North American Fj1200's new Aussie life

[Troyskie]

I'm going to call her Yummy  , because she is a Yummy new project !!!!!
She arrived today from Queensland via bike transport service.
She is a 1UX built December 1985 & shipped to North America in 1986. This was the second batch of 1200's to hit North America. The previous was the first 1TX range, the very first FJ12's to go into production. 10,000 units of each built, unknown number of the 1TX went to North America, but the full 10,000 batch of the 1UX went to North America exclusively.
This is #106 off the production line for the 1UX batch, which means the actual 11006th FJ12 made, of some 300,000 FJ12's ever built.
It was bought to Australia at some point, then had QLD compliance plate attached 11th April 2002.
PO is no longer around (Vale Craig Gilles), so import history is u/k.
Could be a US import, the speedo has km/h on the inside, but the main ring is in mph, 38231 miles on the clock. Could that mean a Canadian import? It does have 'Perimeter Frame Concept' on the fairing, so it should be US. It doesn't have a headlight switch, or pass beam button, so again I think that points to USA.

No battery, so Effie donated hers. A new one is on charge now and will go into Effie.

Oil is black, but at the right level. Brakes work, clutch seems ok. All electricals seem ok.

Crank, crank, crank, nothing, hmm  .

Fuel (and inside tank, no rust) looks ok  .

Hmm, fuel is red/orange, hmm, E10 & probably pretty old  .

Tank off, drain, 98 flush and semi-fill .

Crank, crank, tiny bit of choke, WOOO HOOO  !!!!

Sooth as silk once the old fuel was burnt off, bit of a hesitation revving off idle, loud clutch rattle, but don't care!

The whole front end was covered (literally dripping) in fork oil from the blown fork seals (both) and the tie-downs used in transit (obviously had the forks in compression for while).

Quick ride (after superficial oil removal with rag), SWEEEEEEEET!!!!

Now, before I rattle on, I will go on the record as stating here and now to everyone, 'For this project I shall turn as many of the spanners as possible', let's see how impatient I get shall we.....

OK, now the rattle on, seems to have original rubber brake, clutch and fuel lines, fork seals blown but forks possibly polishable. The fuel lines look and smell like they are leaky.

Tires look end of life.

Was told she's a bit smokey and might need rings. Once she was nice and warm I gave her a few heavy rev surges and held. Some smoke, but colour was whitish brown, so no real clue and could just be crud/unburnt fuel. I won't begrudge a minor top end rebuild if she is a bit burnt.

I did find some butchered wiring, but seems functional.

I haven't done a compression test, or checked the alternator, shims, or coils, but 2nd gear seems ok. However I've not really tried it out properly as all that oil over the front end made me very cautious. No major tapping noise from the top end, so perhaps the timing chain and shims are ok, but this will require some spanner turning. (I need to get a compression guage, torque wrench, vacuum gauges, and shim tool thingy,...Pete?)

It looks like she lived inside in North America, then was living rough in Oz.

Here's some pics...

[Troyskie]

Whoops,

[Troyskie]

The white bottom cowl which appears in the last pic was one I picked up at a wreckers in anticipation and gave it a rough, quick white coat (over original grey), and fitted off to see....

[Troyskie]

Just noticed,... not original headers, but OEM collector and mufflers.
Also looks like it has never been dropped. It does look like there have been some knocks, but nothing like a high-side, low-side, or any gravel rash on the pegs, engine, or plastics.
She seems cosmetically and mechanically in better nic than my return to FJs with the 1100 from this time last year.

[TexasDave]

Great looking bike. I think you are a lucky man to have a pair like that.  Dave

[oldktmdude]

(I need to get a compression guage, torque wrench, vacuum gauges, and shim tool thingy,...Pete?)

