She is alive !

[movenon]

I had a little problem with my riding skills last spring and as some know me and the FJ parted company. Spent most of the summer gathering parts and using the time to also rebuild misc stuff along the way. Today I decided to breath life back into the FJ. She was a little cranky with me and let me know that she wasn't pleased about starting but in the end she filled her lungs up and lit the fire. Sounds great I must say. The repacked mufflers are a big sound improvement! Some minor tweaking with the carbs and she will be fine. One thing about well below freezing is I don't have to worry about her getting to hot.....

I replaced my fuel pump with a Facet 40171 unit and installed (in my opinion) a better filter. Now I have a pump that cost's less than 50.00 and a larger filter you can buy for 2.99 at any Wally World.

I updated the instrument cluster with LED's and noticed the dash signal indicators didn't work so a little attention there is needed. Punch list item...

I have a swing arm that I want to polish but wasn't have great success with removing the Yamaha anodized coating so I put off that project for another day. Today I took the swing arm up to a local powder coater and in 10 min. while I waited, he blasted the arm clean for 20 bucks. I took it home and hit it with some 120 grit paper and in an hour had it to a "brushed alum" consistency ! The Aluminum sands heck of a lot easier than getting though the coating.
Can't wait until tomorrow when I can get some 220 and 400 grit on it. Headway at last. 

Yesterday I ordered a new MRA touring windscreen from Twisted Throttle and I guess it will be on the next U boat from Germany in late January. No perfect windscreen it seems depend on who you ask.

At the end of the day I am pleased to hear the FJ run again. On to more mods and servicing.
George

[FJscott]

 :hi:great news George

[rktmanfj]

George, you oughta know by now...

[Vsekvsek]

It takes that long for the mra one? I was thinking of one of those too but don't know if I want to wait that long

[Firehawk068]

Glad to hear you are making progress George.....................Post up some pics when you can.
We all like to watch! 

[movenon]

It takes that long for the mra one? I was thinking of one of those too but don't know if I want to wait that long

This is from "Twisted Throttle":
"Greetings:
That would be a special order item that would take approximately 4 weeks for us to get into stock.
http://www.twistedthrottle.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=MRA.06.046.T

Best Regards,
Michael"

I got another response that it should be here Jan 20.  So it will be a little longer than 4 weeks but hey, it's winter   I knew it would take a little time as they are made as you order them and have to be shipped here. Twisted Throttle is great and on the spot with communications I would recommend them.
Not a big selection of windscreens and all of them have good and not so good features. I think the best one is the one that Leon has, it is just more money than I wanted to spend. Leon's looks to be around stock height with an adjustable wing.
George

Not much to take pictures of other than an FJ up on blocks, but damn it sounds good......  Might get some pictures of the Facet fuel pump and mount, that might be of interest. Not that it's to related but I am thinking about mounting a lever to the fuel shut off petcock to make it more convenient to shut it off and on for filter changes etc.. Right now it's just a concept. My RV like most have cam locks on the access panels and the "finger" on the back side is offset about 2 inch's long and has a square cut out that is a little larger than the 8mm square plastic "nub" on the FJ fuel shut off.
http://www.mrlock.com/11041.html?id=ib2Z6xeY
Just have to figure out the best way to attach something like that. Things to ponder on a cold winter's night. Just a convenience item.

[Capn Ron]

Hey George!

Glad to hear you're well on your way to getting the girl back in WCR shape!  I know all too well the anxiety of pushing the starter button after a major rebuild...Did I forget anything?  Does the engine have everything it needs to fire?  Ohhh...please let this run...and run right!  Then the push and the cranking and the slight twist of the throttle, maybe a slight choke adjustment and vahhhroom, blab, blab, blab, hrmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  And there it is...Just an amazing feeling to bring your bike back to life after what she's been through.  Keep us posted on the progress and congratulations!

Cap'n Ron. . .

[movenon]

Hey George!

Glad to hear you're well on your way to getting the girl back in WCR shape!  I know all too well the anxiety of pushing the starter button after a major rebuild...Did I forget anything?  Does the engine have everything it needs to fire?  Ohhh...please let this run...and run right!  Then the push and the cranking and the slight twist of the throttle, maybe a slight choke adjustment and vahhhroom, blab, blab, blab, hrmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  And there it is...Just an amazing feeling to bring your bike back to life after what she's been through.  Keep us posted on the progress and congratulations!

Cap'n Ron. . .

