70,000 mile FJ - From "Stock" to "Not"

[1fasteffjay]

Hello all! I have owned my first FJ (1986 ambulance) for about a month now and I finally got to tear into it this afternoon... I have a '90 Front end along with the 3.5" FZR rim coming later this week from my good friend named Fred. I also have a CBR F4i shock coming that I scored for $20 on good 'ol eBay. Thanks to my pops (dad's fj) he made an awesome write-up about 4 years ago discussing the conversion to a great(er) shock! GSXR 750 5.5" rim to come eventually along with Blue (or Gold) dots for my front end. Today included taking off the fairings and pulling the carbs. For maintenance I will be rebuilding the carbs, syncing carbs, adjusting valves, replacing valve cover gasket (o rings), fixing my tachometer which likes to bounce intermittently and a whole lot of other nifty stuff!     Did I mention the owner before me purchased this puppy brand spanking new in '86? He wrote all of the oil changes he did to it up to about 2006 when he must have stopped riding it. (He passed away in 2012 and it is now my turn to keep the beast) Some pictures below to keep all of you entertained...  

[Country Joe]

 

[Tor-King]

Nice job, Jamie! 

PM sent.

Dean

[1fasteffjay]

Woohoo! I love new (used) parts!

[Alexis Wenzel]

Wow! Awesome man! I'll be reading this while you update us! Don't forget the pictures! =D

[Pat Conlon]

The stock CBR600F4i shock spring is too light (14.2kg/mm) for our heavy FJ's
http://www.racetech.com/ProductSearch/2/Honda/CBR600F4i/2001-06

Convert 14.2kg/mm x 55.997 = 795 lbs/inch.
Light FJ shock springs (solo rider) are in the 1000 lb range, FJ shock springs for passenger+ luggage are in the 1100-1200 lb range.

Are you considering going to a heavier spring?

[Dads_FJ]

The stock CBR600F4i shock spring is too light (14.2kg/mm) for our heavy FJ's
http://www.racetech.com/ProductSearch/2/Honda/CBR600F4i/2001-06

Convert 14.2kg/mm x 55.997 = 795 lbs/inch.
Light FJ shock springs (solo rider) are in the 1000 lb range, FJ shock springs for passenger+ luggage are in the 1100-1200 lb range.

Are you considering going to a heavier spring?

I believe he's going with what worked on my bike which was a stock F4i shock/spring.  It's LOADS better (no pun intended) than the spent 30 year old stock shock.  I also doubt he'll use the FJ for 2up and/or luggage, at least that's my understanding. 

[1fasteffjay]

Howdy Pat!  Thanks for mentioning that. I have read that the f4i shock was a lighter spring rate. For now I will be putting the f4i shock in as-is considering the drastic improvement over the stock fj shock. For the future I will eventually go to a heavier spring. For now I think it will be OK as I am an average weight (170lbs) and not 200+ lbs. Plus I have ridden my dad's and I thought it felt fantastic.

Cheers!
Jamie

[Pat Conlon]

Hey Jamie (Hi John) no worries. Try it out. No doubt, the Honda F4i shock will definitely be an improvement over the oem Yamaha shock.

The oem Yamaha FJ shock was weak the day it left the assembly line.

[giantkiller]

I  did a respring on my Honda shock. It's been awhile. If I remember I got an almost new. (Looked mint. Guy said he took it off right after he got the bike to put aftermarket). Shock, eibach 900lb spring (Honda guys said that was as heavy as you can go with stock valving) spring tools,and spacer. For $160. Still alittle light for my 260lbs. But my superbike racing neighbor. Said that he took It through the corner he used to check the suspension on his gsxr 1000. Has stutter bumps. And it worked great. He is a lot lighter than me. Also has the 2008 gsxr1000 front end on it. But he also said it turns in better than his gsxr.

[1fasteffjay]

Good to hear Dan. If it comes to that point I will either respring or try a different shock. How is the riding over in Wisconsin now-a-days?

Update on fj: dropped exhaust, cleaned up bike, ready to pull valve cover. Yoshimura slip-ons showed up! Also got some loaded r6 calipers on the way!

[giantkiller]

Been working every day. Riding to work @ 06:10 and coming home after 19:00... dark and cool.

[1fasteffjay]

Fun fun


Working hard on my shiny new headers 

[1fasteffjay]

My fzr/fj front end just showed up! I want to thank Randy R. for letting this front end that Fred was selling go to me (Randy was the first to respond to the for-sale post) Everything was very well wrapped and unscathed, thanks Fred! It is going to be awesome!!!

Also nice work on the front rim, silver with red lettering is going to be PERFECT for my 86 color combo!

[Country Joe]

Jamie,
Just thought that I'd mention that the forks that you bought from Fred got new OEM bushings and seals about 6,000 miles ago. You should be good to go from that perspective.
Joe