Hello from the Twin Cities!

iWant2RideMyBike · September 27, 2019, 01:00:36 PM

Hello and greetings from the Twin Cities!

I am a proud new owner of a 1986 Yamaha FJ1200, and I'm pleased to be a part of the community! I was looking to buy a new bike for awhile before I stumbled across one of these beauties, took it for a test ride and fell in love. I've had to for about 2 weeks so far, and I'm absolutely loving it! The bike actually came with some upgrades, I've got them listed in my signature. She needs a little bit of TLC that I plan to provide but runs quite well! So yeah, I just wanted to say hello and that I'm happy to be a part of the community! I'm looking forward to receiving and providing help/insight as I learn more and more about the FJ1200!

Thanks for reading!

Pat Conlon · September 27, 2019, 02:02:16 PM

Welcome_________ (insert your name here) In your area I suspect your day's of motorcycle riding weather is coming to a close, so if you are going to store your new FJ during the snow season, drain the fuel out of the tank and the carbs fuel bowls. An option would be to fill your tank with a non ethanol fuel and use a fuel stabilizer.
Do not leave any fuel with ethanol additives in your bike.

Cheers, and enjoy your fall weather!

Pat

Tuned forks · September 27, 2019, 05:34:07 PM

Welcome to the camp fire. Your machine has some good mods already. You may find however, that the V&H exhaust requires header removal to access the oil drain plug. That gets old really fast. Pay attention to Pat's comments about fuel. I would hazard a guess that more than half of new owners complaints about engine operation is related to fuel gumming up the carburetors. No bueno.

Joe

iWant2RideMyBike · September 27, 2019, 08:33:13 PM

Quote from: Pat Conlon on September 27, 2019, 02:02:16 PM
Welcome_________ (insert your name here) In your area I suspect your day's of motorcycle riding weather is coming to a close, so if you are going to store your new FJ during the snow season, drain the fuel out of the tank and the carbs fuel bowls. An option would be to fill your tank with a non ethanol fuel and use a fuel stabilizer.
Do not leave any fuel with ethanol additives in your bike.

Cheers, and enjoy your fall weather!

Pat

The names Gabriel. You can call me Gabe though if you'd like! Thanks for the welcome! You're right though, the season is winding down, but I've likely got through October to keep riding (the heated grips help with that, ha!). Thank you for the advice, I'll be sure to do that. I'm trying to get this baby running better than ever, not make it worse, so I'll certainly heed your words.

Cheers to you as well, Pat, and nice to meet you!

iWant2RideMyBike · September 27, 2019, 08:37:36 PM

Quote from: Tuned forks on September 27, 2019, 05:34:07 PM
Welcome to the camp fire. Your machine has some good mods already. You may find however, that the V&H exhaust requires header removal to access the oil drain plug. That gets old really fast. Pay attention to Pat's comments about fuel. I would hazard a guess that more than half of new owners complaints about engine operation is related to fuel gumming up the carburetors. No bueno.

Joe

Hello, Joe! Thanks for the welcome and nice to meet you! My name's Gabriel, but you can call me Gabe if you'd like. The guy I bought it from did mention that you have to remove the headers to change the oil. I'm not particularly looking forward to that, but I'll put up with the headache for now. I will definitely heed Pat's words. Thanks!

- Gabe

red · September 27, 2019, 09:54:02 PM

Gabe,

Welcome to the FJ sandbox! Lotsa good folks here.
I run on Pirelli Sport Demons (16" tires are not easy to find, but these are fine).

Non-ethanol fuel is available here:

https://www.pure-gas.org/
.

FJmonkey · September 27, 2019, 10:25:26 PM

Welcome Gabe, happy you in the fold.

iWant2RideMyBike · September 27, 2019, 11:49:08 PM

Quote from: red on September 27, 2019, 09:54:02 PM
Gabe,

Welcome to the FJ sandbox! Lotsa good folks here.
I run on Pirelli Sport Demons (16" tires are not easy to find, but these are fine).

