16 inch tires are getting hard to find!

[Alf]

There are also Gold dots and Silver dots. Very minor differences with the Blue dots.

Hi, Fred

In Tenerife, with great use and abuse of the brakes, the gold dots are vastly superior to the blue dots. I upgraded to gold dots merely for a aesthetic question and I was surprised for the great difference

[Pat Conlon]

Alf, I've heard the pistons are lighter in the Gold dots....are there any other differences? The monoblock bodies looks the same.

[whyzee79]

Ok, I'm a little confused as to the blue dots/spots.  I have them on my bike and still have the 16" front tire.  Was this conversion not done right?  They work good for the era of bike that they are on. 

[Old Rider]

Ok, I'm a little confused as to the blue dots/spots.  I have them on my bike and still have the 16" front tire.  Was this conversion not done right?  They work good for the era of bike that they are on. 

What forks do you have is it the antidive version ?and if wich brakerotors du you use?

[Pat Conlon]

Yamaha monoblock blue/gold/silver spot calipers can be used on the early '84-87 FJ antidive forks, but you need adaptor plates to mount them.



However, by the time you factor in the price of these adaptor plates (if you can find them: UK eBay) and the cost of the anti dive block off plates, you will be money ahead with just buying some '89-'93 fork lowers.

But wait, there's more...with the late model FJ fork lowers you can also run the 17" rim.

[Old Rider]

I know about the adaptor for the bluespots.I was wondering if whyzee79 mayby had bluespots fitted on antidiveforks with some other brakerotors.
For me it is wrong to change the forks and uppgrade to a 17 wheel on the 86 -87 bikes.I think it ruins the orginal  look and feel of the bike.
Dont get me wrong i fully respect and understand people that like the modifications, but for me it wrong.
Then i rather buy a 88 or newer model, but i dont think they look as good as the fj 1100 84-85 and the fj1200 86-87.
I often hear  complains about the brakes og the earlier bikes, i know some got a pulsating and spongy feel when braking .I think the a bit of the reason for this is because of the brakehoses ,air or mayby some warped disks, but the main reason i think is that the antidive is seized not working .On my bike i have orginal calippers with drilled brakerotors and steelbraided brakelines.I have no trouble locking up frontwheel with 2 fingers and no spongy feel when braking ( infact i once crashed into the side of a drunkdriver in a pickuptruck who came right into the main road from a sideroad fast. I had no chance to avoid him and panicbreaked locking my frontwheel causing me to crash )Not that panic breaking is good but it shows that the brakes is biting good.That bike a 1100 dident even have steelbraided hoses .Iv had spongy feeling but that time it was because of seized antidive .when i fixed my seized antidive it did go away and the brakehandle got much more firm.By the way the andtidive can easyly be fixed.

[balky1]

I know about the adaptor for the bluespots.I was wondering if whyzee79 mayby had bluespots fitted on antidiveforks with some other brakerotors.
For me it is wrong to change the forks and uppgrade to a 17 wheel on the 86 -87 bikes.I think it ruins the orginal  look and feel of the bike.
I understand people that do the modifications, but for me it wrong.
Then i rather buy a 88 or newer model, but i dont think they look as good as the fj 1100 84-85 and the fj1200 86-87.
I often hear  complains about the brakes og the earlier bikes, i know some got a pulsating and spongy feel when braking .I think the a bit of the reason for this is because of the brakehoses and mayby some warped disks, but the main reason i think is that the antidive is seized not working .On my bike i have orginal calippers with drilled brakerotors and steelbraided brakelines.I have no trouble locking up frontwheel with 2 fingers and no spongy feel when braking ( infact i once crashed into the side of a pickuptruck who came right into the main road from a sideroad fast. I had no chance to avoid him and panicbreaked locking my frontwheel causing me to crash )That bike a 1100 dident even have steelbraided hoses .I had spongy feeling but then it was because of seized antidive .when i fixed my seized antidive it did go away and the brakehandle got much more firm.The andtidive can easyly be fixed.

Can you put some step-by-step instructions in another thread for anti-dive fixing?

[Old Rider]

On mine i first took off the topunit on the antdives keeping the brakehose on..  The piston in the lower part was sized in down position there also was rust and dirt under the rubberseal and on the lockring.
On the upper part of the antidive the pin that pushes down the piston when breaking was also not moving freely and was hard to push in.
What ive done is:First i  removed the dustrubberseal on the top of the lower part. This rubbersael is glued and is hard to take off without damaging it.I had never rubberseal from another set of forks that i had that i used to replace them with.If u damage the rubberseal you can also use some rtv silicone paste .
I then used lots of wd-40 on the piston and knocking lightly on the outside of the lower antidiveunit to free up the piston.
Then i drove the bike slowly with the top of the antidive units off  (Taped to outside of forks ) and braked hard several times. After a while the pistons popped up .I now was able to push them down with my thumb and lubed them more with wd-40.Then i removed the rusty lockring and used a plier to lift and push down the piston untill it slide easy. I removed the rust on the lockring with a dremel and lubed everything.
On the topunit i used wd-40 on the pushpin and used brakehandle to push them out then pushed them back in with thumb .Did this several times to free them up.
The pistons on both on upper and lower units must run easy when pushing with your thumb.The lower pistons should pop right up again when you push them down .There is a spring under them but its weak.
The topunit pushpins should be easy to push in with you thumb and go easy out again when pushing brakehandle.I know i read somwhere that you can not use
any oil like wd 40 innside the unit but has worked fine on mine.
Remeber to bleed brakes when finished. i also recomend from time to time taking off the top of the antidives and spray wd-40 innside so they dont size again.

