Mid life refit 92fj1200

[fjrpierre]

As I said in my intro, my 92fj1200 with 125,000km is in need of some tlc. Here's a list of what is known to be wrong and what I'm going to do about it initially. Comments/tips welcome

I just changed chain and sprockets


1. vibrates quite a bit
(gonna check the frame bolts, engine mounts, and header bolts)

2. needs full choke to start (which is normal) but won't run off choke. the best we can get is just a little off full choke or else she stalls at idle/slow speed
(gonna...?  Will change plugs and adjusts the choke cable properly plus I don't think the carbs have ever been off her so maybe a good carb cleaning/disassemble (shudder) is in order. I wonder if David R is still doing the carb kits. I saw on the list that he was fighting some serious health challenges a while ago)

3. the rear shock is probably done (do ya think after 125,000km!)
(I'd like to put in a stock 03FJR shock if it will fit; not the greatest but at least its new. Probably won't fit (anyone done this?) and will need something else (suggestions).)

4. front forks need to be maintained
(gonna simply change the oil)

5. small oil leak around clutch cover
(will regasket)

6. burns quite a bit of oil
(valve guides? winter project? ( yeah I know I threatened this before LOL)

7. should check wheel bearings I guess

8. anything else not so obvious?

I have the service manual and basic tools w access to more specialized ones if need be but I am only an amateur mechanic. My daughter has a friend who is a moto mechanic and owns an FJ so I may try to tap his knowledge.

[xt550]

Hi.
About #6
If you remove the  sparkplugs and make a compression test and after that take some motoroil in the sparkplug holes and redo the comression test you will see if it's the valve or cylinder that's warn.
The oil will seal any leakage between the cylinder and piston and increase the pressure, and if the numbers are the same it's something valve related.

I'm curious about if you (USA/Canada) have any motor vehicle inspection, in Sweden i must do one every 24 month's

[fjrpierre]

thanks for the tips. no in canada the only required veh insp is a minor "safety" check (lights, brakes, tires, mirrors, etc) when the vehicle is sold...

[Dan Filetti]

In PA, USA, we're required to have a state inspection every year!  It's you basic safety inspection but it's fairly onerous as it must be taken to a certified shop and they have to sticker your car or bike...

Dan

[SlowOldGuy]

Hi Pierre, long time no hear from!

#1: The front motor mounts are corroded in place.  Not sure if the instructions for repairing these have been pulled over here, but Bob Nemec (?) has a good description over in the Yahoo Files section.  Fairly easy to do.

#2:  Your idle circuit is clogged.  Probably dried fuel gunk blocking the idle jet.  I've had some degree of luck using Techron additive to clean these up without removing the carbs.  Seems to be a common problem with the oxygenated and ethanol dilluted fuels we have down here.  You can also try squirting carb cleaner into the idle mixture screw (after removing the screw, spring, o-ring and washer, of course) to see if you can back-flush out any contaminants.

Carb kits are still available.  Treatments are now finished and health is improving daily.  Still got a ways to go, though.

DavidR.

[fjrpierre]

David good to hear from you; I didn't know you were here as well; can't tell with all these new fangled names.  Thanks for the tips and I'm glad to hear you're feeling better.

[RickT]

HI Pierre

I have a 93 FJ with only 83000KM but have done a lot of work on her.

1. To reduce the vibration take the front motor mounts apart including removing the seezed sleeves and lubricate. Also the tune up would help.

2. See post from David

3. Near Peterborough Ontario there is a guy, John Sharrard 705-657-9490, who will rebuild your stock shock for $100. Or get a new shock from Works, Hagon, etc.

4. Change the fork springs. It is a heavy bike and the front springs don't last. I believe a set of Progressive are under $100.

5. Get a clutch slave seal kit and replace the worn seals. You may want to change the brake caliper seals as well before they fail.

6. If you purchase a gasket kit , it will come with the valve seals. I would advise honing the cylinders and changing the rings (in the winter when you can't ride).

7. With that milage wheel bearings should be changed. There are two up front and three in the rear. All Balls make a set.

8. Change your brake lines to steel braided lines if you haven't already.

Hope this help a bit.

Cheers

Rick

[Dan Filetti]

Treatments are now finished and health is improving daily.  Still got a ways to go, though.

Damn glad to hear things are on the upswing David.  Damn glad.

Heal fast.

Dan

[SlowOldGuy]

Thanks Dan,
I appreciate the positive thoughts from you and everyone else.

I'm looking forward to getting back on solid food.  I've had my fill of chicken noodle soup that's been run through the blender and shot down the feeding tube.  Right now I'd kill for a pepperoni pizza!  Unfortunately my taste buds aren't back to working order yet. 

DavidR.

[Bob]

#1: The front motor mounts are corroded in place.  Not sure if the instructions for repairing these have been pulled over here, but Bob Nemec (?) has a good description over in the Yahoo Files section.  Fairly easy to do.

David had the good description... I just took some picture ;-) ... they're posted in the Miscellaneous FJ Files under "Engine Mount Collar Removal".  Good to hear from you again David.

From David's original post on Yahoo:

I rode Chris Murphy's '92 FJ at the rally. The engine buzz was
significantly smoother than my '93. I had thought the '93 was
getting a little rough for the past year.

