What did you do to your bike today?

[Mark Olson]

air up the back tire to 40psi.
drop the front forks.

face the facts you need a penske shock.

is the old tire squared off.
do you have the 17" front wheel.??

Still have the stock 16" front (new tire), the tire does not look square but I will look closely again, and YES, I badly need a Penske for the rear. I will bump up the pressure to 40 today and see if that changes anything. Then lower the front after that. One change at a time. Thanks.

One change at a time??

You need to get the 17"wheel on the front and it will handle sweet.
I think craig still has a 90 wheel just laying around.

when I upgraded my 86 I did it all in one shot.
penske shock
fzr rear
90 forks and emulators springs
90 front wheel
pilot powers front and rear
blue pot calipers
fjr masters

only cost 2,000 and I had a brand new bike
mine handles very well and neutral in the corners , you can put in the corner and take your hands off and it will hold it until you want it to come up.

You still got time before the rally , if you find the forks , I can get you the 90 wheel cheap. 

[craigo]

You need to get the 17"wheel on the front and it will handle sweet.
I think craig still has a 90 wheel just laying around.

Nope, no 17" wheels laying around here. 

CraigO

[Mark Olson]

You need to get the 17"wheel on the front and it will handle sweet.
I think craig still has a 90 wheel just laying around.

Nope, no 17" wheels laying around here. 

CraigO

I meant Craig Z AKA "Marlboro man"

[simi_ed]

Radar jammer, ECM or a HARM missile or 2.  Oh, the steering ...  I think the others have said enough.  My vote is still a squared off tire.

Ed

[SlowOldGuy]

It'll always feel like a truck with that 16" front wheel.  That should have been the very first mod.  I'm sure the 17" rear is nice, but until you get that front replaced, expect minimum gains.

The front wheel mod on the early model FJs is the singular most significant upgrade I've done.  The difference in handling is amazing.  I think I've been posting this for about 8 or 9 years now

DavidR.

[FJmonkey]

Almost a ride report but still about my new rear end.

Day 2 of shakedown runs with the new GSXR rear. First, when I left yesterday I failed to perform my ritual air pressure tire check. I remembered this as I pulled in to fill up the tank. I put in 38 lbs. of air at the fuel station. I checked air again this morning and found it at 32 psi. The gauge at the service station was way off. Put it back up to 40 psi for my ride with San Dimas Mike. The square wheel feel went away, but not neutral yet. It was a good thing too as Mike kept me on my toes with his new Diablos front and rear, up to Crystal Lake. Great ride!

Here is Mike and his garage queen on the Left, my 86/92 on the Right.


And here I am looking like I have gas, the chili was good. Bit of a chill, the periodic extra warmth helped. Glad my bike was hidden by his good looker.


For those of you that helped and commented about the tire/chain clearance issue I was having, I have more information. The tire mounted on the wheel is a 190/50, not a 180/55. I looked at the tire several times and kept reading it as 180/50. The difference between looking and seeing. I looked, but I was not seeing what it said. So once I put a 180 on the 5mm should do the trick to clear the chain. The 190 is also a touch too wide for 5.5 wheel and will cause the profile to round out more than it should. This will affect steering as the rear is not in agreement with the front. Hence not neutral. But no longer bad. Ready for WCR.

Oh, look for my other post, non-FJ related for the bike event Mike and I went to after our ride (Rated PG13).

[SkyFive]

Working on the top end now, torqued all the top end bolts and rods, cleaned the cylinder block, set the ring gap .010/.014, installed pistons with buttons and installed cylinder block. It don't sound like much but it took me all day.








I used rubber bands and grease to hold the wrist pin buttons iin place until they were safely in the cylinders.

[FJmonkey]

Working on the top end now, torqued all the top end bolts and rods, cleaned the cylinder block, set the ring gap .010/.014, installed pistons with buttons and installed cylinder block. It don't sound like much but it took me all day.








I used rubber bands and grease to hold the wrist pin buttons iin place until they were safely in the cylinders.

Bute mate, just Fing gorgeous......Can you do the all the bikes in the club like this?

[weymouth399]

WOW look at that machining, who does such nice work.
Looks good so far BD, keep us up on how the rest goes.

Bob W

[SkyFive]

Bute mate, just Fing gorgeous......Can you do the all the bikes in the club like this?

I could but I would have to buy a piston ring compressor.  

WOW look at that machining, who does such nice work. 
Looks good so far BD, keep us up on how the rest goes.

Thanks Bob! I appreciate all of your help more than you know.

[FJmonkey]

air up the back tire to 40psi.
drop the front forks.

face the facts you need a penske shock.

is the old tire squared off.
do you have the 17" front wheel.??

