My first year with the FJ

[TJ]

Hello,

this is my first thread in this forum, so I'll use it to introduce my FJ as well as myself.
I'm Thorsten J. (hence TJ) a guy just a few years older than his FJ.
I live in the west of germany (around Aachen) and ride motorcycles since approx. 10 years.
After crashing my first bike (a Honda CB600F PC36) the second time, repairing wasn't worth it anymore.
So I sold it and treated myself a Yamaha FJ1200 3YA (ABS version).
That was about 1.5 years ago, in december 2017.
I chose the FJ for a couple of reasons:

• its reputation of having a bulletproof engine
• the fact that my new bike should be easier to work on
• FJs are kinda cheap by now
• I needed more comfort on longer autobahn rides

Since I bought my FJ from a dealer with somewhat of a warranty (70% discount on any repairs during the first 6 months),
I assumed that she shouldn't have any major problems. Also the dealer assured that he recently replaced:

• air filter
• engine oil
• spark plugs
• clutch

I visually checked the color of the oil and the cleanliness of spark plugs 1 & 4 and felt to be on the safe side regarding his assurance. And after a couple of other checks (fork seals, wheel alignment, etc.) I bought her
But as always that feeling that's a safe buy turned out to be wrong, more on this later -.-

After having her home, to avoid another total loss in case I'd lay her down, first thing I did was installing engine bars from Renntec UK.

Turned out to be a wise decision as I experienced how heavy this bike is just two days later in a parking lot.
Layed her on the side reeeeally geeently and scratched nothing but the engine bar and oem frame slider

A few weeks and occasional rides later (remember it was winter) I removed the rear-mirror-widening-plastic-bits.
I found that I'd see more in the mirrors without them.

Another few weeks later summer and riding season began
On the first longer rides I tested her on all kings of road:

• small city streets => surprisingly agil ✓
• hilly roads in the eifel => effortless ✓
• autobahn => comfy even at higher speeds ✓

But... on the autobahn the highest speed I could convince her to do was 185km/h...
An FJ should do more than 200, right?! Even my 600cc naked Honda did more than 200
Called the dealer I bought the FJ from and got the answer: "It's an old lady, she just can't go that fast anymore. I's normal."
Took her to a dealer/mechanic (one that I trust). Let him do a test ride. His assumption: "The clutch is slipping. But just a little bit."
Ok, no biggy, got new friction and steel plates installed as well as new engine oil.
With the presumably new "new" clutch and after checking the registration certificate (98 horsepower, 220km/h vmax)
I took her to the autobahn once more. She did 215km/h which seemd legit.
Lesson leared: Don't trust the dealer who is selling you something.

As a consequence of this lesson I checked everything the dealer assured me: beginning with the air filter

This was the already blown out filter (used compressed air)... I replaced it with a new K&N one

The spark plugs. They had electrodes waaay too thin. Replaced 'em.
Also replaced:

• fuel filter
• oil filter (installed a spin-on adapter from Ze-Tec )
• engine oil (just in case the dealer used synthetic)

Aaaand ... Two months later I started to notice the same problems as before.
This time I did some research myself, found the fjowners forum and a couple possible causes.
Decided to check the easy ones first, so I rebuilt the clutch slave cylinder.
What a brilliant idea, it was rusted, the spring was weak and there was a tiny tiny leak which already stripped some paint.
Having the clutch line drained I used the opportunity to install a new, steel-braided clutch line

While bleeding the new clutch line, I also bled all brake lines. Another thing the dealer (of course) hadn't done
Result was veery smooth lever actuation and unfortunately a still slipping clutch -.-
Well, then it was time to check the clutch itself. Did another search in the forum and found Pat Conlons great post about clutch slippage:
http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=1808.msg14307#msg14307
Just like Pat suggested I got a new gasket, put her on the sidestand to not spill any oil, pulled the clutch apart and checked steel plates:

• thickness within specifications ✓
• not warped ✓

Then the friction plates:

• thickness within specification ✓
• thickness already half way down again ✓

Finally the clutch spring:

• height within specifications ✓
• not warped ✓
• EBC spring that measured to be too weak ✓

Assembled the clutch for the moment. Gasket did not need replacement this time!
Then I ordered an original Yamaha FJR1300 spring and waited for delivery.

As soon as the new spring arrived I removed the clutch cover again, gasket still remained usable,
pessimistic Pat... why have I bought a new gasket
Installed the new spring on top of the weak old EBC one as suggested.


