What to look for when buying a 1986 fj1200???

[Pat Conlon]

Safety wire that fucking petcock! (stifle yourself Klavdy)   http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=3265.0

Yeppers...Steve is right on...

I forgot to mention two other little things -- the fuel lines going to the tank are wrapped in a certain way that is very important -- get it right when putting the tank back on.  Due to the curves it makes and the last kink before the petcock they can crack right at the petcock especially the OEM type -- if you have a fuel leak I suggest you replace the lines to eliminate them as a possibility.

[racerman_27410]

My three hepco becker hard bags (and supporting racks) fully loaded with all my camping gear only weigh 80 lbs combined.  ....that would be a very small passenger!

most times i dont use the top case and with the sidecases mostly empty there is no mentionable handling difference  between the FJ with luggage and without luggage..... i can say at least three of my sportbike riding buddies were happy as hell i always carry my flat tire repair kit in my side bag.

on a racetrack where every tenth counts the less weight the better but on the street being able to ride somewhere and have some fun without having to schedule a visit to the chiropractor afterwards is true versatility!


KOokaloo!

[Dan Filetti]

The more sport-oriented a bike is, the more sporting it feels to ride, really.  It's less work to keep up the pace you want and it's more comfortable when you're going that pace.  It's a compromise though, as the more sporting it is, the less good it's going to be for riding the slab a few hours to get to that magical road, and it'll have less practicality in terms of luggage space and such.  A Miata feels more sporting on a twisty road than a minivan does, but I would certainly prefer to sleep in the van, etc.  

I currently ride a GSX-R750 which I feel comfortable saying is more sporting than the FJ.  The interesting thing about this bike is that to have fun, you really need to be traveling at a higher rate of speed than other bikes.

Last fall I was up riding in the Adirondacks with some buds.  I had lent my Ninjette 250 to a buddy who flew in from ID to make the ride.  That area of the country has an awful lot of large radius sweepers, (and very few technical tight stuff), -so 'fun' on the Gixxer was 100mph+.   On those same roads, all that was required for 'fun' on the Ninjette was considerably slower, maybe 70 mph.  Switching back and forth between the two bikes, this really was a stark truism.  

They're running well past their 50-70% comfort limit then, yes?  Maybe I'm alone in thinking it, but I'm more comfortable on a sportbike than I am on a standard at 60mph in a given corner.  On the sportbike I might feel like that's 60% of my ability, but on the standard I might feel like I'm at 95% of my (and the bike's) ability.  

I just don't see rider ability as much of a factor.  In my case, it's fairly easy to tease out the difference between the bike's and the rider's abilities.  The same rider switching back and forth between my two bikes, on the same day, roads, weather, mood... essentially eliminates rider ability as a variable.  So, as above, depending on the corner and speed, one bike was more 'fun' than another.  Or more precisely, there are, it seems, minimum speeds to attain that 'fun' for a given bike.  

So, 'fun' in this context, speaks to the awareness of approaching the bike's limitations.  The visceral thrill of feeling the raw physics of the situation you're in.  The feel of the flex of the chassis; the feel of the applied g-forces driving down and away through your wrists, spine, seat and foot pegs.  As you pilot a more sporting machine, you take for granted machine abilities that you can not on a 'lesser' bike.  In doing so, you are required to notch it up to feel that thrill.  For a myriad of reasons, this effectively narrows the 'fun window' on the sportier bike.  So the compromises you make riding a sportier bike extend beyond rider comfort and ergonomics...  

And yet, and yet, there is really nothing quite like the feel of grabbing a fistful of throttle, while leaned over steep, just as the bike strafes the apex, and driving hard, out to that white line as the bike stands back up, motor howling.  It is at these moments that I realize that the Ninjette, while fun in many circumstances, will never approach the thrill of what that Gixxer can do, in that more narrow 'fun zone'.

Dan