The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

[JohnnyTheCraneGuy]

Hey yall! I decided to dedicate today too tearing down the bike to get a better idea of things.

I'll try my best to keep things organized but here goes,

The Good:
She's got an aftermarket exhaust! Headers are a 4 to 1, muffler is a V&H (unsure of the exact model), and she's got pod filters too match! I'm not sure if the PMS came plugged from the factory like my XVS but there wasn't any so I assume the PO changed the jets and adjusted the PMS. Bike is from Minnesota so when I get to pulling off the carbs I'll see what size the mains and pilots are and see if you guys from CO are running something similar. But that'll be another time with a new set of plugs!

The spark plug boots and wires were replaced with "NGK" ones, I haven't done any research yet but I assume I still have the stock ignition coils.

Last and certainly not least though for the good is that the damn petcock is safety wired! Made me wonder if the PO was maybe even a member on here at some point or at least knew someone. Still, cant say I didn't smile when I saw that.

[JohnnyTheCraneGuy]

The Bad:

The PO had did some rewiring and routing of a couple things and it appears that heat is the main culprit for the damage but nothing too hard to replace.

First victim I spotted was the Side Stand Switch, it was routed along with the clutch cable rubbing along the outside of the crankcase.

Second was a red wire, and white wire inside some corrugated hose that was tucked along the inside the left side of the frame.

[JohnnyTheCraneGuy]

The Ugly:

This is where I need yalls input. Comin off the bottom of my TCI (I assume lol) there is a set of wires that come off and goes down in between the cranks case and frame. After looking over the wiring diagram for the bike I assume that it's for the pickup coil but again I wanted your guy's feedback.

[Pat Conlon]

I've seen worse. Yes, the lower plug on the ignition box goes down to the 2 pickup coils.
On the picture with the ignition box, see that red plug? Open up that connector and take a look.
https://fjowners.com/index.php?topic=19557.0

Also on your ignition box, see that vacuum line on the left side? That vacuum hose runs up to a port on your #2 carb intake manifold. You want to perform the suck test. Test rubber vacuum diaphragm in your ignition box by disconnecting the vacuum hose at the manifold, clean the hose end and suck on the hose...if you can not draw air, all is well, no worries...but if you can draw air thru the hose, your diaphragm is toast. This leaking diaphragm will allow unmetered air into your #2 cylinder causing a lean condition. Cap off the vacuum port on the #2 intake manifold. Use the heavy duty oem Yamaha plugs in this area...normal thin vacuum plugs will not last on these vacuum ports due to heat.
This vacuum advance feature on your ignition box is an emissions feature and has nothing to do with performance.
https://fjowners.com/index.php?topic=11690.0

[JohnnyTheCraneGuy]

Thanks for the confirmation, Pat!

I will also make sure to go ahead and test the diaphragm tomorrow and see where I'm at with that.

For futures sake I'll go ahead and cut out the red plug and throw some ferrules and wagos on her! Also I'll go ahead and cap that vacuum line at the boot, assuming the nipples are the same as on the XVS I may already have a spare nipple plug.

[Pat Conlon]

I'll go ahead and cap that vacuum line at the boot....

If the diaphragm is tight, passes the suck test, leave it connected.
That closed throttle vacuum advance sure keeps your plugs clean....and white!
Note for future reference, if you ever want to get an accurate reading on the color of your plugs, remember to disconnect this function.
If not, the white plugs will freak you out.

[JohnnyTheCraneGuy]

Just wanted to give yall an update on things.

I ended up pulling the starter, and generator to get full access to the pickup coil wires. I ended up cutting back the burnt loom and to my surprise the wires inside were shielded from the damage! All of them were to very flexible didnt show cracking. I ended up deciding to just keep the stock wires for now, I gave them a fresh wrap of tape and used this heat shielding I purchased from amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BLLGLSN8

I gave the generator the same treatment, and when I went to reinstall the starter I had noticed some pretty good pitting on the ring. I picked up a nitrile kit from harbor freight and installed a 20x3mm. I'm honestly not happy with it though. I couldn't find anything on the size of it either in the service manual or on Partzilla, etc. What size worked for yall?

[red]

the good is that the damn petcock is safety wired! Made me wonder if the PO was maybe even a member on here at some point or at least knew someone. Still, cant say I didn't smile when I saw that.

