One of my mates calls me rhino, so I'll stick with that.
I was about 8 years old when i saw my first FJ and it left a mark on my psyche. SO after getting my licence and working my way up through the years to a bike this size, an 84 FJ1100 came up on ebay at the right price and the right time.
I don't get a change to ride her much ATM. I used to ride her to work but nowadays I have commitments after work meaning she doesn't get out much.
I didn't even make the time to get her out of the shed after last winter (work/kids/general stuff).
She's a bit sad and sorry. The fairing has a number of cracks here and there and the suspension has no hope of coping with the weight of the bike and myself. Front end bottoms out under firm braking.
I am under the impression the previous owner had pod filters and a jet kit. Before selling I think the airbox went back on but the jet kits stayed. But with a good balance and idle mix tune she's doing ok.
There's a bit of road rash from my own lack of skill.
Crests, apexs and corner exits don't mix. I was on a corner which exited on a crest. When I got to the crest it turned out the exit was actually another apex.
My level of skill just couldn't cope with being on the outside of my lane when I should have been nicking the inside. :dash2:
A few bumps and bruises, some cosmetic damage to the bike. After straightening a few things out and a bit of a cough (I think she was telling me off) we were all good to finish the ride.
Anyway I got her registered again and the battery charged. Just need to get her kicked over and down to the mechanics.
She's getting new progressive springs in the front and new discs/pads either side up front.
I recently put a new disc and pads on the rear and the braking improvement in the rear (and the poor braking up front) was such that the rear provided much better braking than the front. :negative:
Once all thats done and I have a bit more of a tinker with the carbs, I think im off to improve on some of that lack of skill with a rider training course.
:hi: Hi and welcome from your new and extended family mate. You will find a BIIIIG Oz following on here along with Americans, Brits, Europeans, etc...oh and Canadians, like me :biggrin: ...and ALL here to help a fellow FJ owner :empathy2: :good2:
The rider training courses are the way to go...so, good on ya :good:
John...(My mates call me Tiger :drinks:)
Welcome to the group rhino!
Nice intro mate! good to have ya on board with the rest of us !
KOokaloo!
Frank
Welcome Rhino, great intro. And another Red/Silver/White joins the club. Find some FJ mates near you and take advantage of all the knowledge that can help you find your Koookaloo.
G'day Rhino! :hi:
Welcome to the group.
Cheers :drinks:
Jeff P
Welcome Rhino!
Tell me you dont follow the crows.....
Mark
welcome mate,, everyone on here knows 84 Fj11,s are the best but won't admit it, , oh and whatever you do , don't mention oil or sports :lol: ,, ..
rod
Thanks guys,
No I don't follow the crows.
Right no oil and no sport.
No worries re: oil. I've been tinkering on cars for 20 years so I got all those questions out of my system.
all good mate, , you new to bikes or just had a break from them ,, either way rider training is a great way to improve ourselves , be one thing I will be doing next year ,, level 3 course down here
Welcome aboard. Quite a few of us Aussies here.
Welcome in...... :good2:
not completely new to bikes.
I started out with a honda cbx250 single
The PO let the top end dry up and it ate the cam lobes and then kept getting worse.
I got the cam and rockers welded up, hardfaced and ground but fried the tci when i put it back together (didn't know that then)
next was a yamaha xz550 (vision)
the PO had put some silicon around the side cases when the bike was reassembled at some point.
Unkbnown to me the oil pump was slowly clogging up and then it suddenly locked up on me one night and never lived again.
So now I have the fj, had it for 3-4 years.
:hi: I picked up my '85 FJ a few months ago...before the FJ??...an '82 Yamaha XZ550 Vision!!!... that over seven'ish years of ownership has acquired a lot of upgrades and looks/runs great :good2:
John.
some people should never be allowed anywhere near tubes of anything except toothpaste ,, xz,s look good , never owned one , but had an xj 750 seca, that's pretty close :lol:
Rhino
welcome aboard let me say this up front the 84 was the 1st FJ and as such was an alright bike,
but the best 1 was the 91 model with the pink stripe!!! :sarcastic:
lots of really good stuff here well worth the effort!
Rider training get over to Melbourne and do the California superbike school @ PI will be the best $500 you will ever
spend!!!
Buying bits for your FJ buy them thru Randy @ RPM his banner is up here on the forum, the guy is the
ducks nuts and will get u almost anything for your bike and @ a very reasonable price!!
Baldy
Thanks mate,
Yeah I've been seeing a bit of what RPM are up to while crawling the forums.
All I can say is more peeps like randy would make the world a better place, getting rare to see peeps take pride in their product, many can't see past their margins.
Superbike school? sounds like something ill need to work up to but sounds something worth working up to.
I'll probably hit one of the local offerings and get a bit more riding under my belt before doing the whole Melbourne thing.
Quote from: Rhino on November 09, 2012, 06:40:43 PM
Superbike school? sounds like something ill need to work up to but sounds something worth working up to.
These guys are good so long as you have your licence for the bike your riding, its ok and it has nothing to do with going fast, when I did mine there was a young lady there who had only passed her test a few months earlier (5 I think she said) and after one day she was killing them & she was on a CB400, just do it m8 you won't believe the difference it makes!!
I