New rider, old bike. =)

[Alexis Wenzel]

Hello friends, good day!
I'm Alex from Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.
Besides being new in Canada I'm a mechanical engineer and I ride for ten years now, but this is my first "vintage" bike. My last one before this FJ was a 2013 Kawasaki 650 and up to now this FJ is surprising me a lot in a positive way.
I bought it a couple of weeks ago, it's a 1985 FJ1100 with only 42.000km.
It does need some work to bring it to its former glory, but she is in really good shape though.
My plans for now is to ride during this summer and start the work of restoration in the winter. Lets see how things go from now on...
=)
Cheers!



Xis

[FJmonkey]

Good intro, welcome...

[Pat Conlon]

Welcome Alexis!

Let us know how we can help you. Lot's of FJ fans up in your neck of the woods

[big r]

Welcome, I live in BC and have an 86. How did you fair with the fire? I know the pain of evacuation as we went through it in 2003. Bike looks to be in real nice shape. like Monkey said there is lots of help here, some really knowledgeable people. If you need parts check with RPM they have just about everything. Big R

[jscgdunn]

Hi Alex,
Welcome!  If you are down our way (Bragg Creek, near Calgary) be sure to le me know.

Jeff

[red]

Hello friends, good day!
I bought it a couple of weeks ago, it's a 1985 FJ1100 with only 42.000km.  It does need some work to bring it to its former glory, but she is in really good shape though.

Alexis,

Good intro, and Welcome to our little madhouse!      The bike looks really good!  What work do you see as needed, on your FJ?

By far the single greatest change I made on my FJ1100 was with the tires.  You do not have many choices in the 16 inch sizes, but I tried Pirelli Sport Demons, and it was like getting a whole new bike, on those tires.  I hear that the Avon radials might be even a tad bit better, but I got a smokin' hot price deal on the Pirellis.      They handle far better than those old Metzlers did, for sure.

Cheers,
Red

[aviationfred]

Welcome to the forum 

Don't be afraid to ask questions...... No matter what you ask, you can just about bet that someone here has seen/done/fixed it.

Fred

[Alexis Wenzel]

Thank you very much for your welcome guys! I'll surely need some help to work on the bike and as far as the doubts come, I'll let you know.


Red, one of the upgrades I was considering for this winter was to change the wheels and brakes and definitely newer model of tires.
I was thinking about disassembly the whole bike and paint it on the original colors again, specially the frame due to some rust spots.
=)

Jeff, I'm probably going to Calgary and the Rocky Mountains on the Canadian day. If I confirm this trip I'll let you know.

Big.R, thanks for your concern man. Indeed things are moving slow here, a lot of stores are still closed and almost half the folks didn't return home yet...but I believe this city will be rebuilt soon enough, better than before.


Quick doubt here: Can I change the brake discs without messing with the brake pads, pistons, liners, etc? Or if I change the discs for a "drilled model" will I need to change the whole brake system?

Thanks once again guys!

Cheers!
Xis

[jscgdunn]

Thank you very much for your welcome guys! I'll surely need some help to work on the bike and as far as the doubts come, I'll let you know.


Red, one of the upgrades I was considering for this winter was to change the wheels and brakes and definitely newer model of tires.
I was thinking about disassembly the whole bike and paint it on the original colors again, specially the frame due to some rust spots.
=)

Jeff, I'm probably going to Calgary and the Rocky Mountains on the Canadian day. If I confirm this trip I'll let you know.

Big.R, thanks for your concern man. Indeed things are moving slow here, a lot of stores are still closed and almost half the folks didn't return home yet...but I believe this city will be rebuilt soon enough, better than before.


Quick doubt here: Can I change the brake discs without messing with the brake pads, pistons, liners, etc? Or if I change the discs for a "drilled model" will I need to change the whole brake system?

Thanks once again guys!

Cheers!
Xis

Hey Alex,
When you stop in I  can show you my FJ mod-madhouse...might even have some parts you might be interested in.

To get the updated brakes you pretty much need to switch to later model wheels.


Jeff

[Tuneforkfreak]

Sometimes I'm amazed at the bikes that show up on here, there are some really clean good looking FJ's floating around. Welcome Alex, very nice introduction.

[red]

Red, one of the upgrades I was considering for this winter was to change the wheels and brakes and definitely newer model of tires.  Cheers!
Xis

Xis,

We call this affliction Moditis, around here.     That is a fast case you have developed, but we do understand.  This happens often, with FJ owners.      

Now personally, I would need to be hugely dissatisfied with the available tires, before I went for larger wheels.  I thought about doing those mods once, a while back, but no longer.  If it were a simple matter of pulling an axle and rolling a new wheel into place, then fine, all you would need then is some money.  As is, though, you will need a fair collection of odd bits, and maybe some machine work, to make it safe and real.  There is enough to do at the front that I might consider an entire front end off a viable donor bike, and toss in tapered roller bearings for the steering head, as well.  The rear wheel will need some crafty work, also.  You may want to replace the clutch and brake lines, as part of the mods.  A good local hydraulics shop can fabricate the new braided lines to order.  I really advise that you make a list of what parts you will need, before you buy the first piece.

It certainly might make a good Winter project, but I would not waste one good riding day on mods, if I could spend that good day riding instead.  Just my 2 cents' worth.

Cheers,
Red

[movenon]

Welcome Alex !  Stay in touch with Jeff over in Bragg he is a wealth of FJ knowledge.  Nice looking bike you have.
George

[Alexis Wenzel]

Thank you very much guys! =)

Jeff and Red, is it possible to change only the rotors to a drilled model?
I'm asking because I need to change the rear rotor anyways, when I hit the brake I can feel the disc punching because of its wear...
If it's not possible, I'll use the original model.

Also, another doubt. I bought those cone air filters for a highest air flow but I'll probably need to buy bigger jets for the carbs, correct?
As far as I know I have the original jets installed. Do you know which jet size should I put in order to get a good air x gas mixture when using those cone air filters?
Remembering that I'm using also those trapp exhausts...

Thanks once again!

Cheers!
Xis

[jscgdunn]

Hi Alex,
Randy does have the rear rotor and it is drilled. 

https://www.rpmracingca.com/proddetail.asp?prod=Brakes%3AERotor&cat=23

I have a good spare used one as well.

The cone filters will not help your performance (except at WOT) and may require re-jetting.  The airbox is more often removed for convenience rather than performance enhancement.  Just changing to 40 pilots and 117.5 mains will help performance somewhat, but clean carbs usually provide all the power you need.  My thoughts.

Jeff

[jscgdunn]

With ST and removed airbox my experience is you will need 117.5 mains and 40 pilots as well as needle adjustment.  Randy has those as well.

Jeff