, based on the XJR fitting, but lots of Yamaha's, including the FJ, use the same slave cylinder, hence the slightly oddball fitting bits.
I just put my mounting bolts on the wire wheel, gently, once in a while and cover them in ACF 50 before I refit them, seems to keep them looking good. :good2:
Before I fitted the Oberon I cleaned, degreased and sanded my sprocket cover and oil filter housing, then painted then in Simoniz gloss black engine lacquer. Great paint and it keeps them looking nice and fresh,
Did another adjustment on my bleed screws and went for a ride. Clutch feels good, but the engagement point is very different. Feels like it's not fully engaged until the lever is fully released to the stop. Is this normal? Is there a better clutch MC to use with the Oberon?
Quote from: JohnnyTheCraneGuy on October 31, 2025, 01:11:33 AMMy guess would be that it's more tailored for the XJR platform. I was looking at the sprocket covers between our bikes and the XJR1300 doesn't have the mount for the slave cylinder on the cover. Still weird though because you would think the thickness on #10 would be the same as our mount, keeping the same bolt length imo. Not sure about the banjo bolt length though that's honestly something I also assumed would have stayed the same.
The XJR 1200 sprocket covers are 8mm wider than the FJ unit but still have the slave mount on the cover like the FJ.
I did not even think about it while I was installing the Oberon Slave because it went right on for me and all the screw lengths were right. BUT - I do have a XJR 1200 cover on my FJ to allow for an offset sprocket.
Quote from: Waiex191 on November 02, 2025, 03:59:11 PMDid another adjustment on my bleed screws and went for a ride. Clutch feels good, but the engagement point is very different. Feels like it's not fully engaged until the lever is fully released to the stop. Is this normal? Is there a better clutch MC to use with the Oberon?
You could try the FJR master cylinder, they also come with a span adjustable lever so you can position the lever and take up Point where it's comfortable. I've not used my Oberon with a FJ master cylinder so can't comment.
I must be the exception as I have never had an issue with the stock slave cylinder.
Quote from: Millietant on November 03, 2025, 05:59:03 AMYou could try the FJR master cylinder, they also come with a span adjustable lever so you can position the lever and take up Point where it's comfortable. I've not used my Oberon with a FJ master cylinder so can't comment.
Thanks Dean, I'll give that a try. Steve, glad you are having good luck with the stock slave. I've owned the bike since almost new and it gave me trouble early.
Quote from: FJ1200W on November 03, 2025, 07:30:33 AMI must be the exception as I have never had an issue with the stock slave cylinder.
I never really had an "issue" with mine, just since the bike clicked over 100,000 miles and slave cylinder maintenance periods were getting a bit closer together, I thought "why not give it a try" - plus, the big reason behind it all was................ MODITIS.
I've changed or upgraded the forks, brakes, 17" wheels, yokes, rear shock, FZ1 bars, FZ1 mirrors, Remus exhaust, modified fenders/mudguard, all the lights are LED, FJR clutch master cylinder, FZ1 brake master cylinder, span adjustable levers, all braided hydraulic lines, K & N air filter, iridium plugs (for longer life), the list goes on and on........
And I was getting the itch to change/improve something else (I'm not a fan of the spin on oil filter swap, just happy with the stock affair).
Probably the next thing I'll upgrade/change is the oil cooler, but maybe I'll wait for that until I decide to give the engine a big bore kit and some tuning - the only thing is, I'm loathe to take the engine apart while she's still running so well and reliably.
I'm really struggling to find any other worthwhile bits I can add/change on the bike to improve it, or make it more "my bike" (I've also already also got crash bars and a full Krauser luggage system, and a usb socket for charging "things" on the move).
Despite all the changes, 99% of other bikers think my bike is stock when they see it :good2: