87 resurrection

[TOaksFJ]

You can see in my profile pic the bike's custom paint and the custom PM wheels, which are 17's ! It also came with a Corbin saddle. I bought it from an estate sale, the owner died and the kids were selling dads many bikes. I wanted to get myself a sport-tourer for commuting as well as weekend getaway machine. I have givi bags and plan on getting the wingrack and fitkit to mount the bags on.

I've always loved the FJ but only owned Hondas up to now. I enjoy a project and I got it cheap enough to justify it even if I found out it hadn't been run since 2008 for good reason. Also, I'm not sure about if I love the paint, feel free to weigh in, but changing it is low on the priority list. I may decide it's so old it's cool again.

So the good news is last weekend I did get it to fire up and idle (with choke on) and it's loud due to the supertrapp pipe he put on it. It spit and sputtered a bit, and smoked a bit, but it really fired quickly and ran okay, Any turn of the throttle killed it so I just let it idle a bit and shut it down. I did that so I didn't go too far into it without knowing if it ran. I didn't throw it into gear because well, read on.

Problems so far...
frozen front calipers.
clutch master and slave shot
battery shot
chain rusty
missing petcock
broken speedo cable

after reading here a bit I decided to get blue dot calipers instead of rebuilding the stock calipers, and then found they don't fit on the 87 forks. So I'm eyeing a pair of 93 forks at a local salvage yard.

gas tank is rust free inside.

I plan on;
1. getting an RPM petcock soon.
2. rebuilding the carbs
3. replacing seals in new forks after I get them and installing the "new" calipers
4. replacing the clutch and slave

so opening questions are;
1. will the 1993 forks mount into my stock triple tree?
2. is the loud supertrapp an indication of inner tuning that would prevent me from adding discs to quiet it down? (stock airbox is still in place)
3. Best carb rebuild kit? should I wait until they are torn down and buy a kit specific to what I see is needed, or should I just get a kit and put in everything that it comes with?

That's all I can think of.
All thoughts, plans of attack, part options, upgrade ideas are welcomed.


Markus
87 unnamed as yet

[FJ1100mjk]

Marcus:

In all honesty, and this is coming from a guy who has resurrected two forgotten FJs, you've got a potential money pit on your hands.

You may want to part out the goodies, and cut you losses where you stand. At minimum, I'd see if others here would donate some things that they have laying around (OEM calipers come to mind), to get it back on the road sooner, before you dive in on a fork swap. I think the front axle is different with larger diameter on a '93 and will impact things. Just an example of a possible gotcha, more money, surprise.

Chain, sprockets?, tires?, carb kits, battery, petcock, ..., will set you back $100s of dollars, not to mention all your time.

If you like a challenge, go for it I say, but you may want to step back and take stock of what you have and are facing first, before throwing your hat in on this project.

A nicer, road-worthy FJ, is out there for a decent price.

Good luck!

[FJmonkey]

so opening questions are;
1. will the 1993 forks mount into my stock triple tree?
2. is the loud supertrapp an indication of inner tuning that would prevent me from adding discs to quiet it down? (stock airbox is still in place)
3. Best carb rebuild kit? should I wait until they are torn down and buy a kit specific to what I see is needed, or should I just get a kit and put in everything that it comes with?

That's all I can think of.
All thoughts, plans of attack, part options, upgrade ideas are welcomed.

Markus
87 unnamed as yet

1. Yes they will fit. You will also need a wheel with rotors. The '89+ wheels will fit (non-ABS), the '88/'89 FZR1000 wheel is a better option if you can find one. The FJ wheel is 3" wide and the FZR is 3.5 wide. A 110 wide tire gives you less options.
2. Take discs out for less noise (more restriction).
3. The best rebuild can be done by Randy and son at RPM, see banner above. They also supply the parts to rebuild it your self. Get the SST fastener kit and loose the JIS screws on the carbs now.

If you restrict the pipe and keep the stock air box then stick with standard jetting other than the pilot jets. Bump them to #40 or #42, the stock #37.5 are too lean. 

Kookaloo!

[TOaksFJ]

So to retain my custom rims I have to stick with the 87 forks because the axel size is different? Which means I also have to live with the 87 calipers, right?

And I do appreciate the advice to sell it off for parts and start anew. It's under consideration...

[FJmonkey]

So to retain my custom rims I have to stick with the 87 forks because the axle size is different? Which means I also have to live with the 87 calipers, right?

And I do appreciate the advice to sell it off for parts and start anew. It's under consideration...

No, you have options and not due to axle size. All years FJ have 15MM axles. You can get adapter plates to fit the Blue/Gold dot calipers. I wish I could get a hold of a set or just one side so I could reverse engineer it. Then I would post up the engineering drawings so any machinist/machine shop could make them. Check here http://www.cycleoneoff.com/Index.html

[ribbert]

Marcus:

In all honesty, and this is coming from a guy who has resurrected two forgotten FJs, you've got a potential money pit on your hands.

You may want to part out the goodies, and cut you losses where you stand. At minimum, I'd see if others here would donate some things that they have laying around (OEM calipers come to mind), to get it back on the road sooner, before you dive in on a fork swap. I think the front axle is different with larger diameter on a '93 and will impact things. Just an example of a possible gotcha, more money, surprise.

