New FJ Owner

[charleygofast]

Welcome Wildfire! That is a cool lookin paint job...nice FJ. I'm mid-state WI. I'm hoping come spring some of us from the tri-state (Ill. Min. WI.) area can get together for a ride or some local ralleys keep that in mind. It is now snowing here and the temp is in the 20s...this makes me sad...Pat, its not funny!                   Cheers!                                                                                                                                                                                                                Charley.

[wildfire]

Welcome Wildfire! That is a cool lookin paint job...nice FJ. I'm mid-state WI. I'm hoping come spring some of us from the tri-state (Ill. Min. WI.) area can get together for a ride or some local ralleys keep that in mind. It is now snowing here and the temp is in the 20s...this makes me sad...Pat, its not funny!                   Cheers!                                                                                                                                                                                                                Charley.

Thanks for the welcome. I will be up in Wisconsin next Sat for the deer season so hope it is not as cold as last year.
Yeah we should definitely organize some group rides when the weather is good enough.

[charleygofast]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Thanks for the welcome. I will be up in Wisconsin next Sat for the deer season so hope it is not as cold as last year.
Yeah we should definitely organize some group rides when the weather is good enough.
[/quote]Good luck to you...Them bastards have been trying to take me out all summer! They deserve to die and be eaten! Its gonna be cold, very cold...sorry. What part of WI will you be hunting? Again,good luck and take care,and be carefull...above all, "watch everything, and enjoy the piss out of it!!!"                          Charley.

[giantkiller]

Welcome Wild. I'm about halfway up Wisconsin. Fond du Lac. I really like the paint too. Next year.. If you guys are going for a ride I'd ride down to meet you. Is there any good riding in Illinois? If there is I'd like to ride it.

[wildfire]

The more riders the better. Roll on the spring.

[Capn Ron]

Welcome Wildfire! Do you like to play with matches  Enjoy the FJ.

Maybe this from Johnny Cash would explain it?

"Well, bad news travels like wild fire
Good news travels slow
They all call me 'Wildfire' 'cause everybody knows
I'm bad news, everywhere I go"

johnny cash - bad news.wmv

[mark1969]

In my opinion, the widely held view that the FJ clutch is weak is a myth. Although I formed that view from a wide spread of bikes, my own only started to slip at 80k and even then only under the harshest conditions, high revs, high gears,full throttle. I rode it for another 15k before replacing it. I consider this a pretty good life from a wet clutch.
Stock components are readily available and modestly priced.

Noel

I know it's an old thread, but it's relevant to me as I'm swaying towards believing (or hoping) the stock clutch with single spring IS enough for the FJ. I've had the double spring mod for a while now and in town traffic it is awful on my fingers, and so for that reason I am waiting on new spring/plates/steels - all Yamaha originals which I hope will last the life of the bike and make using the clutch more of an automatic process rather than something I dread because it is so heavy...I do have a ZZR1100 clutch master which is supposed to make life easier for the double spring approach, but not enough for me.

Anyway, I will be sorting all that out over the next few weeks so hopefully all will be well on the grippage front..

Incidentally, I have had 2 previous FJ's 10-15 years ago neither of which had any problems on that front, and were all running stock spring / master cylinder. Admittedly they were both lower mileages (25-35000 miles) but it does play into the argument that the stock clutch is enough as long as all the parts are within their reasonable lifespan.

I'm sure many have already made their minds up on this issue, but on the off chance 1 or 2 are thinking the same way it may be interesting to someone.  

Cheers!  

mark

[FJmonkey]

Mark, I can't speak for mileage but the stock clutch with the stock spring worked really well for me. I could not get it to slip. I think Yamaha got it right for the FJ...

[Mark Olson]

The slipping clutch is real and not a myth.

It all depends on how much weight you put on the FJ's back.

The latest testing by Muppet Labs has confirmed a single spring is good enough if you substitute a full size disc for the skinny one deepest in the pack. 

[FJmonkey]

The slipping clutch is real and not a myth.

It all depends on how much weight you put on the FJ's back.

The latest testing by Muppet Labs has confirmed a single spring is good enough if you substitute a full size disc for the skinny one deepest in the pack. 

Oh yea, I did that as well...

[mark1969]

Me too, the fat fibre plate mod is already in the bike and will also be part of the newly reconditioned clutch...I don't really carry pillions too often, so weight shouldn't be too much of an issue. I'm not too lardy..

[FJscott]

The slipping clutch is real and not a myth.

It all depends on how much weight you put on the FJ's back.

The latest testing by Muppet Labs has confirmed a single spring is good enough if you substitute a full size disc for the skinny one deepest in the pack. 

Muppet labs......right, Jim Henson ran that lab. I remember reading that test, Kermit was the test pilot and when miss piggie was on board the clutch slipped.
Couldnt help myself, friday night shenanigans

[Mark Olson]

The slipping clutch is real and not a myth.

It all depends on how much weight you put on the FJ's back.

The latest testing by Muppet Labs has confirmed a single spring is good enough if you substitute a full size disc for the skinny one deepest in the pack. 

Muppet labs......right, Jim Henson ran that lab. I remember reading that test, Kermit was the test pilot and when miss piggie was on board the clutch slipped.
Couldnt help myself, friday night shenanigans

you got it.

[Flynt]

The slipping clutch is real and not a myth.  

It is most definitely real...  My first FJ had 8,800 miles on it when I bought it.  Took it to RPM Randy when he was first getting into FJs (knew the engines already)...  uni pods, clean carbs, and the 4 degree timing advance took me into the slipping clutch a zone on the first test ride just when the Kook kicked in (I weigh about 175#).  Mentioned it after test ride and we put the second spring in.  Problem solved.

When I built Wizard I was a little worried...  Lots more power, I ride 2 up (over 300#) most of the time, and I'm known to open the f'ing thing up frequently...  so I went straight to double springs and was ready for a spring type clutch if needed.  Never had an issue to date.  That beast pulls power wheelies at 60mph in 3rd routinely and I've had no issues with clutch slipping with north of 160Hp at the rear wheel.  

I really don't understand why some want to so vehemently argue it isn't needed.  It works...  do it if you need it.  Beats the crap out of a slipping clutch that's going to just get worse.  If you don't need it, don't do it.  Simple...

Frank

[Pat Conlon]

Leon's quote is the best:

"You will never find your kookaloo with a shitty clutch..."

On my 1350 (not as extreme as Frank's) i have the full fiber plate conversion and I enjoy the FJR 14mm m/c with the APE coil spring conversion kit using the heavy green coils.

I think the key to comfort is the smaller piston in the FJR m/c and the key to absence of slip is the heavier clamping force of the coil springs and the added fiber in the diet.

Yes, with the attrition of time, clutch slippage is real....deal with it.