Just bought a 1985 FJ. Now what?

[DarrinW]

Hello from Canada, thanks for letting me join the group!
In 1984 I purchased a new FJ 1100. I owned it for a couple of wonderful years! Marriage and Family convinced me to do the right thing and let someone else enjoy it.

Today I purchased this wonderful 1985 FJ 1100. Only 33,000 kms on it. It seems to be in excellent shape for its age!
I'm not sure where to go next. Besides ride it! All the basics are good, tires, breaks, chain and  sprockets. It fires right up, sounds awesome!

So is there any know problems I should address? Things to check?

Thanks for your help
Darrin

[DarrinW]

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=10946

[DarrinW]

[Pat Conlon]

Welcome Darrin, I should say welcome back!  

How old are the tires? Don't rely on a visual or what the seller says, check the date codes on the sidewalls, if they are over 4 years old, time for some new shoes.
Has the bike been serviced lately? Valve clearances checked (important) swing arm linkage bushings lubed, fresh fluids, etc.

In my signature line below I have some additional tips.

Enjoy that bike!

Pat

ps. I fixed the above photo for you...what you did was to copy and paste the page address which won't work.
On the gallery page with the photo, below the photo is a image linking code called "direct link" it ends with .jpeg.

That's what you copy and paste between the [img] brackets.    Cheers.

[red]

Darrin,

Tires are critical.  Tire age decoder (click and scroll down) :

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11

I'd want to replace the front brake lines with two braided stainless steel hoses, one for each caliper.  Forget the Anti-Dive units on the forks, they never were a good idea; just discard that short hose, nothing will leak.  You can get (pricey) cap-off plates if you want the AD units entirely gone, but the plates must have oil passages inside them for the forks to operate.  RPM can set you up with braided hoses, or try a good local hydraulic shop.  Remember, the new hoses have to be long enough for the full fork extension travel.  Be CAREFUL with the front brake, with braided hoses, for a while (yeah, they are that good).

Depending on how hard you ride, a fork brace is a good option, if you like, after you change the brake hoses.

There are endless updates, but those other things can probably wait a bit.
.

[Troyskie]

 

What Pat and Red said.

Wiring of the petcock is a must check (Pats signature again).

Depending on your riding style, basic safety checks and simple mechanicals are all they need for the next 100,000k.

Seeing the original headers and factory reflectors on the rear guard and below the scoops do seem to point to a low k bike. Nice find and welcome back to the FJ world!

[FJmonkey]

Welcome Darrin, good looking bike.

[Zwartie]

Darrin,

Welcome to the Rabbit Hole! Lot's of collective wisdom (and/or foolishness) to help keep the addiction alive. You can do as much or as little as you want to your bike but most importantly, keep riding!

Where in Canada might you be from, eh? There are plenty of us Canucks on the forum. I'm from London, ON.

Cheers!

Zwartie
1992 FJ1200 (BB1)
2006 FJR1300 (BB2)