Johnny,

Can't quite see the safety wire.  Is this what you have?

https://fjowners.com/index.php?msg=27126

[JohnnyTheCraneGuy]

Sure is!

Sorry about the crappy pic lol I didnt know I was going to end up pulling the tank when I took it and decided to not take another after doing so.

[JohnnyTheCraneGuy]

Hey all just wanted to add an update,

I finally got everything back together today since the weather was nice and I got to take her out for about 45 minutes and she rode great! fired up on the first turnover with the choke on the 1 position. Had no issues with smoke until I had gotten back and was parking. Sure enough I saw smoke coming out the exhaust and steam (I assume) coming out of the crankcase breather pod. Gave her a little revs to check blow-by and sure as shit I had some vanilla latte come out   

I was going to change the oil anyways but now I'll probably flush it two or three times depending on how it goes. I've been seeing yall mention using the kickstand side oil cooler fitting as an alternative drain plug with the 4 to 1 headers so I'll use that. Any recommendations on oil types would be appreciated, manufacturer specs or something a little heavier/ lighter.

Anyways hope yall have a good weekend and get some good riding in if the weather allows it!

 

[Pat Conlon]

Yep, the best thing you can do is, ride that bike.
No short rides... at least 40 minutes...
Get that oil up to 180°-200° operating temp to boil off any accumulated moisture.
This time of year in Colorado any 10w-30 motorcycle specific oil (i.e. safe for wet clutches) will work. In the warmer summers for the thin air in Colorado, I would recommend a 10w-40 or 10w-50 ester stock synthetic. My bike runs warmer in the thin air from less airflow.

Ride that bike... Don't let it idle too long without airflow on the engine.

Congratulations

Pat

[JohnnyTheCraneGuy]

I ended up going with the Lucas 30 and honestly the oil drain wasn't bad. Very few brown spots in the oil and I threw in a KN-401 filter and she rides great! I changed it out Saturday, as well as cleaning up the fork seals with that Seal Mate and got to ride for about 2 hours traveling about 60 miles. Also got to take the bike out on the interstate for the first time and she is a completely different beast.

Had no more issues with smoke or steam after the change and when I stopped for gas I checked the inspection port with the bike on the center stand and didn't see any signs of contamination. Got to ride back home Sunday as well as another two hours.

I did run into a little issue on Sunday though, came to a scenic overlook off of 36 West bound going into Boulder when I went to downshift from 3rd. Pressed down on the shifter and could immediately tell that the damn shift lever bolt fell out 

Luckily there was an Ace like 12 minutes away so I was able to throw her in 2nd and grab a new bolt with blue Loctite with the adjustable wrench haha. It all worked out though.

I'm just glad I was finally able to actually enjoy the weather this weekend and take her out and put some real miles on her for the first time!

Hope yall had a great weekend as well and stay safe out there.

[Pat Conlon]

Is that Lucas 30 oil safe for your wet clutch? Did you mean 10w-30 oil or 30w straight weight oil?

[JohnnyTheCraneGuy]

Here's what I used:

https://www.google.com/imgres?q=lucas%2010w%2030%20motorcycle%20oil&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fm.media-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F71EextkyHiL.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FLucas-Oil-10708-Motorcycle-Quart%2Fdp%2FB001KO4I4O&docid=VeRBeg0LmfOBZM&tbnid=W5Del03um7tSUM&vet=12ahUKEwisyf3eg6mLAxXfGjQIHZt3CBAQM3oECBsQAA..i&w=1500&h=1500&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwisyf3eg6mLAxXfGjQIHZt3CBAQM3oECBsQAA

[Millietant]

Johnny,

After getting clutch slip within 50 miles of putting fully synthetic oil in my first FJ1200, I've never used it again. Some people don't experience it, but I know quite a few who have.

I'd say never use fully synthetic oil in the FJ - the wet clutch system and materials used in the FJ were chosen by Yamaha before synthetic oils were in general use in bikes. After using it in mine, the only solution I could find to eliminate the clutch slip was to fit new clutch plates and fresh mineral oil - no matter how many times I flushed out the Synthetic,  even with fresh mineral oil, my clutch would still slip when trying to accelerate in a "sporty" manner, until I swapped the clutch plates for new.

Stick to mineral oils to be safe, or just ride slowly and don't use the higher rpm power of the bike.