late model engine mounts on early frames

[Chnnang]

g'day guys
i've been reading that in '91 yamaha modified the engine mounts and got rid of a lot of vibration. does anyone know if i can fit '91 or later engine mounts on an '88(3CV) as nothing i've read says anything other than the actual mounts was changed. it would be nice to have a little less vibration on the old girl.

[racerman_27410]

nope.... the entire frame is different.

a good carb synch will do wonders.... as well as new emulsion tubes (if yours happen to be worn)


KOokaloo!

[Chnnang]

thanks. i thought it might be a long shot but worth a try. what are emulsion tubes? i thought emulsion was house paint. it's going to the dealer on friday so hopefully they will do the carbs.

[Harvy]

what are emulsion tubes?

The main jet screws into the bottom and the needle slides up and down from the top of the emulsion tubes.......
Where are you in Aus Chris?
Harvy

[Chnnang]

thanks Harvy. i'm at the south end of perth near rockingham. it's getting complicated, i think i'll ask the dealer to look into them on friday. it's getting a "major service". not sure just what that is but i'm assuming all filters, oil, grease up and check cable tensions and chain. then i want them to have a look (listen) to a couple of rattles and now the carbie tubes. then i'm having problems with a very slow turn over when starting. i thought maybe the battery so i've changed it for a new one, no difference. i've looked through the forum and it comes up a couple of times here and in the uk one but there seems to be definate answer. people have suggested battery, earth strap, starter or starter motor. the good thing i suppose is i'm not alone with this problem, maybe there's an old enough guy at the dealer who can remember fjs and how to fix it. i hope it dosen't get too pricey as the missis is getting fed up with me spending money on bikes, poor woman.

[Harvy]

No problem......... there are a few new members from the south west now.

There was a dealer over there who had a good idea about how to make an FJ sing.......Causeway Yamaha I think it was........entered a couple FJ1100s in the Castrol 6 hour back in the mid 80s.

Not sure if they still exist tho.

A good carby tune up and valve adjustment will take away most of the bad vibes mate.

Harvy

[Chnnang]

i think causeway yamaha is still there. i'm using one closer to home called 5 star yamaha, it's my first try with them so i'm hoping they do good work. i've only just got this bike from melbourne, pitted it and got the plates on. now i want them to go through it and get everything set up properly then i can take over the maintenance once i know that it's all up to date. i did read on one site someone reckoned you could overcome the slow cranking by opening the throttle a bit to reduce compression. i can't see how opening the throttle affects compression or cranking speed. anyway in a few days it should be sweet even if i'm poorer. it goes like a rocket even as it is, i took my vn900 out last night and felt like i was standing still after the fj. i've lusted after one since they came out, now i've got one i just have to look after it.

[Harvy]

Chris....
Cracking the throttle open just a tad does work......I do it all the time...... don't know why it works, but it does.
A fully charged battery helps greatly..... do you have a battery tender?....... another great idea.
Maybe the brushes in your starter motor are getting a little worn?..... replacement kits are available.

Most parts are still available for the power plant, thanks mainly to the use of these engines in the Legends cars in the US, Aussie Racers here, and I believe Europe/England also have a car racing series as well.
Parts are still best bought in the US........even with the cost of freight from the states, you are looking at roughly 50% less than you can get the parts here.

Several members here also run business's and offer great value on parts, and others are professional mechanics whose knowledge is second to none.

There is not much that can go wrong with your bike that the members on this site have not dealt with at one time or another, and quite a few
have had their FJs from brand new - right back to 1984.

Word of warning.......be VERY carefull....... moditis is very virulent here..... your wife will not be sympathetic if you are easily infected.   

Enjoy mate........get her running right and find that Kookaloo.

Harvy

[WestOzFJ]

Hey Hi Chnnang (?!),

I'm Victor, I live 120 kays north from you at Yanchep....

When I recently bought my FJ's, both of 'em were slow to turn over, especially when hot, I'm sure many here on this forum would be able to tell you the same story.... After maybe many years of neglect, some electrical maintenance is in order.

