Project "Half Jay" 84 FJ600

[Big Chuck]

I know I've been slacking during the winter, but it's hard going without a garage!

Had a new seat cover made, and installed with some minor foam repair here and there...



$37 in materials, $50 for an hour labor... $87.00 for a new seat. Feels great!



Controls are on the new bars, all the buttons work again. Still starts right up! And what a great sound!



Have to get the brakes back on, remount the fairing support and the fairing (almost have it smoothed out after patching a big piece in), run the wiring and the cables where I want them, mount the gauges back up...

Hope to get it all sorted and everything back on (just in primer) for a little running around. Give her a little exercise before I pull the swing arm and rear wheel to redo those.
Hope to have all the plastics and the tank fixed and in primer, everything hanging on the front and everything on the back rebuilt, repainted and done before the summer gets in full swing.
Like to get it on the road to a few bike nights over the summer, then pull it all back apart  and do the frame, the engine and such, and the paint work over next winter.

[Dads_FJ]

Nice thread Chuck!  Did you decide on a paint scheme?  My vote is KR yellow, but then I'm probably biased...

[Big Chuck]

I am torn between the factory red and silver (I found a full set of decals in Italy, they just say XJ600) and the KR yellow.

[moparman70]

I always liked the FJ 600 --- I tried to buy one back in the day ---- I don't remember the details but I ended up with a Sukuki 550E. ( me thinks due to price - FJ600 was the new thing)   Keep up the good work --like the its bigger brother --- I think she's a classic

83 550 --- got stuck on the style of the FJ 600 ---



scc

[Big Chuck]

I always liked the FJ 600 --- I tried to buy one back in the day ---- I don't remember the details but I ended up with a Sukuki 550E. ( me thinks due to price - FJ600 was the new thing)   Keep up the good work --like the its bigger brother --- I think she's a classic

83 550 --- got stuck on the style of the FJ 600 ---



scc

That's a really nice bike!  But I am very partial to 80'see bikes.
I would have a yard full of them if the wife would let me!
I don't know what I miss the most,  my old fj1100, the vf750f interceptor, or the long lost but not forgotten gpz550.

[DieHappy]

Nice project you got goin..Not having a garage can really suck.  Gets a little chilly up here!!  I'm working in my ex-wife's basement for now. Ha, Ha..

[Big Chuck]

Pulled the tank so I can work on the petcock and working some of the dents out, so I decided to replace the plug wires.
The old ones were made from some yellow superstock wires, and lots of electrical tape!
So I had some superstock wires laying around the shed, and just made some new ones to fit (no electrical tape holding the boots on and no mile long wires coiled up on top of the carbs!)

Then, I had to see if it still ran!
http://vid51.photobucket.com/albums/f377/fastcoasty/Bike001_zps0upsbjji.mp4

[Big Chuck]

Started stripping the tank down, and went to rebuild the petcock...
Looks like something is missing...


And no filter between this and the carbs either... 

[Big Chuck]

Getting busy on this old girl again... need to get it finished this year.

Pressed and welded stem from spare triple-tree into Suzuki Bandit GSF600 tree (because had a bandit for free parts)
So 41mm forks, wheel, brakes will be Bandit... 120/70-17 front tire
Nudged the rear frame spacing at the swing arm pivot point about 2mm wider with a porta-power ram, so rear swingarm, wheel, brakes also Bandit 600, 160/60-17 rear tire...


Fairing and stay mounted to gauge fork clearance (it's tight but it works).



The forks are a bit long, and are going to be up through the upper tree about 2 in. once it is sitting correctly, but since the upper tree that the "bolt on" handlebars mounted to is gone, I'll just use clip on bars (that will end up pretty close to the original position anyway).

Engine has been checked for valve clearance and compression, all plugged and sealed up ready to be cleaned (may blast with pecan shell media) and painted.
Soon as the rear suspension is all sorted out the frame will be ready for prep and paint... then it will be time to assemble!

[FJmonkey]

Cool! Another build with mods (and pics) to follow. I love this stuff. Keep it coming...

[Big Chuck]

Upper shock mount and lower "Joint" mounts fabbed up for the Suzuki pieces... and the frame is finally in primer!



Doesn't seem like much, but I lost count of how many times I sanded and scrubbed that thing... and I don't want to talk about sanding... priming... sanding... priming...

I really hate painting tubular stuff.
Oh well, another nice day and the paint will be on, then we can get down to business!

[Big Chuck]

  And...

Its black!

Lower mount for the much narrower suspension joint..


Upper shock mount... not sexy, but simple and solid.


Not really going to be easy to see anyway.

[Big Chuck]

Well, screw you photobucket...
Until I sort out replacement pics, here's the bike going back together.
Suzuki Bandit front, rear, wheels...



And yes, the rear is hanging, while I get more of the weight back on it and can set the rear shock and linkages.
So far looks like it is going to work. Was worried about the sprocket alignment, but that won't be as hard as I thought.
$60 offset sprocket for the front, about 8mm milled off the carrier in the back and it will all line up.

[Big Chuck]

Spent some quality time with the wiring harness... took a few hours of scrubbing to get it clean. Who knew the wires were all different colors?

20170816_035622 by Charles Brooks, on Flickr

Added wiring for the "running" lights in the replacement turn signals, still need to replace the glass fuse holders with something a little more modern.