Re: Smooth Ride

[Mike Ramos]

Hello Gentlemen,

I received correspondence following my post about the cross country ride I took to Texas some weeks ago.  The question posed exactly how smooth running is the FJ which I ride & what makes it exceptional. 

Perhaps the following short video clip answers the question.  At the speed shown and as the mph drifted faster at times, the sensation remained the same.  Perhaps it is not exceptional, however it is smooth...

Ride safe,

Midget.

https://youtu.be/Vspe_dy7898

[PaulG]

The question posed exactly how smooth running is the FJ which I ride & what makes it exceptional. 

That's about all I can say about that...

...but... 

At the end of March I was able to take my '92 on it's first extended shakedown run since coming out of winter maintenance.  I had installed the RPM fork brace, and a used Hagon shock that was parted out from another FJ, (so it was already sprung correctly), and some exhaust tweaks.   I was on a lonely township road in tractor country nearly 2hrs NE of Toronto, when my throttle hand apparently slipped  .  My tach may have suddenly rocketed to 8,000rpm.  "Oh dear!", I thought, "It's never been this high before!" The speedo may have surged to an indicated 200kph (~124mph), just for a few seconds.  She was still pulling like a steam engine up the Appalachians.  "Oh dear!", I thought, "It's never gone this fast before!"     As I regained my grip the rpm's quickly dropped and speed reduced to a more sedate level.

I only mention this because I noticed a few things during those brief moments - or should I say I actually noticed nothing.  The bike was rock solid - with a set of Krauser luggage attached.  Not a wiggle, excess vibration, or chatter.  The faster it went the smoother it got.  The combination of radial tires, replacement shock, and fork brace certainly improved the handling. The fork internals have never been changed - I just bought the RPM rebuild kit but have yet to install it (yes the emulators and R/T springs will eventually happen...), so I should see even more improvement.  These are the most basic of suspension mods that gave me the biggest bang for their buck (the Hagon only cost me $65 CDN!   ).

She is now 235,000 km old (~146,000 miles).  The engine is bone stock.  The only thing I've done with the engine (outside of oil changes) since I bought her 10 yrs ago is replace one exhaust shim this past winter. Yes I've had carb issues (all because of my own undoing  ), but I learned a lot from that (with lots of help from here  ).  I've had minimal electrical issues (I consider).  You could say I've been blessed - the gods smile upon me - or I just shit horseshoes...

So to make a long story a little longer  ,  my little blip merely highlighted what a journey at sustained speeds for days on end can feel like - when things are meshing, and rotating, and combusting in perfect unison.

What makes it exceptional?  I think it's a basic package that allows an almost endless amount of modifications yet never lose it's character.  Which also reflects the ingenuity of many owners here.  If you like them stock or modded to the "T's", I don't think you can go wrong either way.  Give me a steam train over a sterile bullet train any day.   

(Another 24hr sleepless rant done   )

[CutterBill]

Is that the stock headlight, or do you have something extra mounted up there?