Still have the stock 16" front (new tire), the tire does not look square but I will look closely again, and YES, I badly need a Penske for the rear. I will bump up the pressure to 40 today and see if that changes anything. Then lower the front after that. One change at a time. Thanks.

One change at a time??

You need to get the 17"wheel on the front and it will handle sweet.
I think craig still has a 90 wheel just laying around.

when I upgraded my 86 I did it all in one shot.
penske shock
fzr rear
90 forks and emulators springs
90 front wheel
pilot powers front and rear
blue pot calipers
fjr masters
only cost 2,000 and I had a brand new bike
mine handles very well and neutral in the corners , you can put in the corner and take your hands off and it will hold it until you want it to come up.
You still got time before the rally , if you find the forks , I can get you the 90 wheel cheap. 

No time for the front!!! The rear took twice what I planned and 4x the cost. And I still have the F'ing stock shock. I have most of the front upgrade  including the wheel (88, FZR1000 in my garage) with rotors, Blue dot brakes from Simi_Ed (as soon as he puts his Gold dots on), Ed's 89 forks pending rebuild including cartridge emulators. I am stoked to get 17" up front with better brakes. I am gonna need better horns to tell the Squid MoFos to get OUT of My way!!!!!!!!

[Flynt]

So this machine Marc designed is really, really capable...  rode about 150 miles from SJ, over Mt Hamilton on 130, up into Livermore on Mines Rd, into Sunol on 84, then back to SJ (60-70% VERY twisty with lots of high speed sweepers mixed with some tighter radius stuff).  The whole way I was largely setting the pace for an R6 and a CBR1000...  really fun.  

This ride killed off the Battlax 021 on the front, but what worries me is the way it went.  The side tread looks like my cage tires after a hard day at the track...  the rubber appears to have ground right off the tire.  I really didn't expect this and, although we were leaning pretty aggressively, I suspect the WCR boys will laugh at the pace I can actually achieve (once I catch up of course).  Not sure what to make of it, but this tire went from maybe 40% remaining to zero in 3 hours and I think there must be a better match for my needs.

So my question is...  what tire to try now.  My 021 rear is still very good, so I'm contemplating a new front only or shifting to new F and R in a more abuse ready tire.  I never ride in the rain intentionally, so a summer tire is ok.  I also am not hyper-aggressive, so I don't need the stickiest thing out there.  The tires on the K12S BMW (Pilot Power) have held up to similar thrashing without adverse effect.  I am thinking I will switch to the PP 2CT (same as PP, but harder center tread for longer life on the slab).

So two questions

1.  For others with similar mods (YZF750 USD front with 120/60-17, Thunderace rear with 180/55-17), does this particular setup stress the front tires...  I'm probably going to put a 70 series tire on front this time...  might that help? (OK... that's already two questions)
2.  What other tire brands/models should I consider?  

10 days to WCR  

Frank

[Marsh White]

 I'm probably going to put a 70 series tire on front this time...  might that help? (OK... that's already two questions)
2.  What other tire brands/models should I consider?  
Frank

God YES!  120 70/17  not 60...sounds like a big part of your problem right there.  You seem like a good candidate for the Avon AV55.  That is the best front tire I've had yet - no cupping at all during the life of the tire.

[Flynt]

 I'm probably going to put a 70 series tire on front this time...  might that help? (OK... that's already two questions)
2.  What other tire brands/models should I consider?  
Frank

God YES!  120 70/17  not 60...sounds like a big part of your problem right there.  You seem like a good candidate for the Avon AV55.  That is the best front tire I've had yet - no cupping at all during the life of the tire.

Yea, Marc liked the 60 because it lowers the front even more and gives a really twitchy feel.  Nice turn in (thing wants to fall into a corner and you have to hold it off), but I think the 70s will work better for me.  

I'm reading about Dunlop Roadsmarts and it sounds like potentially a great fit.  I use the FJ for commute and the occasional twisties ride.  The tire shop pretty much nixxed my PP or PP 2CT thoughts (<3000 miles predicted when I showed my 021 wear) and their strong recommendation was for the Dunlops.  Anyone have experience with these tires?

Frank

[Marsh White]

I'm reading about Dunlop Roadsmarts and it sounds like potentially a great fit.  I use the FJ for commute and the occasional twisties ride.  The tire shop pretty much nixxed my PP or PP 2CT thoughts (<3000 miles predicted when I showed my 021 wear) and their strong recommendation was for the Dunlops.  Anyone have experience with these tires?

Frank

Yep - I loved them!  No problems - solid.  They seemed to have a pretty fast warm up time.  Lasted pretty decent too.  I only ran through one pair of them - but I have only praise to say.