Newbie wanting to know the must-do mods to my new FJ

[BackInDaSaddle]

Good morning,

I spent most of my youth through late-thirties on sport and motocross bikes, but strayed from them for the last twenty years while living in Montana. Well, I'm now on the California Central Coast and diving heavily back into motorcycles. It started a few years ago with a 2016 Super Tenere, which is my "daily driver", but I longed for some of the bikes I had (or wanted) in my youth, so I have since acquired a 1966 Honda 305 Scrambler for a town bike, a '72 CB 750 for the weekend cruiser bike, and just picked up the dream bike of my younger years, an immaculate 1993 FJ1200A for a sport touring bike. I'm too old to keep up with the fast guys, but I'd like to make some relevant upgrades. In perusing this forum, I have seen many good suggestions for tires, rear-wheel upgrade, brakes, brake lines, etc. but it's all a bit overwhelming for this rusty old fart. Knowing that everyone has their own preferences and riding style, what mods would you immediately make to your 1993 FJ for a more modern experience on the Pacific Coast Highway? Please give details. Ie: instead of just saying "17" rear wheel", please help me out by saying " 17" rear wheel from a 20XX blah blah, but you'll need to do XXXX to make the change". I'm super stoked to FINALLY have an FJ in my life. Better late than never.

Thanks in advance.

[Pat Conlon]

Welcome, what's your name?

The first thing I suggest isn't considered a modification but part of your deferred maintenance. I suggest the first thing to do is to change out the old ABS brake lines.....all of them. The oem rubber hoses are almost 30 years old, long over due.

The first upgrade mod on the '93 would be the suspension...start with the front forks, new springs and valves from RPM, then replacing that sacked out shock with a new shock and spring from RPM or Penske or Hagon

Cheers.    Pat

[Urban_Legend]

Hi and Welcome from Australia.

As Pat said. Upgrade Brake line.
The fork upgrade and rear shock upgrade will transform the way the bike handles to a more modern feel and handling capability.
The next item if you want superior stopping to go with your new improved handling, is to upgrade to Blue, Silver or Gold spot front brake calipers. The can be sourced from early 2000 FJR's, XJR's, R6 or R1. (probably some other bikes as well)
They are a straight swap and if you can get them with the matching brake master cylinder even better.

There are more mods, it is a veritable rabbit hole of mods really  , but these are a good start.

RPM (as advertised on this forum) are you go to people for all thing FJ and are located in California

Mark

[krusty]

Apart from upgrading the brake hoses (safety) I would suggest you ride it for a while and see how it fits you - get a feel for it,  then start looking for things that will improve your riding experience and enjoyment of the bike. As suggested, an RPM suspension upgrade is worth the $$$. No point in spending the hard earned on stuff to chase the young guys, not worth it IMO.
I have a 91 and the only mods I have made is to the suspension (RPM) for handling and comfort. I have recently added blue spots but there was no greatly noticable improvement except for feel with the replacement SS braided hoses. (I have an 84 1100 with original 16' front wheel, 88 forks, blue spots, braided hoses and V-Max rotors which easily outbrakes my 1200).
I too started out on dirt bikes in club level moto-X and enduros and found the off road skills I acquired improved my on road skills. No matter what I rode and how much I spent on upgrades and mods, I was never gonna catch the fast guys, so then as now, I ride for enjoyment and not how fast I can get from point A to point B. Also, at 73, comfort is high on my priority list, as I also have a 91 GL1500. I still keep a few DTs in the shed when I feel the need to stir up the dust.
If you haven't already done so, seek out a reputable riding school which does advance skills courses and sign up.

[aviationfred]

Follow Pat's advice for the 1st must do upgrades/mods.

You also mention 17" rear wheel. I am a huge advocate for the 17" wheel mod. This gives you the opportunity to use the latest and greatest Sport-Touring tires. As for which wheel to use is up too you. I think the most common upgrade is the 1997 Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat wheel. A small amount of machining work is required. With this mod, the recommended tire would be a 170/60/17.

The next most common wheel is the 1990-1995 GSX-R750, the 1993-1998 GSX-R1100 and the 1994-1997 RF900. This wheel allows the use of a 180/55/17 tire. There are a few very minor differences between the wheels. PM me for more details if you go this route.

Here is a write up in PDF format for the YZF600R wheel mod
http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=1567.0

Here is a write up in PDF format for the GSX-R mod.
http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=3380.0


Fred

[Millietant]

I agree with all of the other guys on here about the mods 

BUT I'll add a couple of things -

1) as Krusty has noted, the blue/silver/gold spot brake callipers don't really come into their own unless used with a matching/suitable master cylinder. My advice would be to watch eBay for a set up from a 2001-2005 Yamaha FZ1, mainly because the FZ1 was a big seller and they often come up for sale as full sets with the master cylinder included - for less than $100 all in.

