1989 FJ1200: to Hell and back.....

[fj1289]

(Jumping in here from the cruise control thread...)   

For custom throttle cables try Motion Pro - they are very used to building custom cables and know all the right questions to ask in order to get it right.  https://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/custom/

I ordered  a simple 8-inch over set of Hayabusa cables online -- before they would build them they wanted to talk to me over the phone to ensure they had all the details right.   

Chris

[Bearcat91]

first i was going to comment on the gmt400 then i noticed the vfr...hold the phone is it...sure the hell is, the GREAT WHITE!!!! Nice project man!

[great white]

first i was going to comment on the gmt400 then i noticed the vfr...hold the phone is it...sure the hell is, the GREAT WHITE!!!! Nice project man!

Yep, I'm still around.

Minding my own business in yet another corner of the web.....


(it's a VF by the way, not VFR, although you probably could hang the "R" on it an mean it now!)

[great white]

I've been back and forth on a paint scheme for my 89.

I was seriously considering the blue/white and the Red/Silver (wife's favorite).

But after finding pics of it on the web from when it was "new":



I'm finding myself feeling like I should return it to the stock silver/white colors.

The bike has been through such hell from PO's (neglect and abuse), it just seems to feel right to me to bring it back to it's "glory days".

Silver/white is also one of my front running choices with the blue.....

[Bearcat91]

first i was going to comment on the gmt400 then i noticed the vfr...hold the phone is it...sure the hell is, the GREAT WHITE!!!! Nice project man!

Yep, I'm still around.

Minding my own business in yet another corner of the web.....


(it's a VF by the way, not VFR, although you probably could hang the "R" on it an mean it now!)

ah my bad! vf1000?

[great white]

first i was going to comment on the gmt400 then i noticed the vfr...hold the phone is it...sure the hell is, the GREAT WHITE!!!! Nice project man!

Yep, I'm still around.

Minding my own business in yet another corner of the web.....


(it's a VF by the way, not VFR, although you probably could hang the "R" on it an mean it now!)

ah my bad! vf1000?

Nope.

V45.

Same one as before. I've had it for better than 15 or so years now.

It's just a "touch" modified.....

[great white]

(Jumping in here from the cruise control thread...)   

For custom throttle cables try Motion Pro - they are very used to building custom cables and know all the right questions to ask in order to get it right.  https://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/custom/

I ordered  a simple 8-inch over set of Hayabusa cables online -- before they would build them they wanted to talk to me over the phone to ensure they had all the details right.   

Chris

I've considered it.

Going to make my own first.

If they work, I may go to them for more "permanent" ones.

I have to get it working first though. I want to keep costs as low as I can while "prototyping"....

[great white]

So I held the Venture side boxes up to the FJ today to see how they would look.

First impressions are they seem a little big for the available space, but the shape flows nicely with the FJ's lines.

The turn signals are all wrong, which is disappointing as I have hoping the cut outs in the Venture boxes would line up.

The Mounting pegs are far too high as is the lower bag mount.

The mufflers look to be shooting at the bottom of the boxes, which with them being abs, isn't the best arrangement. Probably would at least need to fab up a heat shield.

It's not a dead idea yet, but I've got some serious figurin' to do if I want to make 'em fit.

Figures, nothing I ever do is lucky enough to fit the way I want with out some customizing......

[Country Joe]

Thanks for the update on the Venture side boxes. I was curious about how much they would intrude on the space above the passenger foot pegs and how close they would be to the mufflers. Too bad they are not a little smaller, there is a boat load of them on eBay for some pretty reasonable prices.

Joe

[great white]

Thanks for the update on the Venture side boxes. I was curious about how much they would intrude on the space above the passenger foot pegs and how close they would be to the mufflers. Too bad they are not a little smaller, there is a boat load of them on eBay for some pretty reasonable prices.

Joe

Oh, I'm sure they will go on and they will fit the lines of the bike very nicely.

Passenger room isn't a concern for me, I have the Venture to haul the missus (and she's not that into bikes anyways). But, because of the shape of the front of the boxes (IE: angled to fit passenger leg room on the venture) I'm sure it could be made to work with a passenger on the FJ. I should think all that would be needed is some careful placement when you build the brackets to hold them.

Muffler room I'm thinking is acceptable with maybe a heat shield on the bottom of the box for good measure (might be fine without one). Again, where you place the boxes and brackets will determine how well they work.

The rear portion of the bags are problematic in that they block the rear light from the sides and take up any room that could be used for turn signals. The "jog" in the rear is made for turn signal to protrude on the Venture, but it's too high on the FJ. The "jog" is up over the ducktail so it's no good for turn signal placement, but it does make for an interesting "styling statement".