A carb sync had no effect. Loosening the front motor mounts appeared
to help a little, but it was difficult to tell any difference. Based
on Doug's advice, last night I pressed the center collars out of the
front mounts on the engine case. The front engine mounts consist of
a large brass/bronze bushing that is pressed into a mounting lug on
the front of the engine case. Inside this bushing there is a
hardened metal collar, like the type that are in the rear shock
linkages. These metal collars had corroded in place and were locked
up inside the bushing. There are sealing washer/end caps that are
supposed to protect the collar, but they evidently don't do too good
of a job at keeping water out.

Since the collars were stuck, I used a long bolt, a large 24mm, 1/2"
drive deep well socket, and assorted washers/spacers to press the
collars out of the bushing. It just so happens that a 5/8" bolt head
is just slightly smaller than the diameter of the collar and clears
the bushing ID as it forces the collar out. Both collars had surface
corrosion on them that I cleaned off using 240 grit emery cloth.
Once these were nice and shiny, I cleaned up the ID bore of the
bushings. A little grease during installation and the collars now
rotate freely inside the bushing.

The vibration I had been experiencing was a high frequency buzz that
started at about 3000 rpm, really spiked in amplitude at 4000 rpm,
and continued for as long as I wanted to rev the engine. Now that
the collars are free to rotate and let the rubber dampers work, the
buzz is about 95% gone. 3000 to 5000 rpm is totally buzz free. I
still feel a little tingle, but now the engine seems to get smoother
as the revs rise. It's back to being tons better than the solid
mounted setup on my '85.

So, if you own a '91 to '93 and you've never done any maintenance on
the front motor mounts, you should probably take a look and see if
the collars on the engine side mounts are frozen up. If they are,
get them out, clean them up, apply some grease and get back to
enjoying a smooth, buzz free FJ.

[fjrpierre]

Hi Bob your repost answered the question I had after reading/seeing those pics. Guess the collars dont necessairly need to be replaced and a good cleaning will suffice. Thanks.

[fjrpierre]

Anyone one know how to adjust the choke cable. I can pull it out all the way for full choke but when i push the knob in fully, the csble has a lot of slack. It does not seem adjustable at the ball end on the carb side nor does it look like you can adjust it the knob end....

(and 6 minutes later I take another look at it and see that i can clamp down the cable itself at varying lengths  thus adjusting the slack. Thanks for being there anyway. Stay tuned cause I've got more dumb questions as I free up the engine mount collars  )

[fjrpierre]

just a little update.. please forgive me for discovering the obvious

Sweet Thing has made a miraculous recovery

In addition to changing chain, and both sprockets, I did following...

1. Electric problems fixed by replacing blown 15A signal fuse. Right signal  bulb may need further cleaning if it is intermittent again
2. fixed idle at 1200rpm by figuring out how the idle adjust screw under tank works, Bilp throttle to allow screw to turn easily; CW get you more rpm; CCW gets you less. the idle screw is actually a limit screw on the throttle  ie how far the throttle returns to off.
3. Choke button adjusted so that it works correctly by reclamping cable at carb end properly. no more slack . Lubed all the carb connectors rods.
4. Oil and filter changed; new crush washer & o rings
5. cracked fuel line replaced under tank
6. drained fuel tank to 1/8 full and then drained float bowls on crb # 1 & 4 (little or no fuel) indicating fuel flow problem
7. tank spigot valve taken apart and cleaned and understood (bike runs rough when it doesn't get any fuel eh?)
8. carb idle screws (4) taken off and sprayed  carb cleaner into carb ; returned screws to  2 1/2 turns. tweezers are a prime mechanic tool
9. replaced 4 spark plugs (#1 & 2 were wet and oily)
10. metered battery at idle and med throttle; charged ok
11. found rattle where one muffler header pipe bracket was missing bolt; replaced bolt and snugged it up
12. replaced the clutch fluid and bled clutch13.
13. refilled tank with gas and added half bottle of "fuel system cleaner"

she's running better than she has in months. have all the stuff to do a engine mount lube/extraction. thats next. Then valve adjust, carb sync and maybe carb cleaning.

[Arnie]

Congratulations!  Now your FJ should be good for at least the rest of this riding season.  (I remember riding seasons, even if I no longer have to).  If you take a quick hike out to Alberta, you may want to change the oil again though.

Cheers,
Arnie

[MyFirstNameIsPaul]

8. anything else not so obvious?

I don't think I saw it mentioned here, but you should at the very least inspect and repack your shock linkage bearings.  There are several collars in needle roller bearings down there.  When I opened mine up the first time (at 27,000 miles) there wasn't a drop of grease to be found and the needles were pretty much rusted place and had worn grooves into the collars.

Sadly, it hasn't been high on my list of things to do, other than lube it every now and then, and I'm up to 60,000 miles and only just now about to do something about it.  However, a guy I used to work with who rode a LOT of motorcycles, said he had a similar experience on an Aprilia and when he replaced the linkage bearings it felt like a new bike.

You may also want to consider inspecting your generator brushes.  It's relatively easy to inspect and replace brushes if they need it, however, replacing a generator can be real work (and money) if the slip rings get destroyed by wearing down the brushes.