Chain, sprockets?, tires?, carb kits, battery, petcock, ..., will set you back $100s  $1000's of dollars, not to mention all your time.

If you like a challenge, go for it I say, but you may want to step back and take stock of what you have and are facing first, before throwing your hat in on this project.

A nicer, road-worthy FJ, is out there for a decent price.

Good luck!

I agree entirely with this.

Unless you have a supply of free parts, can do 100% of the work yourself and the doing is of more interest than the end product, there is no way you can turn a basket case into a nice bike for anywhere near the money you could buy one already already in good shape.

As mentioned, there are plenty of tidy FJ's out there for a reasonable price. However, if the fun is in the project go for it, plenty of help and advice here on the forum.

Noel

[racerrad8]

3. The best rebuild can be done by Randy and son at RPM, see banner above. They also supply the parts to rebuild it your self. Get the SST fastener kit and loose the JIS screws on the carbs now.

TOaksFJ,

Please do not buy aftermarket carb kits, most are "performance kits" where parts are modified when not needed.

We can supply you with everything you need to get your carbs back on track and improve performance without part altering modifications.

Randy - RPM

[TOaksFJ]

Well after doing some thinking about the advice sent, which I know was sent with my sanity in mind,  I decided that I would move forward slowly and see how cheaply I could make the bike run, slowly, down the road, through the gears just to see if there were other issues I couldn't know about except by running it. This a one owner bike with 11k miles...I'm guessing it's a good bike, but to be sure that's my plan. If I learn it's got some unforeseen issue that does make it a basket case, I can resell everything I bought, if not, I have a "young" old FJ.  Plus I get the fun of working on a project that lands me on the road for many miles if it all works out.

The description of "basket case" wasn't accurate, it's far from that, so I looked and found a used petcock on ebay. With with a new o ring, and the donation of a petcock screen from a member here, I'll have solved my petcock problem for $23, and yes I'll safety wire it. I'll install it this weekend after I scrub it's insides clean, and see if it works. Likewise I found front calipers cheap that by combining needed parts with my old calipers and some fresh brake pads, I should have working original brakes on it in another week's time.

I am curious about the 2nd gear issue I've read about, I hope the PO had it sorted if it was an issue.

For now I will leave the fork swap and blue dot conversion in the planning stages, and the get the bike to safe running condition.

simple question...

As I look to lube moving parts, do you have a favorite spray lube that works for locks, cables, linkages...etc? One spray? Or have you found that it really does take many specialty sprays to help and not hurt things?

I read a long thread about NEVER putting wd40 in electrical switches. "Contact cleaner only!"

Curious.
and thanks.
Markus

[balky1]

Be aware that you need two small gaskets for the screws that hold petcock on the tank.
As for lubrication, I use WD 40 or some no-name lube in spray (not the chain lube) for various pivot points like levers, stands, etc. Thicker oil is good for cables and grease for speedometer cable. For bearings and bushes only high quality grease.
Post the link for that WD 40-connector issue if you have it. I'm curious. I always used it in such places.

[TOaksFJ]

Thanks for the tip on the petcock.
Link here!
http://www.goldwingfacts.com/forums/2-goldwing-technical-forum/366596-never-use-wd-40-electrical-connections.html

[ribbert]

As I look to lube moving parts, do you have a favorite spray lube that works for locks, cables, linkages...etc? One spray? Or have you found that it really does take many specialty sprays to help and not hurt things?

I read a long thread about NEVER putting wd40 in electrical switches. "Contact cleaner only!"

Curious.
and thanks.
Markus

Markus, Other than chain lube I can't think of anything that comes in a spray can. Most of the lubes you want are grease and not suitable for spraying, let alone only getting it where you want it.

Opinions will vary greatly on this subject but I use only 2 types of grease for every application on the bike, anti seize in a couple of places, loctite only where the factory used it and can't think of anywhere I use oil.

The only two things I feel strongly about is what goes in locks, use graphite powder in a puffer bottle or special lock lube (in a spray can!)

                                        .............. AND................

WD 40 is NOT a lubricant!!  It has no enduring lubricating qualities. It is a penetrant (and there is better stuff) and is primarily a Water Dispersant (that's what the WD stands for)

Freeing things up is often mistaken for lubricating them.

IMO

Noel

[TOaksFJ]

Hey Ribbert, the 2 types of grease you use? Is that white grease and bearing grease?

FJMonkey-I found these adapter plates for blue dots, through a Vmax site, but I read these should work on the FJ forks as well. $130 for these plates...might a fork swap be a better use of the money?

http://exactrep.com/acatalog/Front-Hanger-Brackets--pair--12B.html#SID=22

[big r]

Those work ok, but all you need is 88 or later forks lowers and you can install blue dots and RPM,s internals for the forks. Big R

[TOaksFJ]

Those work ok, but all you need is 88 or later forks lowers and you can install blue dots and RPM,s internals for the forks. Big R

Yup that's what I thought I'd do. Why not rework the forks and get better suspension and stopping in the same project, right? Thanks Big R

[Pat Conlon]

Good call