FJ1200 1TX from the right side of the pond

[rduraoc]

Hello everyone,

I'm Rui, a recent owner of a 1986 FJ1200 1TX from Portugal. I have been on the lookout for one of these bikes for some time, and last month came across a bike that was in a recently closed Yamaha dealership. The bike was in the owners' private collection, and was restored to pristine condition, using nothing but Yamaha original parts. I bit the bullet, and the bike is now in my garage.

The bad things:
Being a collector's bike, it sat for a number of (unknown) years. Fuel in the tank became varnish, and the tank is full of rust inside. Clutch slave cylinder seals have perished, and it needs a rebuild. Battery seems to have seen very little use, but died of old age. I also suspect the fork seals are gone, but will have to look into that more carefully.

The good things:
Condition: the bike has 50k kms, but was totally restored. I mean nut and bolt. If a bolt is not new, it was newly plated. Frame powder coated to original grey. Swing arm and front suspension cleaned and polished. New (or admirably restored) original mufflers. New chain and sprockets, new tires, new air filter, new oil filter... the oil in the engine was still golden, although I have already changed it.

I have already started the bike with a booster and fuel coming out of a hanging bottle. It spurted a bit, the carbs took a few revs to clear their throat, but it eventually idled well.

I already have a clutch slave cylinder rebuild kit on the way, but have a couple of questions to the knowledgeable forum (I have been reading a lot through here..):

1- I have a ticking sound coming distinctly from the top front left part of the engine. I would say it was the exhaust valves in the #1 cylinder, but I would guess that the collector would have left the valve clearances spot on, in accordance to the state of the rest of the bike. Could the bike need a valve adjustment, having sat for so many years? If not, what would the ticking noise be?

2- I also have a whining sound from the clutch basket (bike in neutral), as if a bearing has failed, or two metal discs are rotating against each other. Is it normal, or is it something that should go away when the bike is used?

3- Having run the bike with no battery, starting with the help of a booster, I get 16,2V in the battery connections cables with bike idling (booster cables already disconnected). Is this a reg/rec problem, or do I need a working battery to measure this reliably?

TIA for any inputs you can give.

P.S. Yes, I have already read the petcock warning. It will be done before the bike is ridden.

[rduraoc]

And because we always like pics, here is one still from the original sale ad:

[Alf]

Hello & welcome!. Good people you find here  

I know very Good Portugal. Excelent place to ride on motorbike!. Great roads, nice people and great meal. I love the thousand of "bacalao" plates. When Im there, all days eat it

If you are interested, we have a Good comunnity of Spanish FJ owners, with our own whatsupp & Telegram chats, and we organize meetings, interchange parts and sell things & bikes between us

About your questions

1- I have a ticking sound coming distinctly from the top front left part of the engine. I would say it was the exhaust valves in the #1 cylinder, but I would guess that the collector would have left the valve clearances spot on, in accordance to the state of the rest of the bike. Could the bike need a valve adjustment, having sat for so many years? If not, what would the ticking noise be?

There is a ticking noise than come from cylinder 3. Its normal. But with a seconhand bike you MUST perform a valve adjustment checking. Dont trust on previous hands

2- I also have a whining sound from the clutch basket (bike in neutral), as if a bearing has failed, or two metal discs are rotating against each other. Is it normal, or is it something that should go away when the bike is used?

It looks like the basket bearing has failed, even althought is not an usual failure. Take advantage of this and perform the clutch trick. The bike improves a lot

3- Having run the bike with no battery, starting with the help of a booster, I get 16,2V in the battery connections cables with bike idling (booster cables already disconnected). Is this a reg/rec problem, or do I need a working battery to measure this reliably?

Opposite from the above, the regulator failure is a common failure. Not expensive to buy a ND regulator and 15 min to fix it

I hope this helps

Cheers

Alf

[Tuned forks]

With regard to number 3, if no battery was connected then the charging system sense wire cannot report a battery voltage charge.  The charging system will go into full charge as you have seen.  For a lower voltage, and before you overheat the alternator, attach a battery with at least 12 volts resting charge.  Then check the charging voltage.

