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

[racerrad8]

GW, there are bunch of photos that are now missing from the topic from photobucket.

eg.


Are you going to be pulling them, if so I will go through and delete the removed photos.

Randy - RPM

[great white]

GW, there are bunch of photos that are now missing from the topic from photobucket.

eg.


Are you going to be pulling them, if so I will go through and delete the removed photos.

Randy - RPM

Those are from a couple years ago. Probably broken links from changes made in my photobucket....

[racerrad8]

Those are from a couple years ago. Probably broken links from changes made in my photobucket....

Do you want me to delete or do you want to send me the new links and I can update them.

Let me know, Randy - RPM

[great white]

You might as well delete the picture links if you wish. I doubt I could figure out which are which or even if I still have them.....

[Pat Conlon]

Awwww, I like the cat....

[great white]

So, old post but I'm still working on the old girl. With the rim swap and fz1 rear swingarm sorted, its time to make the bike purdy.

Tear down to the frame begins:




Not planning anything radical, just a nice factory white and silver like any other "run-of-the-mill" 1989 FJ1200...

[great white]

Tear down almost finished:

[great white]

Ordered up some parts yesterday. Four emulsion tubes and the redesigned starter chain oil nozzle. Exchange, taxes and shipping made it pretty painful: 235 bucks CAD. But, the emulsion tubes are needed as the originals are so worn you don't even have to look very close to see how "ovaled" the needle hole is.

I also realized that I neglected to do a compression test before yanking the engine. So I had to do it cold, which isn't ideal but it's still an indicator. All cylinders pumped up to about 140-145 psi. Except for #1 cylinder, that pumped up to 105 psi and that was after an extended crank cycle. the carbs are off, so no restriction there.

Seemed odd to me that one cylinder would be so much lower than the others. It's certainly possible that only #1 might have bore damage, but it's not a likely failure mode.

So I decided to check the valve clearances. #1 is tight, very tight. It's not zero, but it's close. At dead cold the intake is .004/.005 on the base circle and the exhaust is about .005/.006 thou. Such tight clearances could explain why it takes so long to pump up the cylinder and why it's not holding as much compression as the others. I'm considering a leak down test, mainly because I don[t have a valve shim removal tool (it's on order) to check/change the valve shims. I thought I had bought one a while ago, but it;s not in my shim kit. the tool for the VF750F (useless really) and the tool for the xvz/vmx cams are there, but not the FJ one. I either lost it or never ordered it.

A leak down test might be the best way to go for the immediate future. I was really hoping it would mostly just be a cosmetic refurb on the engine and I really would rather not have to pull the head or have to bore oversize. But that's not up to me....that decision will be made by the condition of the engine.

Makes me a bit nervous as this old hack has either 98,000+ kms (approx 60k miles) on the clock or it's 193,000 Kms (approx 120k miles). There's no real way to tell because the odo has 93,000 on it, but I've found this bike in old "for sale ads" where the odo is listed as 98,000 kms and that was more than a decade ago. If the high mileage number is correct though, I'm surprised the compression is as good as it is on 2,3, and 4 cylinders.

Here's hoping #1 is an easy (ie: inexpensive) fix to get it up to the other cylinders....

[great white]

Well, decided to ditch the OEM ignitor box. Ordered up an Ignitech TCIP4. I run one on my vmax/venture cross breed and its a great piece of kit. It will run with the map sensor as is and has the capability to take in data from a TPS, which I will add later on down the road. Adding a TPS to the throttle will give me the ability to make a 3d ignition map and fine tune all areas under throttle, most especially part throttle settings. 

[great white]

Well crap.

Valve shim tool showed up today and I was able to shim #1 cylinder to within specs. Ran a quick compression check and no difference. #1 only pumps up to 90-100 psi.

I dropped a teaspoon of 10W oil in the bore and cranked it over again.

150 PSI easily.

Right now, I'm just gutted. #3-4 is a good 140-150 psi, but #1 has some type of cylinder or ring damage/issue.

Which means the engine has to come apart to at least investigate, which means more money. If I end up having to pull the cylinder block, at a minimum, I'm in for a new set of rings for all 4. Plus gaskets and such. Not to mention, as soon as you open up an old engine, it becomes a never ending stream of replacement parts.

Can't even look at it right now. I need some time away from it to gather my emotions back up to where I can may good decisions again.

On another note, I got a text message from my ex wife (yeah, no one ever is happy about that). We broke up about 20 years ago and other than my daughter, we've had no contact. The text message said to come and get my motorcycle if I wanted it or she was going to have it taken away for scrap. I was surprised she still had it, I expected she would have "purged it' when she did the vengeful ex thing of tossing anything connected to me out, or burning it in the back yard whatever she didn't toss. Turns out she pushed it out behind the shed and it's been out there for the better part of 18-20 years. It's in pretty hard shape:











It started life as a stock 1982 CB650SC:



It's a fairly "amateurish" build, as I didn't have a lot of fabrication tools back then to do things like turn out spacers, parts, welders, etc. The front and rear end are from an Yamaha RD500R, the engine has (had) oversized pistons and a dynojet carb kit, k&n pods, MAC 4 into 1, converted to rear monoshock, a Kawi ex500 fairing and a sprinkling of assorted other parts.

