My 1989 FJ rebuild

[laseron]

Late last year, I finished the complete rebuild of my two wheeled ride for the past 30 years. It reached 100,000 miles, so it was time to refresh the engine with a new timing chain, so I figured this was the ideal time to return the entire bike to "as new as possible" condition. I also took the opportunity to address several issues common to FJs. and add upgrades I had been wanting.

I completely rebuilt the engine first, replacing just about every wearable item (bearings, chains,, oil seals, piston rings, etc.) The cylinder walls were still with tolerance, so I had them re-honed. Rebuilt the oil pump and starter clutch, added RPMs clutch spring upgrade, and replaced the stock clutch spring plate with an aftermarket one with springs. Much better clutch engagement. Carbs were completely torn down, cleaned, and resembled with new gaskets and seals. Float heights checked (they were still correct) Diaphragms are still in good, pliable condition too. I also replaced the idle mixture screws and o rings. I also replaced the stock oil cooler with RPM's unit, and added their spin-on oil filter mod (Thanks Randy!)

Among a long list of chassis and electrical work, I replaced the old aftermarket Fox shock with a Wilbers unit. I already had Gold Valve cartridge emulators in the forks, so I just replaced seals and bushings. I replaced the stock front brake calipers with R1 gold dot calipers, and of course replaced the aging stainless brake lines with new. Same for rear brake and clutch lines. I them poured the old brake fluid back in the hydraulic systems. (just kidding).

I also added heated grips from Koso (thanks again Randy!), did the headlight relay mod to increase its brightness, added Denali auxiliary lights up front, in addition to amber conspicuity lights in the front and on each side (incorporated into the plastic protectors on the intake scoops). Auxiliary LED brake lights at the rear as well. I had been wanting an oil temperature gauge, so I added a digital unit, with the display housed in a pod I designed on my computer, and 3D printed by a friend. I mounted it, along with a gear position indicator, to the top of the instrument cluster "dash", just under the windscreen. I modded an engine neutral sensor by adding contact points for the 5 gear positions. Works great! To tie all of these electrical add -ons together, I installed a Neutrino Element controller.

Finally I repainted the bodywork in a very dark gray metallic (a BMW color), and painted on the graphics rather than using decals. All cracks and broken pieces in the plastic fairings were repaired with PlastiFix. Careful prep and sanding are essential here- patience is a virtue. I built a small paint booth in my garage, hanging sheets of plastic from the garage door tracks, and used a 60 gallon compressor and spray gun to apply the primer, paint, and clear coat. I decided to keep the graphics to a minimum- I never liked the full set of graphics that Yamaha chose. (It was the 80s- I get it.) Many of my parts were sourced from RPM. Many more thanks to them for everything!

Now my beloved FJ is (almost) like new! It runs great, and I'm enjoying riding in the strangely warm weather we've been getting here in southeast Virginia.

[fj1289]

That Looks AWESOME,   

Nice work! 

Do you have any pictures or details how you modified the neutral sensor for the additional contact points?

[Old Rider]

Great work you should be proud .nice solution on the oil tempmeter and gear indicator.Maybe you used bmw saphire black metallic paint i have the same on my car.

[laseron]

I made a clear plastic template and attached it to the neutral sensor mount on the engine block, and advanced the gears in the transmission one gear at a time, marking the location of the "pin" on the shift drum onto the template. (the photo is of my first attempt. I made a second template that was more accurate) Then I lined up the template on the neutral sensor and drilled holes for each pin though the plastic sensor housing, at the diameter of the brass pins I cut from a brass rod. ( I enlarged the holes to accommodate the larger diameter pins I switched to). I went larger on the pin diameter because I wanted to make sure that any slight error in drilling the holes would still result in contact between the pin on the shift drum, and the pins in the sensor. I positioned the pins to be the same height as the stock pin for neutral, and filled the areas around the added pins with a plastic epoxy to make the surface for the shift drum pin smooth, with no bumps or gaps. I wish I had taken a photo of that step. I had previously cut short sections from a brass rod, and drilled holes in one end of each pin in order to solder the wire leads for each gear. Once the pins were pushed in place in the holes, and I added the epoxy, I allowed the whole thing to fully cured overnight, I used a Dremel tool with a sanding disc to smooth the inside surface of the neutral sensor that the shift drum pin would slide against, sanding flush everything, including the ends of the brass pins. All that remained was to solder each color coded wire to its corresponding pin, and run the wiring harness to the digital readout on the instrument cluster.

I used a spare neutral sensor to practice on, and ended up using it for the final product, so now I have the original unmodified sensor in case I ever need it (like if the epoxy ever breaks down and allows oil to leak around the pins.) But so far, so good.

[laseron]

Here's a pic of the instrument pod I added.

[laseron]

Here are the lights I added. My philosophy is: do everything you can to be seen in traffic, and then still expect no one to see you.

[fj1289]

Thanks for the neutral switch mod explanation!

I like the side running lights on the air scoop bumper strips - very well done 

[giantkiller]

I really like the side marker lights in the scoop protectors. Do you mind if I use your idea?

[Ted Schefelbein]

Nice. All the way around, tastefully done.

Ted

[laseron]

I really like the side marker lights in the scoop protectors. Do you mind if I use your idea?

Not at all! I used a Neutrino Element controller to run everything, but you can just wire the side lights directly into the lighting harness, or anywhere that is controlled by the ignition switch.

[giantkiller]

Thanks. Awesome job. Old bike looks better than new.

[smalltownrider]

still for sale?

[gggGary]

Great job, tasteful mods.  Kudo's to you!