Joe

[rduraoc]

Thank you for the input. The engine only ran for about 2 min, and I was trying to pay attention to too many things at the same time. I'll have to get back to it carefully to properly diagnose everything. Regarding the normal ticking noise from #3, is it the cam chain?

If you are interested, we have a Good comunnity of Spanish FJ owners, with our own whatsupp & Telegram chats, and we organize meetings, interchange parts and sell things & bikes between us.

Yes, I would like to join the WhatsApp community, thank you for the invitation. Please let me know if possible. And thank you also for fj1200.info, I've also read and learned a lot from there.

[Pat Conlon]

Joe is paying attention!  Jelly donut for Joe

[Tuned forks]

Joe is paying attention!  Jelly donut for Joe

I have learned from Obi Wan Conlon. 

Joe

[aviationfred]

Welcome to the forum 

An awesome find and a very nice restored 1200. My recommendation for an upgrade that can be made to look as un-intrusive as possible would be, replace the front brake lines with stainless steel braided lines. You can get then colored black with black fittings. Here is a link for the set that you need. The set says it is for the 1100, but is exactly the same for your 1200. http://rpmracingca.com/proddetail.asp?prod=S-YA0132&cat=39

Riding the bike with 33 year old rubber lines that have sat with 33 year old brake fluid in them sounds down right scary to me. 


Fred

[rduraoc]

Upgrading the brake lines is in the plans, but the ones currently installed are looking quite new - certainly not 33 years old. They were probably changed when the bike was restored, so they should now have an unknown number of years, but little to no use. Brake and suspension fluids will be changed immediately, of course.

[Alf]

Yes, I would like to join the WhatsApp community, thank you for the invitation. Please let me know if possible. And thank you also for fj1200.info, I've also read and learned a lot from there.

Send me a PM with your mobile nº or an email throught my website

[PaulG]

Upgrading the brake lines is in the plans, but the ones currently installed are looking quite new - certainly not 33 years old. They were probably changed when the bike was restored, so they should now have an unknown number of years, but little to no use. Brake and suspension fluids will be changed immediately, of course.

First off what a lucky find. 

Secondly....    Though the brake lines may look pristine on the outside, they have been sitting for many years with the same fluid in them.  Plus you're assuming they are not the 33yr old originals.  All organic fluids (brake, engine oil, fork oil), break down due to bacterial growth. The waste product of this bacteria is usually acidic. This will damage internal components if left unchecked. The interior of the brake lines could be cracked, while the outside looks perfect.  I remember a pic being posted of this on the site, but at the moment can't find it. (at work now).

At the very least, yes do a rebuild before you go on the road.  But if your going to do all that work anyway, I would replace the rubber lines with SS anyhow. It will not detract from the value of the bike.

Also change the fork oil asap.  Don't  be surprised if it's turned to water and smells like shit.  (literally)

Just my 2 cents worth (which is actually worthless because we no longer have pennies in Canada  )

[rduraoc]

Thanks for all the input. Latest work on the bike was to clean the rust inside the tank with muriatic acid (1:5 with water). It did not come out perfect (I should have left the acid inside a bit longer, or use a stronger dilution), so I will have to give another try to perfectly clean the rust in the tank.

I am also trying to fit an inline fuel filter. Yes, I've read the discussion about the fuel filter restraining the performance, but I actually only want to use it for the first half-dozen fuel tanks, so that any muck that may have resisted the cleaning of the tank is captured. However, the filter is quite large, and will not fit underneath the tank.  I will have to extend the original fuel line coming from the carburetors so that the filter can sit somewhere to the left side of the engine. Being gravity (and vacuum, if I understand correctly) fed, I should make sure that the filter stays above the carburetors, am I right? I will add a picture when possible.