Nice find Troy. Not as pretty as an 1100 but at least it's red and white. Let me know when you want to tackle the valve adjustments and I'll be there. Got shims, valve tool, comp gauges, torque wrench and sync gauges ready to travel. We may wait for this rain to clear first.
Regards, Pete.
PS We might have just gained another FJ owner in the area. I'll keep you posted.

[Troyskie]

Sweet Pete.
Yep re the rain. The whole back yard was 1ft under yesterday arvo & the local roads have fallen apart.
Anyhoo, I'll have to wait till I get back before actually tackling the diagnosis.
Perhaps a diagnostic check then dyno run for a real before/after......Simon...."Pete's changed his needles and I have a new project'
Great news re the new local FJ owner  
Troyskie

[oldktmdude]

Great news re the new local FJ owner  
Troyskie

Not confirmed yet so don't tell anyone! 

[aviationfred]

Great find 

I am sure you will have it sorted out and looking as good a your Effie in short order.


Fred

[FJools]

Nice find Troy,

will you be getting it ready for the rally ?

Is that an OEM belly pan or GRP aftermarket ?

[Troyskie]

Definitely getting her ready.
With luck I'll only need fork seals, tyres, fuel, brake & clutch lines. Possibly new sprockets and chain.
I'm planning on riding her this week to shake her down and see if she also has a 'Bond' modification. Also to see if she's using oil and how much.
If she's serviceable, I'll leave any major stuff till after the rally.
The belly pan is OEM, off a pink striper I grabbed while I was in Canberra earlier this week (Joes). I gave it a quick clean and rough coat of cheap white to serve till a real clean up later in the year.
I'll be taking the 1100, so Yummy is a spare....

[Troyskie]

Well, now I'm back from the US, Pete came up from Bermagui with his shim tool and we popped the top off to have a squiz at the shims.

Whoever last adjusted them was super conservative, mostly ok, but a few were quite loose.

Pete had a couple in his box-o-tricks and we swapped a couple around, shims are now good.

Pete had a 4 hour ride home so we did a check of the timing (all-good) and put her back together. Flashed her up & she ran smooth as.

Smoke could be frozen rings, so she'll need a bit of a hard ride to see if this clears up the smoke. We didn't do a compression check, but I can do that at Glenns' shop. I won't be game to give her a good ride till I've sorted the front forks and brakes.

Rear brake rotor is totally buggered & will need replacement.

Thanks heaps for coming up to help out Pete, plus for showing me how to do my own shims. He also showed me some neat tricks for removing stubborn screws around the timing cover without an impact hammer, and without buggering the screws!

So the to-do list for Yummy thus far is....

Replace the forks, these tubes are buggered (hopefully a 91 front end at Joes in Canberra is reasonable, and complete including 17" wheel, i.e. swap in, and then think seriously about the GSXR rear mod N swap).
Replace rear brake rotor & pads.
Replace front brake pads.
Compression test (then decide minor top end rebuild or not).
Replace OEM rubber lines (fuel, clutch, brakes).
New tyres (depending on front & rears swap).

In trying to guess more of her lineage, Monkey Mark described to me the Cal emissions cans these bikes would have had added. It looks like there is an unused tube/cable clip on the frame near the front of the motor. Are there other spots that might indicate if the CAL crap has been removed? From her condition I feel she was not a cold climes bike, but really have no idea.

[FJools]

Sounds like another man shed day excuse Troy................

[oldktmdude]

Sounds like another man shed day excuse Troy................

You may be on to something there Jools.
Troy, just a suggestion, don't go rushing out to buy a new rear rotor just yet. If you decide to go with a 17" rear swap with a GSXR wheel, you will have wasted your money buying the new rotor. I may have a used FJ rotor lying around here that you can have. I'll have a look and let you know.
   regards, Pete.

[oldktmdude]

Great news re the new local FJ owner  
Troyskie

Not confirmed yet so don't tell anyone! 

Alf (ZRX) has just bought Phil's (wainot) FJ 1100. Unfortunately it won't be ready in time for the 2016 Rally but certainly will be for next years.