Bryan's 1989 FJ1200 rebirth in Poplar Grove, IL

[RPM - Robert]

I’d leave the shield attached to the brackets.  They are held on my rubber plugs that probably aren’t real pliable any more - good chance you’ll break them if you try to remove the shield from the brackets.  

Clean away, they are cheap to replace when they do break

Carb/Heat Shield Grommet/Retainer

[Waiex191]

Thanks Robert!  Those will go on my list if the old ones don't survive.

I got my left caliper apart.  I was having a hard time getting the system bled, and decided to disassemble off the bike using compressed air.  That was exciting.


I cleaned up the pistons with maroon scotch brite.


Scraping gunk out of the grooves.  Then I polished them up with scotch brite.  


Caliper side one ready to accept pistons:


These pistons went in a lot easier than they came out.  Nothing like getting all the gunk out and a little fresh brake fluid.


Here it is back together, except....


I went to find a torque spec for the bridge bolts - the 2 pairs of allens that clamp down on the o-ring between the caliper halves.  My old FSM said to never take them apart.  Hopefully I didn't precipitate the end of the world or anything.  Anybody have a torque spec I can use?

[Waiex191]

The left caliper was the good one.  Here is the right side after I popped it off the bike.


Brake pads out:


I was having a hard time getting these pistons out.  Finally I clamped them down to a hunk of 1/4" steel, onto a piece of inner tube.  I also made a little seal for the air gun out of a piece of inner tube, and punched a hole in the middle.  The inner tube seals the transfer passages and also acts as a cushion when it pops out.  I used the banjo port on one side to introduce the compressed air.  On the other side I removed the bleeder and used that port.


The nice thing about this setup is that both pistons come down, and they only go far enough to bottom on the inner tube.  Generally I got a 1-2 pop as they shot out and were contained.


This got them far enough out that I could clean them off for traction, and twist/wiggle/pull them out.

[Waiex191]

Not a lot of time spent yesterday - but after the family went to bed I went over and cleaned out the grooves.  Caliper halves are all ready for seals.  I've bagged them to keep them clean.

The secret of a project is try and work on it every day - even if just for a little bit.

[fj1289]

“ The secret of a project is try and work on it every day - even if just for a little bit.

Spoken like a man building a plane!  Agreed!

[Waiex191]

Amen!  Tonight I'm headed over to fix the garage step the wife broke today (with her car).  But while the glue dries...

[Waiex191]

My plan was to spend a half hour fixing the step, and 90 minutes working on the bike. Ended up backwards from the plan. Still got the right caliper together. Tomorrow I'll see if I can clean up the forks, mount and bleed the calipers.

[FJ_Hooligan]

If you're planning on putting new seals in, you might want to check eBay for a used set of monoblocks.

You might score better calipers for less than the cost of OEM seals, which are about $100 for 2 calipers worth of seals

[Waiex191]

If you're planning on putting new seals in, you might want to check eBay for a used set of monoblocks.

You might score better calipers for less than the cost of OEM seals, which are about $100 for 2 calipers worth of seals

What are monoblocks?

I'm working on a budget, so for now I'm reusing the seals.  They cleaned up pretty good.  If they aren't working I'll spend the money, but I'd rather spend it on the airplane project.

I don't usually clean my motorcycles.  Mainly I ride and maintain them.  Or used to, as I've not been riding much since my kids were little.  But with everything apart, hard to resist.

Here is my fork before:


Using my favorite solvent (WD40) I got them looking pretty good.


Brake pads back in.  Yep, forgot the spring clip.  It's in there now.


The calipers are mounted.  Tonight I'll attach the banjo fittings and see if I can bleed them.


That gold paint on the calipers will never be the same.  

Also, on my bridge bolts, I torqued them to 20NM.  Seemed like a good value in absence of a spec in the FSM.  

I've been tracking my carbs that Pete mailed me from Ontario.  Looks like they have hit the states finally, so hope to see them soon.  Still have all the other hydraulics to address in the meantime.

[Millietant]

Here you go Bryan,

Monoblocks are the Yamaha "Blue Spot" caliper s from the FZ1, R1, YZF 1000 R Thunderace, R6 - from the late 1990's up to about 2005.

Here's an eBay search based on. 2001-2005 FZ1

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=fz1+brake+caliper+01+05&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=+fz1+brake+caliper

They work with a FJ master cylinder, but work better with a matching FZ1/Thunderace master cylinder.

[Waiex191]

Thanks Dean!  An upgrade to consider someday.  I love my FJ - but the brakes suck especially compared to my buddies Honda and Kawasaki brakes back in the day.  So will those bolt onto my FJ forks?

Also for those who tuned into my last post and didn't see pictures - it was a glitch in the matrix.  They are back.

[Millietant]

Yes, they're a straight bolt-on to your '89. With the matching master cylinder (also cheap enough from eBay) and a set of braided hoses, your brakes will match anything from the early 2000's and are a couple of generations ahead of the original FJ 

[FJ1200W]

Yes, they're a straight bolt-on to your '89. With the matching master cylinder (also cheap enough from eBay) and a set of braided hoses, your brakes will match anything from the early 2000's and are a couple of generations ahead of the original FJ 

I appreciate all the information as well.

My brakes are working fine, but those calipers look so nice, I may have to try them sometime.

[Waiex191]

If my old calipers leak, time to upgrade. Glad I didn't buy seals.

[Waiex191]

It was silly to not check this before, but my master cylinder seems to be seized.