A new battery is probably a good idea, at least you know what you're starting with then (no pun intended but I'm really proud of how it just turned up). Having a spare battery is good value - if yours turns out to be okay you can have one on the bench cleaned, topped up, charged and ready to go you can rotate between the two will more than double an otherwise fairly short battery life (because you'd be making sure the water is topped up and they DO use water)....

Check the system voltage with the engine running - I noticed in one of my wiring harnesses the main charge wire was burning up at a connector which is under the left side cover.

A build up of corrosion on the battery terminals indicates high resistance somewhere in the electrical circuit, (not necessarily at the battery itself - it just manifests here).

Then, just one battery cable end at a time if necessary, just take 'em off, clean, wire brush and/or emery the connection points, reassemble - I re-connect EVERYTHING electrical with an electrical grease available here in West Oz called Molycote.

While you be at it you would check the earths. With pod air filters it's is easy to un-bolt the earth off the  back of the gearbox and clean that point too - which obviously supplies the (-) for the starter motor....

There's some great advice about voltage drop tests if you need to go further but I didn't need to - after a clean up of the starting system, the old girl now starts great cold or hot (even after a run to Bunbury last weekend)and even even with an extra 5 degrees ignition advance.

If you're gonna pay someone to work on your baby then that kind of lovin' is gonna cost you a bomb, hope you're another enthusiast, in which case you'll want to learn to do it yourself, you'll know more about these old gals in no time than your local dealer...

If you want to catch up sometime, just yell out - we could go for a bit of a blast one day on a weekend day and compare notes.

Victor.

[Chnnang]

thanks for the advice guys it's really helpful.
i fitted a new and fully charged battery on monday and it made no difference at all. i've got a workshop manual at home, the missis goes out wednesday night so i'm taking the manual and my multimeter out to the carport tonight to go through some checks the book suggests.
the idea of starting at the dealer is get everything up to date so i can do it myself in future. also to get another opinion of how it is wether they think all the bits are doing what they should.
i found a site in the east called tamor trading that offers all sorts of parts at almost the same price i could find in the states with cheaper postage and quicker delivery. i ordered a left side protector strip from the air scoop and a couple of little screws i was missing, he was $3 dearer than the states but $10 cheaper for shipping and the parts arrived in 6 days including a weekend. i thought that was pretty good.
as for moditis or enthusiastis i think i've had that for a long time. i've been looking at fjs in perth for at least 6 months, seen a few that were more work than i fancied especially at their prices. there dosen't seem to be a lot for sale over here compared with the eastern states. i saw a lovelly one in byford a couple of months ago, same colors as yours victor, but by the time i thought about it and rang back it was sold. then i found what i think is a good one from melbourne, '88 in silver and white with 36000ks on it for $4300. so it's mine now, and here to stay.
i'm going to follow your advice harvy. i'm going to kick it in the guts tonight with a little throttle opening and see how it starts then. fingers crossed.
thanks a gain guys. ave a nice day

[Arnie]

I've tried to take a look at tamor trading and can't get there.
Google finds it, but then it can't actually get there.
Do you have a URL other than http://www.tamortrading.com.au ?

Cheers,
Arnie

[Chnnang]

g'day arnie
i just tried too, no luck. it was working a couple of days ago. his email is tamortrading@optusnet.com.au  i hope it comes back up. there's a site called mister motorcycle in the states which shows yamaha manual exploded pictures of all the parts and assemblies with genuine part numbers, tamor had the same thing running which was really good.
maybe you could email him and see whats up. his name's tony. 

[WestOzFJ]

i saw a lovelly one in byford a couple of months ago, same colors as yours victor, but by the time i thought about it and rang back it was sold.

Yep, it looks the same because it IS the one you looked at - I bought it and have done heaps of work to it since then....

[Arnie]

I've tried to take a look at tamor trading and can't get there.
Google finds it, but then it can't actually get there.
Do you have a URL other than http://www.tamortrading.com.au ?

Just tried again, and the tamortrading site is up, but no posted prices and the parts I checked his listings for do not appear.  May just be that they're not in stock.  Probably worth checking with him when I need something, and then buying from Randy.

Arnie