Calling her Shimless

Romeo20808 · November 25, 2015, 07:50:44 AM

Picked up this 86 fj1200 for $50 last weekend. Has 25k on the clock and needs a lot of love as you can tell from the pics. All of the plastics are in good shape and came with it. The only problem was that the previous owner pulled all of the shims for a project "Hint the name" As of posting this I found a buddy with the shims I needed and now I am just working on cleaning everything up in there. Hoping to have it running sometime this weekend. I have a new front wheel and tire coming on friday, so I will finally be able to roll it properly. It is missing a rear shock, so if you have any suggestions for one to get let me know. I have short legs so something adjustable would be preferred. Can't wait to get her finished and I will be spending quite a bit of time on here

FJ1100mjk · November 25, 2015, 07:59:14 AM

Suggestion #1: Don't put it back together too far, especially from the carbs back. It sounds like the bike has sat for quite some time, and I would venture to say that you'll soon find the need to remove the carbs to refurbish them.

Great find for $50!

Romeo20808 · November 25, 2015, 08:04:23 AM

Quote from: FJ1100mjk on November 25, 2015, 07:59:14 AM
Suggestion #1: Don't put it back together too far, especially from the carbs back. It sounds like the bike has sat for quite some time, and I would venture to say that you'll soon find the need to remove the carbs to refurbish them.

Great find for $50!

Yeah the carbs will probably need the most work out of anything. Taking my time there for sure

FJmonkey · November 25, 2015, 08:09:48 AM

Try to borrow a Corbin seat with a stock shock. If the seat height is good then you have options for a shock including the RPM design. If that is still too high then your shock options are limited to length adjustable shocks like Penske units. A more involved option is replace your upper shock (cutting & welding required) with an '89+ and switch the rear end over to an '89+. Then you are back to having more options.

aviationfred · November 25, 2015, 09:13:43 AM

Since I have owned my current FJ. My best friends as far as parts are, RPM www.rpmracingca.com, Poway Motorcycles www.powaymotorcycle.com and eBay

There are used OEM shocks listed on eBay all the time.

Also a GREAT tool for parts is www.Partzilla.com. I don't use them so much to order parts. They have awesome diagrams and Illustrated Parts Breakdown drawings. Also a neat thing is. while looking at parts, click on the part number itself and you will be sent to a page that lists all Yamaha makes and models that the specific part is used on.

Fred

jscgdunn · November 25, 2015, 09:59:00 AM

You might know this....looks like you have an upgraded rear wheel? What size of tire is on it? Front end has post 86 calipers with interesting (homemade?) adapters?

For 50 bucks you bought a lot of fun! Hope the motor is good; probably is ok.

Be interesting to see the resurrection

Jeff

Pat Conlon · November 25, 2015, 12:34:11 PM

Quote from: Romeo20808 on November 25, 2015, 07:50:44 AM
...It is missing a rear shock, so if you have any suggestions for one to get let me know. I have short legs so something adjustable would be preferred.

To my knowledge, the adjustable shocks are adjustable only 1 way, to raise the rear ride height (which enhances handling)
I'm not aware of a shock that will lower the back end.
I'm not sure you will want to lower the back anyway. Your shock linkage are designed to work only a certain way. I'm not sure what a shorter body shock will to to the geometry of the linkage, besides I don't know how much lower you can go before your tire rubs the fender liner under full compression..
Also, unfortunately on your '86 you don't have dog bone links you can modify like the '89+ FJ's.

Stay with the stock ride height and deal with the seat (shave the foam) to get your feet grounded.

That being said, don't waste your money buying a used weak sauce oem shock for your FJ. Get a quality aftermarket shock (Penske, RPM, Hagon, etc)

aviationfred · November 25, 2015, 01:04:36 PM

You have not mentioned your height. There are a few members, including myself that are height challenged. I am 5'7".

As the monkey said earlier, a Corbin seat easily solves short leg syndrome. I have a seat that I rarely use. It is an OEM seat that has been shaped to mimic a Corbin Gunfighter. It even has an authentic Corbin cover. The foam is still the softer OEM foam. The seats are interchangable among all the FJ's

If interested, shoot me an offer. A few photos. I can send more if you would like.

Fred

Romeo20808 · November 25, 2015, 04:22:57 PM

Quote from: aviationfred on November 25, 2015, 01:04:36 PM
You have not mentioned your height. There are a few members, including myself that are height challenged. I am 5'7".

As the monkey said earlier, a Corbin seat easily solves short leg syndrome. I have a seat that I rarely use. It is an OEM seat that has been shaped to mimic a Corbin Gunfighter. It even has an authentic Corbin cover. The foam is still the softer OEM foam. The seats are interchangable among all the FJ's

If interested, shoot me an offer. A few photos. I can send more if you would like.

Fred

5' 7" here as well. That seat actually looks like a good option. What are you thinking price wise?

Romeo20808 · November 26, 2015, 11:42:02 AM

Rear tire is a 170-60-18. What wheel should I be running in the front to balance that out?

FJmonkey · November 26, 2015, 11:54:23 AM

Quote from: Romeo20808 on November 26, 2015, 11:42:02 AM
Rear tire is a 170-60-18. What wheel should I be running in the front to balance that out?

A 150/80-16 has a circumference of 79.95 or diameter of 25.45. A 170/60-18 is CIR 81.78 or DIA 26.03. If you can get a 170/55-18 then you are almost back to the stock diameter of 25.36. This will have a lowering effect on the rear and should be considered if you like the current front to rear ratio. What are you running on the front?

www.gearingcommander.com

Pat Conlon · November 26, 2015, 01:12:51 PM

Don't go to an 18" rim, your selection of tires will be better if you stay with the 17" rim.

The difference is so slight you need no suspension adjustment when using the 170/60 tire. (unlike using the smaller 180/55-17 tire)

Specification Sidewall Radius Diameter Circumference Revs/Mile Difference
150/80-16 4.7in 12.7in 25.4in 79.9in 792 0.0%
170/60-17 4.0in 12.5in 25.0in 78.6in 806 -1.6%

The difference in diameter is less than 1/2" so the ride height difference is 1/2 of that...or less than 1/4" lower with the 170/60 tire vs. the oem 150/80 donut.

If you feel you need to, you could get an adjustable shock and raise up the back end.... or just lower the fork tubes in your triple clamps.

Romeo20808 · November 30, 2015, 11:25:52 AM

Got it to start today by spraying a little gas in the carbs. I think I have a plug wire crossed somewhere though. Will have to play with that more after work

Pat Conlon · November 30, 2015, 11:38:03 AM

Sitting on the bike left cylinder is #1; right cylinder is #4. FJ firing order is 1-2-4-3

Left side coil fires #1 and #4.... Right side coil fires #2 and 3.

It does not matter which of the 2 plug wires from the 'correct' coil goes to the plugs...as long as the coil is correct. The FJ uses a wasted spark.

Romeo20808 · December 03, 2015, 08:14:38 AM

Thanks for the tip on the wires, that did the trick. Now she is running like a top and I turned the bill of sale into a title yesterday. So I am excited to get some more work done this weekend. Still trying to figure out if I want to keep it stock in the looks department or I want to do something more custom. I have looked at some pics online of street fighter versions of my bike and one this one really appealed to me

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Calling her Shimless