Now, everything is faded, worn, or seized. The white blobs you see is either white paint (from painting the shed) or big plops of pine tree sap. Someone along the line has also been robbing parts off it. But strange things, like someone took one of the front lower engine mounts and bolts off it and the odd bolt/nut here and there.

Not sure what I'm going to do with it. It's a snappy looking machine, but it's going to literally need everything torn apart and refurbished. I'm kind of afraid to take the seat off and see whats living under there and I have no idea if the engine even turns over anymore. It's definitely not going to be worth the money I'd have to put into it.

I'll probably just push it into the back of the shed for now and maybe look at it again in another year or two...

[great white]

After a little sit down, I think I might try dropping some seafoam or acteone/atf into the offending cylinder and letting it sit for a week or two. Might free it up if the problem is carboned up ring lands. Lord knows it was running pig rich for who knows how long due to the "ovalized" emulsion tubes....

[red]

Well crap.
Valve shim tool showed up today and I was able to shim #1 cylinder to within specs. Ran a quick compression check and no difference. #1 only pumps up to 90-100 psi.
I dropped a teaspoon of 10W oil in the bore and cranked it over again.  150 PSI easily.
Right now, I'm just gutted. #3-4 is a good 140-150 psi, but #1 has some type of cylinder or ring damage/issue.

Great white,

Yamaha makes a product called Ring-Free (intended for their outboard motors).  A number of riders here have reported good results with it; Ring-Free is a gastank additive.  Follow the label directions.

[great white]

Well crap.
Valve shim tool showed up today and I was able to shim #1 cylinder to within specs. Ran a quick compression check and no difference. #1 only pumps up to 90-100 psi.
I dropped a teaspoon of 10W oil in the bore and cranked it over again.  150 PSI easily.
Right now, I'm just gutted. #3-4 is a good 140-150 psi, but #1 has some type of cylinder or ring damage/issue.

Great white,

Yamaha makes a product called Ring-Free (intended for their outboard motors).  A number of riders here have reported good results with it; Ring-Free is a gastank additive.  Follow the label directions.

Thanks for the recommendation. I am aware of yamalube's "ring free" product. Right now the #1 cylinder is soaking in seafoam top end cleaner. I'll let it sit for a couple days and try a compression check again. If it improves any, I'll try a leakdown test. Might dig out my boroscope and have a look too. Only problem is my boroscope has a cracked lens, so the image you see is pretty marginal at the best of times.

I'm really hoping its just carbon fouling on the top ring land that can be cleared without pulling the engine apart to the base gasket.

But, with my luck, I'm not holding out too much hope...

[red]

Great white,
Yamaha makes a product called Ring-Free (intended for their outboard motors).

Thanks for the recommendation.  Might dig out my boroscope and have a look too. Only problem is my boroscope has a cracked lens, so the image you see is pretty marginal at the best of times.

Great white,

Amazon has lots of borescopes, waterproof fiber optics with dimmable LED lights.  This is a (selectable)1280 pixel version, focal length 3~10 cm.  Amazon has many more, from US$10 and up.  This one is US$21 with a five meter cable, and free shipping if your Amazon order is over $25.  You can cut costs by using a laptop, tablet, or cellphone as the display screen, or the more expensive versions will have a dedicated display screen.  You may want one that is auto-focus/re-focus/manual focus.  Check that they will work with your display device; some are not Apple-friendly.

https://www.amazon.com/Seesi-Endoscope-Waterproof-Inspection-Semi-Rigid/dp/B07PBF6DX5/

[great white]

Great white,
Yamaha makes a product called Ring-Free (intended for their outboard motors).

Thanks for the recommendation.  Might dig out my boroscope and have a look too. Only problem is my boroscope has a cracked lens, so the image you see is pretty marginal at the best of times.

Great white,

Amazon has lots of borescopes, waterproof fiber optics with dimmable LED lights.  This is a (selectable)1280 pixel version, focal length 3~10 cm.  Amazon has many more, from US$10 and up.  This one is US$21 with a five meter cable, and free shipping if your Amazon order is over $25.  You can cut costs by using a laptop, tablet, or cellphone as the display screen, or the more expensive versions will have a dedicated display screen.  You may want one that is auto-focus/re-focus/manual focus.  Check that they will work with your display device; some are not Apple-friendly.

https://www.amazon.com/Seesi-Endoscope-Waterproof-Inspection-Semi-Rigid/dp/B07PBF6DX5/

My boroscope is purely optical. Ziess optics. Used to use it to scope axial compressors and turbines. I really ahould see if I can order a new lens for it. I don't use it often anymore, but when I do use it it's a great tool.