Moditus stage one - oops

[Dazza57]

Well, took delivery of and fitted a new AGM battery today. Since all is nearly ready to go, gave her a kick (she's been in bits for over 2 months), fired straight up but with a horrible little popping sound coming from the headers... buggar ! Missed one of the exhaust gaskets. Anyway, dropped the exhaust off and installed 4 new ones, now all good
Now just waiting on the new braided front brake lines. The supplier got the full clutch line and rear GSXR line right, but the front ones had the banjos skewed the wrong way. Anyway, they promised last Monday after I sent the wrong ones back along with the old originals, that they would express post next day delivery, and they still haven't arrived a week later
Bounced up and down on the penske and new front constant rate springs with emulators, and wow, can't wait to get her out on the road again. The new Pirelli Diablo Rosso rubber looks awesome as well. The handlebar kit has brought the bars up and back a bit to help my aging back. Re-upholstered seat feels real nice. Taken off the rear indicators and installed the smoke integrated tail light/indicator, cut back the rear mudguard, looks sweet.

The knowledge and help on this site has been a godsend, and there will be another donation to the great guys that run this site shortly.

I must admit I feel a bit guilty for not taking photos as I went, but every time I had greasy/oily hands, and then I would keep going

Going to change the oil and filter this weekend after a short run, and add the new clutch spring (thought that having the oil out might help with retrieving that piece of wire around the clutch in case I drop any bits), and yes I have a new gasket, because I might . . . . probably will . . . .will definitely wreck the old one

I'll try posting some pics once I get her out of the shed.

Moditus stage two : paint the after market fibreglass fairing and a few other bits that are showing their age, then maybe some work on the donk.

Dazza

[Dazza57]

Well after some fun trying to find that itsy bitsy piece of wire in the clutch, found it and removed it. Can't believe that Yamaha left it in there, so bloody flimsy. Anyway, put it all back together and found that the clutch lever was hard....very bloody hard. OMG what did I F..K up? Then I remembered moving the bike mid job so I could have more light, and thought " maybe I pulled the clutch lever "  So back on the side stand with full sump of oil and off comes the clutch cover and into it again, no oil on the floor thanks to the info on this site. Found the clutch push rod was protruding, so released the slave bleed nut and pushed it back in. All good  Put it all back together, bled the clutch line again and hey presto clutch works, awesome !!! 
So obviously I had to take the new girl for a run to find out how all the mods have gone. What a difference !!  I think my age is limiting the reducing of the chicken strips, but I am working on it. Lack of good corners around my neck of the woods doesn't help, ask Klavdy.
Still want to install an oil cooler, waiting on Randy for his to be available, also thinking about the blue spot calipers.

Question, do the blue spots have the same brake line banjo fittings orientation? Or is there only certain years that will take the same. I already have braided front brake lines in standard configuration on my 1990 CV3 1200.

I really can't believe the knowledge and help on this forum. Having never been involved in any forum until now, it still ceases to amaze me how much help and experience people are willing to give freely to the masses. Hat off to all of you, and please keep it up! 
For all you enthusiasts out there who enjoy the reading and knowledge on this site , please seriously consider some donation help to keep this forum running.

Cheers, Dazza

[Steve_in_Florida]

I really can't believe the knowledge and help on this forum. Having never been involved in any forum until now, it still ceases to amaze me how much help and experience people are willing to give freely to the masses. Hat off to all of you, and please keep it up! 
For all you enthusiasts out there who enjoy the reading and knowledge on this site , please seriously consider some donation help to keep this forum running.

Yes, ***THANK YOU*** to all who willing share their knowledge with others, just for the sake of keeping our "precious" on the road.

I just started working for a British car repair shop where the lead tech exhibits this trait. He enjoys teaching others, and is willing to pass along the tricks of the trade that reduce the amount of time and aggravation required to complete seemingly impossible tasks.

(This is in stark contrast to some I've worked with in the computer field.)

Ride safe and far!

[Pat Conlon]

This forum is a perfect example of "the power of the increment." were we all know a little something, and pooled together, it's considerable.
Also a prime example of "paying it forward" where we freely give help to folks, remembering the time when the folks on this forum helped us.

Here's what I'm talking about:

....I  put it all back together and found that the clutch lever was hard....very bloody hard. OMG what did I F..K up? Then I remembered moving the bike mid job so I could have more light, and thought " maybe I pulled the clutch lever "  So back on the side stand with full sump of oil and off comes the clutch cover and into it again, no oil on the floor thanks to the info on this site. Found the clutch push rod was protruding, so released the slave bleed nut and pushed it back in. All good  Put it all back together, bled the clutch line again and hey presto clutch works, awesome !!!

Hey Dazza, would you mind if I put your nugget in the Clutch File write up? It's a good reminder which will help folks down the road.  Pat

[racerman_27410]

This forum is a perfect example of "the power of the increment." were we all know a little something, and pooled together, it's considerable.
Also a prime example of "paying it forward" where we freely give help to folks, remembering the time when the folks on this forum helped us.

Pat

+1  it's not as hard to make our world a better place as the governments and news agencies would have us believe.

   I love paying it forward... good karma snowballs just as fast (faster?) as bad karma... it's been proven here time and time again.

KOokaloo!

[Pat Conlon]

   I love paying it forward... good karma snowballs just as fast (faster?) as bad karma... it's been proven here time and time again.

Yea, and Frank, you are a shining example....and there are soooo many others! Truly, a unique place we have here.