You are right on there Ron !.... All kinds of crap runs through your head about why she will not fire. She cranked a bit slow, pissed some fuel, cranked some more, went through the drill 5 or 6 times, then I got a "fart" the next time she fired right up like nothing happened, no fuel leak, no problem, trying to get her warmed up in 10 degree breeze was a challenge. She settled into a normal 1100 RPM idle, did some blip tests and she is a little lean but another 1/2 or 1 turn out on the screws should fix that. In the put back together I had the carbs off and reset the floats, minor clean up, needle adjustment and reset the fuel air screws to 2 1/2 turns. I will start backing them out in 1/4 turns until she stops at idle. 

Still have lots to do but it's a good feeling to know she starts and sounds good. Thanks for the support. Hope to see some posts from your past rebuild.
George

[Joe Sull]

I have a swing arm that I want to polish but wasn't have great success with removing the Yamaha anodized coating so I put off that project for another day.

Is that what that stuff is? I think that stuff is harder than the alunimum. I've got 80% off by working it a half hour at a time. I tried the aircraft stripper and the swingarm laughed at it.

[1tinindian]

Good to hear George.
I've been following you and your FJs recovery.

On the AL swing arm, I ground it down with 36 grit, and in the process, removed the extruded upper and lower ridges.
Now my swing arm looks like my 91 steel arm, only polished.

I agree on Twisted Throttle, great supplier. I bought my screen about this time of year and it took 6 weeks for delivery, but like you said, this is a great time of year to wait.

I'd agree with Randy, some pictures of your progress would be nice, as I have said in the past, your FJ is a great looker, and your attention to detail is inspiring!

Stay warm,

Leon 

[movenon]

Thanks Joe and Leon. Leon your swing arm is beautiful. I hope I can get mine half as good. I used some 36 grit also and did the sanding and chemical things to get the coating off and the sanding would work but it took a lot of time and was still hard to get in the corners and around the welds. The blasting cleaning all that out perfectly. I was wondering if it was the right thing to do, but now I can tell you it was ! Once the Silver coating is off it sands easy with 120 grit to start.

Thanks for the complement Leon but it's not a show bike. Just I like to clean things up when I tear into something. Not even close to your or Pats bike !! Talk about detail........ 

Randy, I will take some pictures after I get the screen on and some loose ends up to speed. I bought a 6 circuit fuse block to wire in and a shift kit to install plus dash panel etc, etc.. Lots to do, it is the weather that slows me down the most. I just don't enjoy working in the cold even if it is in a garage.

Getting rid of that stock air box and going to the Uni Pods is a blessing for sure. To me the benefits are probably not what you think of at fist glance. The extra room, some weight reduction and ease of carb servicing far out way any performance enhancement.
George

[rktmanfj]

Randy, I will take some pictures after I get the screen on and some loose ends up to speed. I bought a 6 circuit fuse block to wire in and a shift kit to install plus dash panel etc, etc.. Lots to do, it is the weather that slows me down the most. I just don't enjoy working in the cold even if it is in a garage.

Fortunately for me, the garage is the warmest room in the house in the winter.  It was 74* this am in there (0* outside).

What fuse block did you get?     That's something I need to do to the '89, as the OEM block seems a bit brittle, and is just standing there.

[jscgdunn]

George,
You can always pretend to ride

Great hear it's back running...when you bored drive up here for a bit.  I could use some help, especially for polishing.....which I know is your secret love

Jeff

[movenon]

Randy, I will take some pictures after I get the screen on and some loose ends up to speed. I bought a 6 circuit fuse block to wire in and a shift kit to install plus dash panel etc, etc.. Lots to do, it is the weather that slows me down the most. I just don't enjoy working in the cold even if it is in a garage.

Fortunately for me, the garage is the warmest room in the house in the winter.  It was 74* this am in there (0* outside).

What fuse block did you get?     That's something I need to do to the '89, as the OEM block seems a bit brittle, and is just standing there.

I got one of these http://www.ebay.com/bhp/mini-fuse-block. I wanted a one piece 6 circuit block for the Hella horns (which I have to order yet), GPS/etc, heated grips, extra running lights, and a couple of extra fuses for future use. I plan on mounting it on the left side of the battery box. With the Uni Pods there is now room to mount a plate to attach the block plus some control relays .
George

[movenon]

George,
You can always pretend to ride

Great hear it's back running...when you bored drive up here for a bit.  I could use some help, especially for polishing.....which I know is your secret love

Jeff

If it don't run, it should be at least shinny......... Ask any Harley guy....    Just kidding Harley guy's...... I have been following your project closely Jeff. Which rear shock did you decide to use ?
George