[balky1]

On mine i first took off the topunit on the antdives keeping the brakehose on..  The piston in the lower part was sized in down position there also was rust and dirt under the rubberseal and on the lockring.
On the upper part of the antidive the pin that pushes down the piston when breaking was also not moving freely and was hard to push in.
What ive done is:First i  removed the dustrubberseal on the top of the lower part. This rubbersael is glued and is hard to take off without damaging it.I had never rubberseal from another set of forks that i had that i used to replace them with.If u damage the rubberseal you can also use some rtv silicone paste .
I then used lots of wd-40 on the piston and knocking lightly on the outside of the lower antidiveunit to free up the piston.
Then i drove the bike slowly with the top of the antidive units off  (Taped to outside of forks ) and braked hard several times. After a while the pistons popped up .I now was able to push them down with my thumb and lubed them more with wd-40.Then i removed the rusty lockring and used a plier to lift and push down the piston untill it slide easy. I removed the rust on the lockring with a dremel and lubed everything.
On the topunit i used wd-40 on the pushpin and used brakehandle to push them out then pushed them back in with thumb .Did this several times to free them up.
The pistons on both on upper and lower units must run easy when pushing with your thumb.The lower pistons should pop right up again when you push them down .There is a spring under them but its weak.
The topunit pushpins should be easy to push in with you thumb and go easy out again when pushing brakehandle.I know i read somwhere that you can not use
any oil like wd 40 innside the unit but has worked fine on mine.
Remeber to bleed brakes when finished. i also recomend from time to time taking off the top of the antidives and spray wd-40 innside so they dont size again.

[FJ_Hooligan]

"The best you've ridden is the best you know."

Upgrading to a 17 inch front wheel on my '85 remains the single most amazing change I have made on my FJ.  It absolutely transformed the handling characteristics.  If I was allowed only one mod, the wheel upgrade would definitely be it.  Using parts from an '89 FJ, the original look is retained.  As far as the "feel" it is night and day for the better.

The anti-dive is crap.  Drill the damper rod and be done with it.

[moparman70]

No one uses Metzeler Lasertecs?

i used to and would again for the FJ -- I recently did purchase front and rear for my 84 Ninja -- Metzeler Lasers --- they work well IMO

[moparman70]

No one uses Metzeler Lasertecs?

ive use them now, not wery good but cheap they are for sure
as non radials, wont wear, pretty odd riding feel, rear woud make
odd jumps in cornering, always had to be aware in wet conditions.

btv.compound at tire is wery hard..
hope helps.

Not sure I agree with the above -- I only put Metzelers on my 86 back in the day and thought they were a great wet tire Me99 rear which if memory serves changed to Me55 ( tread did change) --- Me 33 front -- dont quote me --- they stopped them for awhile a few years back when the radials came into play so I went AVon --- but like I said in my other post bought for Ninja as it suffers from the same problem tire size

I would go with the Metzelers -- our bikes were made in the era anyways if you think about it

[whyzee79]

I have the original anti dive units installed and no adapter to the brake caliper.  It is running the blue dot ones and the brake feel is pretty good for the vintage of bike so I suspect the rotor was then changed out too.  It looks factory stock and maybe came off an early FZ unit.  Not sure since the owner has passed away.  Brakes are not spongey at all.  They are also not wooden block feeling so I am happy with the performance as of now.  I plan on doing the stainless line upgrade.  Thanks everyone for the info.

[FeralRdr]

I have the original anti dive units installed and no adapter to the brake caliper.  It is running the blue dot ones and the brake feel is pretty good for the vintage of bike so I suspect the rotor was then changed out too.  It looks factory stock and maybe came off an early FZ unit.  Not sure since the owner has passed away.  Brakes are not spongey at all.  They are also not wooden block feeling so I am happy with the performance as of now.  I plan on doing the stainless line upgrade.  Thanks everyone for the info.

If I might suggest, picts of your setup would be very helpful.  It would at least let us see how the "Blue Dots" were attached. 

On a side note, I ran many sets of Metzler Lasertecs on my FJ before switching to the Avon Azaros.  I found the Lasertecs to be great tires in both dry and wet conditions.  However, I should add the caveat that I typically never "pushed it" in wet conditions.  They do typically cost more than the Pirelli Sport Demons, or the Avon Azros (when they were available), however, they also usually last longer than either the Pirelli's or Avon's (greater mileage). 

[whyzee79]

I'm not good with pix.  I looked today and the upper bolt mount has a triangle shaped adapter and the lower bolt is in the stock hole.