Carb Maintenance

[Millietant]

Took the carbs out today to give them a clean and fit my RPM kit.

Once they were out (really easy by dropping the sub-frame back to get the airbox out), I was very pleasantly surprised by how good it still looks underneath the tank/carbs.

[jono]

Very nice 

I'm using all the photos here to work out how to put mine together properly.

That's clean, how many km's ? and what model?

jono

[Millietant]

Hey Jono,

It's my 1989 3CV FJ 1200. It has around 80,000 miles on it, so around 130,000 kms.

Fortunately I've owned it from new. I've done the vast majority of maintenance on it myself and also re-painted the engine and frame back in 2018. I was very happy that after nearly 2 years of use, with a lot of that being in wet weather riding conditions, it was still nice and tidy under there 

[jono]

I'm tidying my 1991 3xw wiring and mid frame under tank and seat areas at the moment while I'm waiting on parts from the States and the UK, if I can get mine close to looking like yours I'll be happy

this is what it looks like now ,my biggest problem is I've got every manual (Clymer & Haynes) and wiring diagram I could find online but unfortunately its a Japanese model and the wiring doesn't  match any diagrams so your guys photos on this forum are helping a lot with cable & wiring routing

jono

[Millietant]

Wow, yes that's messy  - looks like multi coloured spaghetti !!!!!

I'm fortunate in that I've owned my bike since new, almost 31 years now, so I know every shred of its history and who did what work on it - after some dodgy main dealer servicing in it's early life, everything else has either been done by myself (with the help of a mechanic and FJ Racer friend), or Phil (Doc) Hacker and Ernie at the UK FJ Owners Club workshop.

If you need any wiring photo's let me know (although mines a U.K. Spec 3CV) and I'll see what I can do and pm them to you.

[jono]

thanks Dean

unfortunately the whole lay out seems different on the 3cv it looks like they put the components in different positions on different models. But I  fixed that spaghetti of wires .  My main issue with wiring is the wire  colors I've got UK , Us and Australian wiring diagrams and my wire colors don't match , Luckily the bike runs and all electrics seem to work so Ive  just checked the joins and wrapped it all up and hopefully all will be good ,a lot of the messy wires seem to be from the ABS which has been removed .If something does go wrong ill probably have to fully rewire it

jono

[Millietant]

It's good that you've got it sorted.....let's hope you don't get any problems for a long time.

Did you manage to document the wiring colours on your bike, into some form of wiring diagram for the future ?

[jono]

no all Ive done at this stage is check the joins,solder the crimps and clean the connectors  etc, I'm pretty familiar with  the loom at the moment so my plan is to do the valve shims  and put new seals in the front calipers when they arrive from the guys at RPM then take it for a good ride see how it goes which I'm hoping will be good and fast then I'll strip it down to just frame and motor take a serious look at the wiring and ether remove all unnecessary wires and   document the loom like you suggest or rewire completely , send all the plastic to the paint shop ,I'll paint the frame and motor by hand  and that should all  for now

jono

[Millietant]

Sounds like a grand plan Jono - keep us all up to date with the progress please 

[andyoutandabout]

Jono,  I painted my frame by hand using black, spray on truckbed liner. It came out great and has stood up well to road conditions. You get a satin textured look, which contrasts nicely to the smooth glossier engine cases. The only bit that failed was the swingarm. Chain lube ate it off. As luck would have it a generous donor offered up a polished one. You know who you are.

[jono]

hi Andy
the guy i got my bike from painted the whole bike mat black so at this stage I think i'll keep the frame black and I think satin is the way  to go as well , my main worry is getting the paint to stick, luckily the black paint he used is well adhered so ill just go over it with some kind of auto paint that's compatible then Ive got to assemble my body work and choose a color scheme I'm pretty keen on silver /white with red  pin strip and lettering at the moment but not  sure how it will go with a black frame though .Ive got my wiring sorted so now I'm just waiting on parts to arrive

jono