Beginning the 84, Restomodification

[theLeopard]

Thats a helluva steal, congratulations are in order 

It would appear you've turned one running scooter into three with some elbow grease and a bit of green.

Frank, that's a cherry ride. Looks a bit like mine but shinier 

Black is always polished but since your scooter doesnt need fresh paint I'd suggest a silver or Chromed frame and maybe some fire truck red & silver shoes. Consider replacing the coil springs on all your OEM lines with gold/brass coils.

Best of luck, maybe you mail me one of those chins when i get arount to cosmetics. If they'll swap onto a 92.

~Leopard

[jscgdunn]

Noel,
Although you claim not to have a polish fetish, your bike always ranks up with the most pristine.  Do you have white-glove staff?

Jeff

[fj johnnie]

 The paint on the tank and plastics are all nice so I am leaning towards black frame and wheels. Although a darker charcoal grey for them all intrigues me as well.

[ribbert]

Noel,
Although you claim not to have a polish fetish, your bike always ranks up with the most pristine.  Do you have white-glove staff?

Jeff

Haha, I wish. One of the reasons it always looks clean is because it's always getting dirty, really dirty, and gets washed after every ride.

The really big job is the initial detail when you first get it, from that point on, maintaining it is easy.

It's really not that tidy. I've put 90,000kms on it in 6.5 years and it is starting to show, mostly with stone chips.


Noel

[Bones]

Noel,
Although you claim not to have a polish fetish, your bike always ranks up with the most pristine.  Do you have white-glove staff?

Jeff

Haha, I wish. One of the reasons it always looks clean is because it's always getting dirty, really dirty, and gets washed after every ride.

The really big job is the initial detail when you first get it, from that point on, maintaining it is easy.

It's really not that tidy. I've put 90,000kms on it in 6.5 years and it is starting to show, mostly with stone chips.


Noel

C'mon Noel, you know the score, Pics or it didn't happen.

[fj johnnie]

 Another update. Sort of. I did a winter bike trip and the poor bike sat.  In the meantime I found a complete FZ1 swing arm and complete front end. So I am thinking of using them on this 84 bike. The YZF front is going onto my current bike. My question now is what is involved in making the shock linkages work. I see a few bikes on here with thunder ace rear ends but no 84's.(The thunder ace appears very similar to me, excusive of the length) My current bike (Black Betty) has the FZ1 rear so I am aware of how that will work, just not the shock linkages.
  Also I have an RPM shock for the 84 and am wondering if it can be made to work on this bike with the FZ1 swing arm.

[Pat Conlon]

..... I see a few bikes on here with thunder ace rear ends but no 84's.....

You mean like this?

[fj johnnie]

 Yes Pat ,exactly like that.

[fj johnnie]

 Maybe not as shiny ?

[Pat Conlon]

What do you need to know?

To convert the pre-dog bone FJ's  ('84-'87) over to the dog bone linkage (needed for the TAce swinger) you need the relay arm off the '89-91 FJ. Later FJ's ('92-'93) had the linkage offset to make room for the ABS pump.

Along with the relay arm, you will need a shorter shock used in the late model FJ's

[fj johnnie]

 So I won't be able to use my RPM shock off my 84? I do have a spare relay arm.

[Pat Conlon]

No, ask FJ Monkey, he just went through this on converting his '86 over to dog bones while trying to retain use his RPM shock. Monkey Mark wanted to go to the dog bones to add some rake to his FJ. It's a known fact the enhancement in handling when the FJ's rear end is raised, putting more weight on the front tire, so it's shame the RPM shock has no provisions for rear height adjustability.


On my TAce conversion, I did temporarily use my '84 Penske shock (which has a threaded shaft adjustment feature) but even with lower shock clevis** threaded all the way in (i.e. shock as short as possible) the shock was still too long...It worked but, because of the longer length, the angle on the relay arm was not optimum...I traded my '84 Penske shock for a '89 Penske shock which has a shorter shock body.

** I forgot to mention that you will need to convert the lower shock mount over from the eye type mount, to the clevis type mount, needed to fit the '89-91 relay arm.

[fj johnnie]

 Thanks Pat. I must now determine if I want to use the GSX-R set up  with the RPM shock I have, or use the FZ1 setup with a different shock. HMMM. So many possibilities.
I do have a Penske on another bike, with the rear raised slightly. It does handle very nice, if a bit slow. I am switching over to a YZF front on that bike, once my wheel and top triple get back from powder coat. The YZF front is a little shorter and will place some more weight on the front. The main difference I see between using the FZ1 set up is that one can raise the rear. With the GSX-R set up and a factory swing arm,(84) one can only drop the front end for the same effect.

[FJscott]

Johnnie,

another option, one that I am doing to my newly acquired 84 is to use ALL FZ1 components. I am using the swingarm, relay arm with stock dogbones and a shock all off of a 2005 FZ1. you will have to lose the centerstand but for me, my bike didn't have one....no biggie. the biggest hurdle to overcome ( not a big one) is you will have to modify the upper shock mount, or do what I did on my 92 is cut the top shock mount off completely and fab a new one.

in my opinion this is a better alternative than mix matching suspension components from different machines and designs.

good luck,

Scott

[FJmonkey]

Johnnie,

another option, one that I am doing to my newly acquired 84 is to use ALL FZ1 components. I am using the swingarm, relay arm with stock dogbones and a shock all off of a 2005 FZ1. you will have to lose the centerstand but for me, my bike didn't have one....no biggie. the biggest hurdle to overcome ( not a big one) is you will have to modify the upper shock mount, or do what I did on my 92 is cut the top shock mount off completely and fab a new one.

in my opinion this is a better alternative than mix matching suspension components from different machines and designs.

good luck,

Scott

Yep, the '84/'87 upper shock mount will need to be cut off and replaced with a new one allowing the longer RPM shock. I have the new shock mount mocked up in a solids design software and a spare '86/'87 frame to weld it on to. Not sure about the FZ1 mods, but it sounds like fun...