Non-ethanol fuel is available here:

https://www.pure-gas.org/
.

Hello, Red! Thank you very much and nice to meet ya!

I definitely get the feeling of genuineness here, and am very happy about it! I appreciate the link, I see that there's actually a Holiday gas station in my own city that has ethanol-free fuel! I'm book marking that tab so I don't forget, haha. And It's funny that you mention that! I ran out of characters in my signature so I couldn't list that my tires were actually switched out for the 17 inchers! The owner told me that made the work of finding a tire to fit much easier and the price of buying new tires much cheaper. I think some people have mentioned in other threads that they don't look as good as the 16 inch originals, but I'm in love with the way it looks, so no skin off my nose! Haha, thanks again for the link!

iWant2RideMyBike · September 27, 2019, 11:52:09 PM

Quote from: FJmonkey on September 27, 2019, 10:25:26 PM
Welcome Gabe, happy you in the fold.

Hello, friend! Thank you! I'm very happy to be apart of the community!

JPaganel · September 28, 2019, 01:47:12 PM

Heya, Gabe!

Told ya you were gonna love it!

(Yeah, I'm "the guy".

)

I wasn't going to be FJ-less, so I'm still here. I already have another one running.

Millietant · September 28, 2019, 03:36:51 PM

Hiya Gabe, welcome to the mad house

Good to hear you've already got plenty of the best upgrades done. I've owned/been riding FJ's for 33 years now, and despite having newer, "better" bikes passing through my hands, the FJ is still the one I always come back to - and the one I'll never sell.

Looking forward to hearing about your adventures, seeing photo's and sharing advice and assistance. Hopefully one day I'll make it over for a FJ Rally and meet some of the people I've conversed with on here

iWant2RideMyBike · September 28, 2019, 10:46:14 PM

Quote from: JPaganel on September 28, 2019, 01:47:12 PM
Heya, Gabe!

Told ya you were gonna love it!

(Yeah, I'm "the guy". )

I wasn't going to be FJ-less, so I'm still here. I already have another one running.

Hello there, friend! Haha, you're definitely right about that! This bike is awesome, and is certainly worth putting the time and effort into loving repairing. Honestly, I think every bike is though! Gotta keep these older ladies out of the junk yards as much as we can, haha. Looks like you reside in MinneSNOWta too, so you ought to do like me and get out there and ride as much as possible while we still can!

- Gabe

iWant2RideMyBike · September 28, 2019, 10:54:51 PM

Quote from: Millietant on September 28, 2019, 03:36:51 PM
Hiya Gabe, welcome to the mad house

Good to hear you've already got plenty of the best upgrades done. I've owned/been riding FJ's for 33 years now, and despite having newer, "better" bikes passing through my hands, the FJ is still the one I always come back to - and the one I'll never sell.

Looking forward to hearing about your adventures, seeing photo's and sharing advice and assistance. Hopefully one day I'll make it over for a FJ Rally and meet some of the people I've conversed with on here

Hello, Millietant! Thank you so much for the welcome, haha. As for the upgrades, whoever was the original owner of my particular FJ might very well have been a member of this community. I took off the side panels today to check out the petcock, and it was already wired! I'll tell you what though; this bike couldn't found a better owner than I. I'll get this old girl running better than ever! I'm so reassured that I made a good choice though, hearing things like that. Certainly, if the FJ wasn't as great as everyone says, after 33 years you wouldn't be here talking about it with me! I can't wait to share more and become a more involved member of the FJ community, so thank you for the warm welcome to the mad house! Perhaps next year, even I could make it to one of the Rallies! I'll keep my fingers crossed for both of us until then.

aviationfred · September 28, 2019, 11:18:47 PM

Welcome to the forum and FJ ownership.

Fred

iWant2RideMyBike · September 29, 2019, 06:06:22 PM

Quote from: aviationfred on September 28, 2019, 11:18:47 PM
Welcome to the forum and FJ ownership.

Fred

Thanks, Fred! Happy to be here!

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Hello from the Twin Cities!