Pulled the lever and concluded that the lever pull was okay (thank you guitar for giving me grip strenght! )
Put the cover back on, the FJ on the center stand and started her up in neutral.
Everything seemed to be fine. Dropped in 1st gear, engine died. Ok, that's strange.
Again: Neutral, start her, this time drop in 2nd, engine died... ... panicked ...
Put her on side stand again, opened the clutch cover again and this time tore the gasket
(well ook, thanks Pat for the advice of having a fresh gasket at hand ).
Double checked everything and found nothing Put the cover back on, mentally ready to call a mechanic.
But decided to give her one last chance: Put her on the centerstand, put the sidestand up . . . wait
oh bloody the sidestand don't tell me it was down during the first try.
And yeah, this time I could engage gears without killing the engine (quelle surprise).
Did a test ride and was really happy about acceleration and vmax
Also took her to the mechanic in which I trust to have valve clearence checked and the carbs synced.
Lesson learned: REALLY, DONT TRUST THE DEALER WHO IS SELLING YOU SOMETHING!

During all this wrenching I however stumbled upon a couple rusty dots and nicks and some other minor inconveniences.
And now that she was running fine I chose to eliminate them:
Removed rust on the subframe and applied some black Volkswagen paint I had laying around.


Replaced the speedo cable as one could already see the inner cable through a hole in the sheath.
Also replaced all instrument bulbs as I needed access to the instrument cluster for the speedo cable anyway.

Here are the old bulbs:

3 of them were broken and one was completely missing

Whilst in there replaced the headlight bulb with a new Philipps one too.

Another thing I discovered while removing the fairing: some screws needed replacement badly.

Replaced all of them with v2a allen head bolts.

Finally I repaired some cracks in the fairings using paperclips and a soldering iron.
Then put everything back together.
Lesson learned: Working on older bikes is indeed easier but MANDATORY

And there you have it. Since then I'm really happy with my FJ and I hope I'll spend more time riding than wrenching this year. Already did double the mileage of last year by now

[TexasDave]

Welcome to the forum TJ.
Good looking bike. Nice to have a member who appreciates and understands owning a FJ. You have a good working knowledge of maintaining one of these old but great bikes.

Ride safe
Dave

[Tuned forks]

Thorsten, that's one of the best introductions I've ever read.  A great story and so many of us had to perform similar repairs to our inexpensive FJ's after riding them a bit.  You probably feel closer to your motorcycle now than before.  You know it's internal bits and how much fasteners are tightened to.  Ride on buddy and I envy your autobahns.

Joe

[TJ]

Glad to hear that!

And yes, I now feel somewhat related to this bike.
At least more than to my old one 

[aviationfred]

Welcome to the forum 

Great introduction and story on getting your new to you FJ into proper running order. I did see where you mentioned the Horse power rating. It appears that you have a restricted HP model. With some changing of parts, you can get the full 130 HP at the crank.

Fred

[ZOA NOM]

It's a story as old as the hills... Welcome aboard, TJ.

[PaulG]

I chose the FJ for a couple of reasons:
its reputation of having a bulletproof engine
the fact that my new bike should be easier to work on
FJs are kinda cheap by now
I needed more comfort on longer autobahn rides 

Funny, exactly my reasons also...

Lesson leared: Don't trust the dealer who is selling you something. 

What? You don't say!    Must be an international conspiracy no doubt!   

Lesson learned: Working on older bikes is indeed easier but MANDATORY

That's one of the few things that winter is good for. 

Despite what you may think was a disappointing beginning, your issues were not so bad as things go.  Its weird how someone is willing to lose business just because they can be a dick. And it seems to be endemic across cultures and  geography. (Except RPM!! Click the banner at the top and start shopping)

A couple of tips - if you haven't checked already:

Open a fork cap and check the condition of the fork oil. Often overlooked by PO,s.

If she tends to wander in the longer sweeping corners, you may want to inspect the swingarm and suspension linkage bearings. I had to replace all of mine and made a huge difference. If you do, try and find aftermarket ones, as the OEMs are very expensive. Something for next winter.

Also get a fork brace (RPMs is A-1) - you'll save the fender mounting tabs from breaking.

Also.... okay okay, enough for now.

Oh yeah Willkommen!

[FJmonkey]

Welcome TJ, very nice intro.

[Pat Conlon]

Welcome TJ. Great intro.

The members here on this forum have a collective knowledge which far, far surpasses any dealer.
True, there are some folks that who for what ever reason, can't work on their bikes themselves, but they can always get advice on what should be done. At least They are not at the total mercy of some pimple faced kid at the dealer's service counter who has no clue how a CV36 Mikuni carburetor operates.

You would be surprised at the number of dealers who's service departments don't work on bikes with carbs.

Thanks for the intro!

[1tinindian]

Welcome. You're going to love it here!

[Troyskie]

Welcome TJ, very nice bike and fantastic that you've joined the FJ world. This bike was literally designed for the Autobahn!

Although I'm in Australia I visit family in the Ruhr fairly regularly. I'll be over in July & perhaps we can meet for an FJ chat and beer?

Troyskie

[TJ]

Thanks you all for the hearty welcome!

@Troyskie might be possible, depends on the date. Just send me a PN