85 Fj1100 Improvements

[Isaiah1611]

My case of Moditis is now official. I had swapped my rubber hydraulic lines for stainless, safety wired the petcock, and changed the spark plugs but nothing else of note. However a birthday present of Black Widow SS downpipes and collectors has led to a list of things I have just started doing to the bike. I purchased the F1 mufflers from WoodCreekPete and then a 6 spring pressure plate, roller shift detent kit, and a spin on oil filter from RPM. I purchased  7 full size and 1 narrow OEM friction plates from Ebay and while there I found a used Progressive Suspension rear shock for a good deal. While I was getting the bike ready for the new parts I decided to take a look at the carbs with plants to possibly rejet them. I started disassembling one and the needle seat was so corroded I had to thread it to pull it out. This led to another order from RPM (definitely the best customer service anywhere Thanks for the advice Robert) to get all the parts to switch to UniPods and rebuild the carbs jetting them at 115 and 40 as well as the handlebar risers. I started pulling it apart last night and this evening I installed the shock and all the clutch parts. Any knowledge about the shock canister and how if any adjustments are made on it would be appreciated. The damping is adjusted on the bottom of the shock itself (visible in the view from the rear) but I am curious what the knobs on the canister are for. I am planning on making a mount for it to fit roughly where the old unit was.

[Isaiah1611]

A few of the pictures are distorted due to being vertical Here is a better picture of the canister

[Urban_Legend]

Awesome work. The Mod bug is a very sneaky one. What starts off as just a bit of maintenance, can very quickly turn into a full rebuild with the parts cannon being fired regularly and ending with an empty back account. 

All your mods are common sense ones with a bike of this age.
Keep up the good work. 

Mark

[Isaiah1611]

Well she is back up and running. The rust in the carbs had me concerned and after investigation, I found that the petcock screen had shrunk in the middle and was allowing rust by. I wanted to remove the rust from the tank and after seeing electrolysis recommended several times that is what I ended up going with. Here is what I removed from the tank. Very simple and worked great. Got the carbs rebuilt and installed, put in the handlebar risers, and changed turn signals. I wound up using a redneck mount for the shock canister and ziptied it to the frame. I installed the Black Widow downpipes and collector which do require modification of the front fairing to fit on 84 and 85 1100s even if you order the 1100 style pipes. Then I put the Cobra F-1s on and the sound is great. Also I love the compactness and shine. Between the mufflers and exhaust pipes I lost 28lbs not to mention whatever that ridiculous airbox weighs. Got most of the little bugs ironed out and made the carbs happy and put her on the road last week a few times and it runs way better with no rust clogging the needle seat filters. Also the roller shift detent from RPM makes the shifts much crisper and the pressure plate conversion took away the slip at 7-9k. Also I cannot stress the safety wire for 84-87 petcocks enough. I had previously safety wired my petcock due to this site and while doing the electrolysis removed the petcock to do it nicer. I was able to pull the elbow out with very little effort so it is an ABSOLUTE MUST.

[Country Joe]

 

[Isaiah1611]

Well I couldn’t leave it alone. A leaking fork seal led to a complete rebuild. Bushings, seals, RPM fork valves and the fork brace.Wheel bearings as well. I had to make the blockoff plates and repair some cracked plastics as well. I definitely recommend the brace and valves. As always, great quality products from RPM

[Motofun]

Not sure about this with modified fork internals, BUT, with the stock forks the block-off plates must connect the two holes to allow flow between them.  Otherwise you have certainly been busy.

[RPM - Robert]

We never tested with plates blocked off so I can not confirm one way or another.

The anti dive does need to be disabled, we usually tell people to take the line off and flip the adjuster upside down with the black knob facing up so it looks somewhat stock and water doesn't fill the void of the original banjo bolt from the remove line. I suppose you could also get a bolt in the and cap it but hard to match the rest of the bolts so it doesn't look as "stock".

[Isaiah1611]

I made a 3/8”wide by 1/8”deep groove in them with a bandfile and a Dremel

[Old Rider]

Nice work  About the damper the knob is for rebound damping how fast the wheel follows the bumps and holes in ground to hard will give less grip when you twist the throttle the wheel spins and skips over bumps to soft is not good either can give you a highside in fast turns  The adjuster on the schock is for preload how high the bike sits

[Old Rider]

Sorry about my last answer about the shock it is wrong.The knob is for compression  it is how fast the shock compress when hitting bumps.The rebound adjust how fast the
the shock  is being extended after being compressed. The rebound adjuster should sit on the bottom of your shock but cant se it in your picture.The spring preload is on top
of the spring

[VanIsleFJ]

Well she is back up and running. The rust in the carbs had me concerned and after investigation, I found that the petcock screen had shrunk in the middle and was allowing rust by. I wanted to remove the rust from the tank and after seeing electrolysis recommended several times that is what I ended up going with. Here is what I removed from the tank. Very simple and worked great. Got the carbs rebuilt and installed, put in the handlebar risers, and changed turn signals. I wound up using a redneck mount for the shock canister and ziptied it to the frame. I installed the Black Widow downpipes and collector which do require modification of the front fairing to fit on 84 and 85 1100s even if you order the 1100 style pipes. Then I put the Cobra F-1s on and the sound is great. Also I love the compactness and shine. Between the mufflers and exhaust pipes I lost 28lbs not to mention whatever that ridiculous airbox weighs. Got most of the little bugs ironed out and made the carbs happy and put her on the road last week a few times and it runs way better with no rust clogging the needle seat filters. Also the roller shift detent from RPM makes the shifts much crisper and the pressure plate conversion took away the slip at 7-9k. Also I cannot stress the safety wire for 84-87 petcocks enough. I had previously safety wired my petcock due to this site and while doing the electrolysis removed the petcock to do it nicer. I was able to pull the elbow out with very little effort so it is an ABSOLUTE MUST.

You mentioned electrolysis for cleaning your tank.  I plan to do the same.  You removed the petcock - was there anything else you had to do to the tank to prepare it for the electrolysis?  Is there any concern for anything else, like the reserve switch connection?   I'm new to this bike, so just asking.  Thanks.

[Urx]

There is a glycolic acid based alternative to electrolysis which is safe on everything  but rust as its non toxic.
It wont harm paint skin plastic or other metals…it just eats rust.
Just fill the tank upwith the gloop and leave somewhere circa 20c or more till the rust is all eaten.
Worked a treat on a daytona 1200 tank that looked unsavable.

[Pat Conlon]

You mentioned electrolysis for cleaning your tank.  I plan to do the same.  You removed the petcock - was there anything else you had to do to the tank to prepare it for the electrolysis?  Is there any concern for anything else, like the reserve switch connection?   I'm new to this bike, so just asking.  Thanks.

In addition to the petcock, you will need to remove the fuel gauge float sensor assembly.

See #10 below