[Arnie]

Dazza 57 asked,
"Question, do the blue spots have the same brake line banjo fittings orientation? Or is there only certain years that will take the same. I already have braided front brake lines in standard configuration on my 1990 CV3 1200."

The OEM brake setup on the '89+ bikes is the same for all years (except for the ABS bikes).
I had 2 line, SS Braided lines on my '91 prior to putting 'blue spot' calipers on, and the lines fit just fine.
BTW  IMO, the SS braided lines make for braking difference than the change of caliper.  Still a worthwhile change, but not the night and day change you get with SS lines.

Arnie

[craigo]

I had no problems installing the Blue Spots on my 3CV (1990) FJ. They just bolted right on and the lines fit perfectly. Just make sure that you you orient the lines so that your reflectors fit as they did with the OEM calipers. Also, get new crush washers, 2 per banjo bolt and 2 on the new master. I take for granted that you are going for a 14mm master here.

After this mod, you will have amazing brakes.

CraigO

[Dazza57]

Hey Pat, no probs taking my litle snippet and adding to the clutch files, every bit helps.

Thanks Arnie and Craigo for info on the braided lines and blue spots. The next bit I'm looking at are the 14mm M/C for both front brakes and the clutch. Since installing the second clutch spring the feel has gone and it is pretty much on and off, which makes stop start a bit of a job.

Since I have the LSL handlebar kit, there is limited room for different M/Cs, the standard ones just touch the fairing.

So the question comes, has anyone else upgraded the M/Cs with a handlebar kit, and will the braided lines banjo orientation still work with say the FJR M/Cs?

I noticed in one of the threads that someone (can't remember who right now) was going to post up a list of other bikes that have 14mm M/Cs but then he realised that he was going to post the front brake M/Cs list with the clutch, or visa versa (bloody oldtimers  )

I have noticed there are a lot of R1s and R6s at the wreckers, is there a particular year I should chase that would be compatible with the braided lines standard orientation?

Cheers again for all the help guys, absolutely love being a member of this awesome community.

[Pat Conlon]

Thanks Dazza, it's done.

FYI I used the 2001 (or 2002) FZ-1 m/c which is a 14mm. Note: The FJR m/c are 15mm, which is just a tad under the oem 5/8" m/c. 14mm m/c's are better.
The FZ-1 fits very nice with my FZ-1 bars with good clearance for my '84's fairing. It also matches my FJR clutch m/c and has a adjustable lever to boot.


No urine cups for me.......Cheers!

[Dazza57]

Well, done over 3000kms on the new suspension and tyres/wheel, and I must say it is all working beautifully. Found some blue spots and FZ1 brake MC (already had the braided lines) and fitted them, nice difference, feels much more powerful and smoother.

Anyway, did another shopping trip to Randy's website, fork brace, spin on oil filter fitting, temp sender fitting and the new oil cooler. Had to wait to do the cooler as I wanted to fit an oil temp gauge at the same time.

Well Saturday I took EFFY1 for a warm up, then dropped the oil. Fitted the spin on filter kit and sender unit, then attacked the oil cooler. The instructions were very easy to follow and all went well. Topped up the oil and ran for about 10 minutes, temp came up to about 70C, so then stopped and checked for any leaks. One of the top cooler fittings was just weeping, so gave her a smidgen more tension (did it the finger tight plus a quarter of a turn trick first up, but the oily nut might not have got the full finger tight). Anyway, it was late and a couple of beers had been consumed so waited til Sunday to give her a test.

Sunday, beautiful morning, about 30C (very cool for this time of the year) so off I went. Had about an hour of Kookaloo taking her right up to 8500rpm more than once and the temp didn't get above 105C, so very happy.

I'm planning a trip down to Exmouth end of April to go swimming with the whale sharks. About 350kms each way, so that should be a better test.

I have softened the compression on the penske, but it still feels a little over sprung, but have yet to get up the courage to try to ease the spring compression a turn or 2. Worried I will bend the tool.

The front end is still not perfect. When I originally did the emulators and constant rate springs, I did all the measurements, sag etc, and made up the spacers. When I went to put the fork caps back on the spacers were sticking out the top, but I thought I would see how it went before changing. Anyway, I found them way too harsh, so took 20mm off the spacers and changed the oil from 15wt to 10wt. Then it felt better, but seemed to be almost topping out, so I gave one notch on the preload, and it is better. I have a feeling the 95 springs might be a little too hard for my weight. I might try 5wt oil and maybe adding 10mm to the spacers, any thoughts anyone?

Anyway, without this great forum and all the great guys here offering their experience and knowledge, I would never have acheived the work that I have managed to get done on this lovely beast. (or probably even found out about all the mods that can be done )

Cheers to all, Dazza

[racerman_27410]

most straight rate springs are designed to have 15mm of internal preload   .. just measure from the top of the spring to the top of the fork tube- add 15mm to that- then deduct the amount that the cap screws on.

this should be the right length spacer to give you correct preload on the springs.


KOokaloo!


Frank

[SlowOldGuy]

I agree with Frank.  If you've chosen the correct rate springs, then 15mm initial spacer length is a good place to start.  If your spacers are sticking out of the tube, then you've probably got way too much initial preload.

I usually put the preload adjuster up one from full soft then measure for a 15mm spacer like Frank described above.  That way I can go up or down on the preload to fine tune. 

I think 15mm is the approximate length that the top cap screws in (not sure, doing this from memory).  So, if you have the appropriate length spacer, you should have to just barely press down to engage the top cap threads.  Screwing the top cap down should give you the proper preload.

DavidR.

[Dazza57]

Thanks guys, I'll have to look at the spacer length again.

Cheers, Dazza