What did you do to your bike today?

[Flying Scotsman]

Fixed the clutch and 3rd gear 1990 FJ1200,ordered fork seals.Worked on carbs some but not there yet more work to do to get her running like the 1985 FJ1100.

[FJmonkey]

The WCR scrubbed of the last of what was left of the rear tire (Dunlop D207) that came with the Purple....Er Blue wheel, some females might be reading....I was thinking I had plenty of miles left for the rally, was I really WRONG!!!! We spent more time riding like grandma in the rain than Kookaloooo. In spite of all the rain and delicate riding I ended up with a 1" bald strip in the lean area on both sides. Talk about pucker.....I have begun the weaning process of letting go of my Purpleness. Marsh gave some great advice on Fluffer like stuff (might have been Purple related) that I could not comprehend, then he told me about spray on paint remover. Yesterday I picked up a can and covered the Purple/Blue paint on the rear wheel. Wow, some of the paint bubbled up and went all scrotum like when cold.



The old paint quickly cleaned off the machined part of the wheel but was quite stubborn on the cast side.



This got me thinking about Marsh talking me away from an all White wheel.....Paint over the Purple/Blue with White and leave the machined parts polished Aluminum. Pat would be so proud..... I need to check with San_Dimas Mike to make sure that would not be too TJ......

[Mike 86 in San Dimas]

That plan is OK, just make sure you do both wheels.  Your "Avatar pic" cut off your riding boots
Mike

[Pat Conlon]

I found that more paint stripper with a cordless drill with a 2" wire brush scrubbed off all paint on the pebble textured surface.
Wear long sleeves, gloves and goggles!!  That paint stripper flys around like some nasty caustic snot when the wire wheel gets into the action. Multiple applications may be needed.
You can repaint the pebble textured areas or let them patina to a nice natural grey.

Cheers lads! How many days 'till the next WCR? Who is going to Colorado?

The old paint quickly cleaned off the machined part of the wheel but was quite stubborn on the cast side.



This got me thinking about Marsh talking me away from an all White wheel.....Paint over the Purple/Blue with White and leave the machined parts polished Aluminum. Pat would be so proud..... I need to check with San_Dimas Mike to make sure that would not be too TJ......

[FJmonkey]

That plan is OK, just make sure you do both wheels.  Your "Avatar pic" cut off your riding boots
Mike

Not only are my "Moon" riding boots cropped but I chose a picture with my bike, sans the Purple wheel. I am guessing there are more rally pics and movies yet to be posted. Like LA Mike doing the blip test in the grass and in gear. 

[fb747]

Recently,

Pulled the fairing off and replaced dash globes and cleaned/did a bit of a tidy up in there

Installed the 17" x 5.5" rear wheel which came with a swingarm that was in better nick, so I pulled the old rear end off and put in the nicely greased new rear end. The tyre was shot so I invested in a set of pilot road 3's.

Brake setup



Afam 41T sprocket


I dont like the gearing on the new setup. It sits at about 4000 rpm at 100kmh in 5th ie. when cruising on the expressway. I would like to bring it down to about 3000 - 3500 rpm but want to keep the nice new rear sprocket. Any suggestions on how many teeth I should run up front?

I also replaced the rear indicators with a slightly more subtle option.


I am in the process of chopping half a ton of plastic of my rear mudguard as my bike was blessed with the ugly long european(?) style guard.

While i've got your attention how do I find out the build date/year of my bike for certain?

[Harvy]

I dont like the gearing on the new setup. It sits at about 4000 rpm at 100kmh in 5th ie. when cruising on the expressway. I would like to bring it down to about 3000 - 3500 rpm but want to keep the nice new rear sprocket. Any suggestions on how many teeth I should run up front?

Mate, I doubt you can get the revs down that low.
I run 18/38 and see around 120KPH at 4000 rpm with 5.5x17 rear wheel.

You are restricted in front sprocket size by clearance issues. 17 and 18 tooth sprockets are the best for clearance of the sprocket cover. 19 teeth has been mentioned in the past, but things will be pretty tight.

The 10th character of the VIN number will give you the model year (L='90, M='91), but I don't know where you find the build month/year.


Harvy

[carsick]

When you had the fairing off, you could have seen the sticker on the frame rail above the oil cooler. Has build date and VIN but model year is left up to your imagination. It might be possible to view it if you use a small focused flashlight and look above the cooler with a mirror, or down by the ignition key. Ridiculously hard to see with the fairing on though. Nice looking mod, tell us more about it unless I missed the description already. 18 tooth front will help the RPM, largest that fits to my knowledge without hacking, should work with a 41 rear and stock length chain, looks like you have room on your adjusters to go forward.  

[fb747]

I've checked all stickers and plates but it still isn't clear.

Whats this lettering system?

I can assume it's either an 88 or 89 but I need to know for sure if I'm to bring the bike back to oz down the road.

I forgot to show off my new cooler.


To be honest I bought the rear wheel already set up in the swingarm and it was a case of out with the old and in with the new.
From what I can tell it's an FZR wheel as it has a yamaha stamp.


The hanger I am not sure on but it does allow the use of the stock brake arm as you can see. The brakes themselves are smaller in caliper and rotor than standard items, the upside (I think) is the slotted rotor.
The brakes work quite well but have lost a little "feel", I don't use rear brakes often anyways.

It was a straight forward swap with the added bonus of the braided line and it was great to be able to choose a nice set of tyres instead of bias rubbish.
I've only just scrubbed them in and will take the bike into the twisty stuff on the weekend. After which I can report on awesomeness.

[Harvy]

How to read a VIN....
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_i_decode_a_Yamaha_vin_number

Harvy

[fb747]

Thanks for that Harvey, i'll attempt to make sense out of that and try and decipher what year my bike is. I'm pretty sure it's an 89 but I'm just looking for clarification in case the build date was in 88. In that case I can take the bike to oz without the need for a compliance plate.

In other news I completed the tail end of my bike then took it out for a spin, I managed to replicate the pic in the top right hand corner of this page. 

My evil plan is all starting to come together.

[FJmonkey]

I painted over the Purple/Periwinkle yesterday. I masked off the machined part of the wheel that Marsh said was there. I thought I might be the Anti-Marsh with my wheels and go to the Light side (Yoda would be so proud of me). His are very dark (Black/Blue) with the machined aluminum exposed. I like the look. It is just on the rear. Here are a few pics.

Still dirty from WCR, but sporting a new Dunlop Q2 skin.


Other side


Close up, new right angle valve stem.

[Dan Filetti]

The White looks good on the FJ.  I have solid white wheels on the Gixxer.  One thing to note, they are a real pain to keep clean, especially the back.

Good luck with that, maybe just the middle part will make that less of a chore?

Dan

[FJmonkey]

The White looks good on the FJ.  I have solid white wheels on the Gixxer.  One thing to note, they are a real pain to keep clean, especially the back.
Good luck with that, maybe just the middle part will make that less of a chore?
Dan

I really like the all White look as well, I need to invent White paint with Teflon so I can just spray on wheel cleaner and hose off for a brilliant look. It is just a rattle can job till I figure out if I like the White/Aluminum look. I like it right now, but it is also new and that has some thrill....The fresh Q2 rubber is also thrilling......

[Dan Filetti]

The fresh Q2 rubber is also thrilling......

Nothing like a new set of shoes. 

Dan