And

2) the YZF 600 R (Thundercat) wheel swap is a lot easier than the links to the earlier wheel swap info indicate - there is no need to Machine the sprocket carrier at all (the FJ uses a shouldered rear sprocket, just fit the sprocket with the shoulder to the centre of the wheel, rather than the outside, and this provides the realignment needed without any machining) and there is also no need to Machine the wheel spacer, simply use the brake side spacer from the FJ in place of the 600 chain side spacer. On my FJ, when I did the swap, my torque arm didn't need any modifications to fit. So the only work needed is to have the 600 caliper mounting arm machined (or cut and filed) to make it 8mm narrower as described 

[BackInDaSaddle]

Thanks, everyone. Great suggestions. I'll keep you posted!

[Pat Conlon]

I believe all the USA 1993 FJ's were ABS bikes.
He will lose the ABS if he changes the back rim and/or front brake m/c.
I'm not sure he wants to do all that (personally, I am not a fan of the FJ's ABS)
That's why I kept it simple.

[BackInDaSaddle]

Thanks again for the replies. I picked up the bike on Weds, and the thing is so darn clean that I hate to make any modifications, other than deferred maintenance. The odometer shows 21,000 miles and the tires are date-coded 2002. Obviously, garage kept, and not ridden in quite a while. I'm a happy camper.

[Flynt]

Thanks again for the replies. I picked up the bike on Weds, and the thing is so darn clean that I hate to make any modifications, other than deferred maintenance. The odometer shows 21,000 miles and the tires are date-coded 2002. Obviously, garage kept, and not ridden in quite a while. I'm a happy camper.

Beautiful!  Congratulations and welcome to FJ land.

It will be just as pretty and a whole lot more fun with the suspension work.  The rear shock was never up to the task...  replace it when you can.  Forks need rework with stiffer springs and better valving.  RPM is a good place to start...

Frank

[Millietant]

I believe all the USA 1993 FJ's were ABS bikes.
He will lose the ABS if he changes the back rim and/or front brake m/c.
I'm not sure he wants to do all that (personally, I am not a fan of the FJ's ABS)
That's why I kept it simple.

But he did mention relevant upgrades Pat- and ditching the ABS seems to fit that bill. 

[Millietant]

Thanks again for the replies. I picked up the bike on Weds, and the thing is so darn clean that I hate to make any modifications, other than deferred maintenance. The odometer shows 21,000 miles and the tires are date-coded 2002. Obviously, garage kept, and not ridden in quite a while. I'm a happy camper.

You can do the rear wheel swap without any alterations to your original FJ parts, so it's completely reversible and if you paint the wheel, using the YZF 600 R wheel, to match the front, it will look totally factory (even down to the YAMAHA cast into the spokes). BUT, you'll be able to get a nice 170/60x17 radial tire for it - and you do know that with 2002 tyres you need to swap them before even trying to sample the power, or ride in the rain  (which, given its condition, I doubt you'll have any intention of doing in the near future).

[ribbert]

.... that I hate to make any modifications.....

I understand the feeling of having found a mint example and your reluctance to mess with it, but there are tens of thousands of FJ's out there and mint, museum quality bikes are neither rare nor valuable (do not confuse asking prices with actual values).

A standard bike is still extremely ridable even all these years later, but if you intend to put some decent miles on it, the wheel, suspension, brake upgrade package delivers improvements way beyond expectations and propels the bike into the next century.

Noel

[BackInDaSaddle]

Again, thanks to all for the suggestions. The Pirelli Sport Demons, new rear rotor and pads should be here tomorrow. I'm looking forward to taking it for a spin and slowly analyzing what improvements I want to make. I'm a hotrodder at heart, so mods are inevitable, but spending the past few months getting my '71 CB750 and '66 305 Scrambler back to stock configuration gives me an interesting perspective on how tastes about originality change over the years. Heck, they're getting a grand for stock early CB exhaust systems these days, because as we all know, that was the first thing that went in the dumpster back in the day.

[BackInDaSaddle]

Follow up on the above suggestions. The shop manual I ordered hasn't arrived so some of these questions may sound stupid, but I'm anxious to get on this thing.

-New tires, obviously
-Oil change and adjust valves
-Check all bearings and seals
-New brake lines
-What is involved in removing the ABS system, and what needs to be purchased once it's removed? Some things mentioned in the above comments are master cylinder and brake lines. What else is necessary?
-Suggestions for fork springs, valving, and brace? Or is swapping in a modern fork a viable or better option?
-Range of years for the FZR600 wheel? Is there a definitive link on this forum to a professional-quality swap?
-Recommendations for a rear shock.

Thank you, Pete