I do have a loose plan in my head for detachable turn signals. Basically, use a couple weatherpak connectors to "quick disconnect" the OE stalks, have brake and turn lights incorporated into the boxes and just plug them in when using the boxes. It's still a concept, but I think I've pretty much got the final form figured. I know it's hard to picture from a description, but it should look good and function well if I pull it off like I'm thinking. The turn signals will actually be a little further apart than the stockers and it will add more rear brake/running lights. More from the side as well.

I'm also working out a plan in my head for minimizing the bracketry needed and possibly have it quick disconnect. Possibly even just use a couple slotted tabs. I really don't like the look of saddlebag brackets on the bike when not using luggage and I'd like to minimize or eliminate them as much as possible. Maybe even using them to double up as bungee hook points when the bags are off. Dunno, still a concept....

The FJ isn't my long distance bike and to be honest, I don't think I'd trust it yet anyways. It's still too beat up and neglected from PO's and needs too much attention. It seems to have got a decent heart, I just need to go through it before I'd trust it any more than fairly local blasting.  

So the boxes are a low priority project. The Venture is the long distance cruiser and I'm going to be working on that this winter (getting a VMAX heart, new transmission, VMax final drive, 86 wiring harness and air suspension, etc). But I'll be picking at the FJ this winter too and might make some headway on mounting the boxes.

Watch this space for more as it happens.....

[great white]

Quickly strapped the Venture side boxes to the FJ and snapped a couple iPhone pics:







Well, definitely not just a bolt on. But I think there's lots to work with there!

Could look pretty bitchin'!
If boxes ever could be called bitchin' that is.....  

I'm not sure if you could get any more volume on there (short of adding a top box, but I'm just not going there!) without it looking way too big.

Funny thing is: those side boxes actually seem a bit small on my Venture when I'm on a trip!

[great white]

Well, that's it: the FJ is laid up hard for now.

Let me explain a bit.

I've noticed a tendency for the bike to "snap" into a lean. I though it was just old worn tires and learned to live with it.

Then I noticed a tendency for it to do what I call a "chassis wiggle" if I hit a road irregularity while......*ahem*..."husseling" though a sweeper..

Still; old tires. A little bad handling made sense and they're was nothing scary or dangerous about how it handled. A quick "just in case" check of wheel bearings, headstock and swingarm revealed no slop.

Yesterday, I was ripping down a country road at about 60 mph and seemed to feel a shake in the bars. I flipped on the throttle lock and lifted both hands off the bars.

Yep: there it is. Headshake. Bars wiggling back and forth just enough to feel but not upset the entire bike. Put my hands back on the bar and now I can feel it working against my hands. Now that I'm aware of it, I can feel myself almost unconsciously damping it out with my arms.

So today I dropped the triple and lowered the forks out of the headstock.

Bearings - rusty.

Races - rusty.

I clean em up,  grease em down and slap it back together.

Yep, now that it's rotating somewhat freely and there's not rust dust filling the low spots, I can feel the wear in the races. Probably just about the biggest "notch" I've ever felt in headstock bearings.

So there it is. The snapping over was overcoming the notch as I learned it in, the mid corner wobble on poor pavement was it fighting the notch or jumping/dragging bearings and the wobble was the notch and rust for sure.

So, the FJ is a garage queen until I get some new bearings. With any luck, the local jobbers will have them in stock.

Good thing the Venture is always standing by, fresh and begging to go......or I'd have too drive the truck until the fj was fixed.

[great white]

Well, I did some fishing around.

Seems everyone is either selling lower end bearings (IE: KMF, etc), has to order them from somewhere far away or wants too much for them.

Checked RPM's site but they're out of stock.

After several other places, I called a local carquest and they crossed the bearing numbers (32005 and 32006) up to some NTN's. NTN is good quality stuff. No seals though, but mine is still in good shape.

Carquest can also have them here by 0900 tomorrow.

The price?

32 for the upper and 35 for the lower.

Not cheap, but not bad either. Everyone who had Timken or SKF wanted in the 50 bucks range and RPM prices were fair but shipping would have driven it up around 50 bucks and then exchange rate would have just kicked the snot out of it and ended up in the 65 CAD range. Rpm kit would have gotten me a set of fresh seals though, but I also would have had to wait a week.

So, it's all pretty much a wash. I'm getting quality bearings and they're going to be here tomorrow morning.

I'm ok with that.

[Arnie]

Did you check for the HONDA '79 GL1000 seal PN 53214-371-010 ?

This works fine and may be more available.

[great white]

Did you check for the HONDA '79 GL1000 seal PN 53214-371-010 ?

This works fine and may be more available.

I can check the local Honda place tomorrow, but my seal still looks good.