my Portuguese lady '84 FJ 1100

[Pat Conlon]

Get thee an Owner's Handbook, a lot of good stuff is inside, down load it for free:
http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=3483.0

It looks like they only have FJR 1300 manuals there now.  They must have run out of the older ones.

I should still have my original '89 manual - I'll have to look.

Sorry about that, I didn't check before I posted..... they deleted all the FJ manuals.
Here's another site for you: http://mybikemanuals.com/yamaha/yamaha-fj-owners-manuals/
For your '84, use the '85 owners manual ....84/85's are the same 1st generation FJ's.    Cheers. Pat

[FeralJuggernaut]

Your tank bag looks like the magnetic kind.   Keep an eye on your gas cap with the key cover.   That key cover could look for a new adventure stuck to the bottom of your tank bag.   Hopefully your experience is better than mine regarding that cover!      

Cheers!

Safety Fast,
Erich

[Millietant]

I stopped using tank bags with magnets in the base section many years ago Erich - all the ones I use now, have the magnets in the side flaps, so there's no magnet anywhere near the gas cap - I think Vertigo's tank bag is the same, with magnets in the flaps that stick to the sides of the tank rather than the top   

[vitorino]

FeralJuggernaut + Millietant: exactly - it only has magnets on the side flaps, not in the base of the bag

my surprise is that even without using the extra straps and with a heavy load the magnets hold up pretty strong... so for me (until now) it's been a good purchase

regards

[ribbert]

.... I'm always looking for sixth gear.

This sentiment is never far away.

Owners claiming they're still looking for 6th gear after many years of ownership, I don't believe it, I think it's bit of a throwaway line (IMO).

However, for those that insist FJ's need that extra cog, it comes at a cost. It would be lovely if they just tacked another gear on top of the FJ 5 speed. It has tons of power to pull it and would deliver those elusive lower "cruisey" rpm's at highway speeds. I agree, no downside to that, but that's not how they build 6 speed boxes. As Chris pointed out, the FJ 5 speed has a wider spread than the Busa 6 speed.

I have another bike, a 1200 with similar power, similar torque and similar cruising revs and I love it, well, most of it. One of the things I don't like about it is the close ratio box, the gears are simply too close together, especially considering it has bucket loads of power and doesn't need it.  It has a much higher 1st and cruising revs in top are the same as the FJ but has 6 ratios jammed in between, too many gears too close together. The gap from 5th to 6th at 100 kph is only 350 rpm. I find if the gear I'm in isn't enough, I need to change down two gears, because just one is too close to the one that wasn't enough, this is typical of most 6 speeds.

More is not always better. We have a member here who, alongside his shed full of beautiful FJ's has two FJR's, a 5 speed and a 6 speed. He says the 5 speed is by far the better bike to ride because of the gearing. Having ridden both, I agree entirely.

As is always mentioned when this topic comes up, it's easy to drop the rpm a bit with gearing and the FJ has plenty of power to pull it, true. I have 18/41 because I thought the bike would benefit from slightly longer legs, but I could definitely feel the sting taken out of the acceleration, perhaps a tad more than I expected. Not that it really matters, the FJ has plenty of power for everyday road use. There aren't too many roads where you are constantly up shifting at 9k, alternating full brakes and WOT and actually need that extra whisker of grunt. Ha, if you find such a place, let me know!

IMO

Noel

[Firehawk068]

Your tank bag looks like the magnetic kind.   Keep an eye on your gas cap with the key cover.   That key cover could look for a new adventure stuck to the bottom of your tank bag.   Hopefully your experience is better than mine regarding that cover!      

Cheers!

Safety Fast,
Erich

Erich!
How/Where the hell have you been?
Good to see you are still around 

[Millietant]

I found the place Noel.......it's called the "Nurburgring Nordschleife" - pure motorcycle heaven on a quiet, warm, sunny, summer Thursday/Friday evening, when there aren't many foreign (non-German) riders/drivers around 

[ribbert]

I found the place Noel.......it's called the "Nurburgring Nordschleife" ......

Yep, that'll do Dean. You are a lucky man to have ridden it many times, I'm sure it's at the top of many riders bucket list. I would love to ride it but it's a 32,000 km round trip from my house and I'd need some serious wet weather gear to get there.

This a great watch. 72 year old bloke forced to give up riding due to a host of health problems, goes for one last fang on the Nurburgring on a V4 Ducati. I would love to think if I was in his position that I could treat my health woes with such contempt and see off my riding days with such a swan song.

https://youtu.be/jZsrnHUVLJ8

...watch till the end.

Noel

*Spell Check wants to change "Nurburgring" to "Buggering" (seriously).... a number of Honda jokes immediately came to mind but I thought better of posting any of them.

[Millietant]

That's awesome....I hope I can do the same before I pop my clogs.........

My very very best BTG time is pretty much 8 mins dead on my RSV - although that Pani is wayyyy faster than the RSV, I think I've already lost some of the "bottle" that would let me get to those times again and this guy is +10 years older than me.........it takes some serious track knowledge and skill to go that fast (safely).....bloody fabulous !!

[vitorino]

She will be happier if you keep non ethanol fuel in her.

Pat Conlon: interesting

but in Portugal that's not an option as the country abides by EU rule, so these are the only gasolines we have at gas stations:

- E5 95 = 95 octanes unleaded gasoline with a maximum of 5% ethanol; with (more expensive) or without additives (cheaper)
- E10 98 = 98 octanes unleaded gasoline with a maximum of 10% ethanol; with (more expensive) or without additives (cheaper)

so I filled her up with E5 95 with additives, which has the least amount of ethanol and has the (hopefully good) engine-protecting additives

only the fine champagne for the mistress :-)

regards

[Pat Conlon]

Read this....

https://samscycle.net/storage-warning-local-gas

Fuel with 5% ethanol is slightly better than fuel with 10% ethanol but the best is no ethanol.

Can you get race fuel?
Over here in the states we have a company called VP Fuels that sells 5 gallon cans of C9 ethanol free race gas.
I just keep 2 gallons in my bike. I live in a dry hot climate so fuel tank condensation is not an issue for me
My 1380cc engine just loves this stuff.... Pow...immediate starts.

Cheers

[Motofun]

Pat, be careful with race gas.  VP makes so many variations I've lost count but most have oxigenators (sp?) in them which causes them to go bad quickly once the fuel cans are opened.  I know MR12 is only good for about 2 weeks after opening.

[Pat Conlon]

Thanks Jack, yes, not all race fuel is the same. Good point.
The C-9 I use is good for long term storage.
https://vpracingfuels.com/product/c9/

[vitorino]

Can you get race fuel?

not on gas stations nor anywhere I know

I guess race gasoline is only available on racing circuits for Teams who hold a racing license or individuals who use it for track days and might be part of the track day payment

I know Total has race gasoline available in Portugal via Elf https://www.total.pt/sites/g/files/wompnd1181/f/atoms/files/total_acs_catalogue_2017.pdf but as per above they probably wouldn't sell it to me :-)

so my only option is really to go to the nearest gas station and to fill 'er up with E5 95 premium (addtives) unleaded gasoline

regards

[Millietant]

Race gas/petrol in most of Europe is taxed differently to road use gas/petrol, hence it's not generally available on forecourts on the public highway.

Govt's need to squeeze every penny out of motorists !!