Clutch issues?

[Pat Conlon]

Cool, now you know that you have a 5/8" clutch m/c, now go over to eBay under motorcycle parts and accessories, enter "FJR clutch"and see what's for sale.
All FJR clutch m/c's are 14mm and as Andy eloquently stated, your pull at the clutch lever will be 20-30% easier with a FJR clutch m/c vs. the oem 5/8" m/c.
(oem= original equipment manufacturer, meaning stock)

Take a flashlight, take your oil cap off, and look at the face of your clutch pack. You can only see just the top portion. See anything that looks like this?:


If so then the PO put in a Barrett spring clutch conversion. Visit out clutch section and Andy listed some softer springs you can replace the heavy springs with.
If you are not planning on drag racing with nitrous, no reason to have a *overly*stiff clutch.

Looking thru the oil fill hole, If you don't see the above blue spring plate, this means that your PO probably doubled up the oem FJ diaphragm springs. The FJR m/c will be your solution. Your bike is hopped up, so I would not run with only one diaphragm spring, sounds like you need both. Cheers

[andyb]

Also it may not be blue, it may be a reddish/purplish color.  If you don't see any colorful stuff in there, more likely it's using two diaphrams.

[Pat Conlon]

my clutch is a little hard to disengage, i have to squeeze pretty hard to move it, is it just my bike or is that pretty standard across a lot of bikes (fyi, i have never touched another motorcycle in my entire life, crazy right?) 
thanks!

Hey Chris, is this your first bike? 

[carsick]

(fyi, i have never touched another motorcycle in my entire life, crazy right?) 
thanks!

Hey Chris, is this your first bike? 
[/quote]


Fawwkk. Goin' right for the deep end, eh? Keep us in the loop Chris and we'll help all we can!
Doug

[Carterc]

Yes its my first bike, and i want to make sure i know everything about it before i take my first ride and find my ass on the floor with my bike out the door

[Pat Conlon]

Chris, last questions:

When you say that you have never "touched another motorcycle" what do you mean? Do you know how to ride? If you do, what other bikes have you ridden?

Did the guys at the Harley store know that this was your first bike?

Sorry for all the questions.  Just trying to figure out what you should be looking for and how to help.  Pat

[Klavdy]

He'll be fine,those blokes at the H.D boutique know what they're doing,it's only a 1200 ,not like its a 1570 or 1340cc Harley.

[Arnie]

He'll be fine,those blokes at the H.D boutique know what they're doing,it's only a 1200 ,not like its a 1570 or 1340cc Harley.

You know, those HD fools may actually believe that.  We, the educated, know better and can see the proof in our mirrors anytime we choose. ;-)

However, our newby, may not know your history of buffoonary, so you might just put a little clue in there to let him be aware you're talking shit.

Arnie

[Carterc]

to answer all questions, yes the is my FIRST bike, I've literally never touched another one before this. the HD guys knew it was my first bike. im getting my endorsement next weekend, i have countless friends with hayabusa's, ducati's and CBR 1000's who are excited to teach me to ride. yes im takin it slow and easy. im 22 years old, 6'0" and weigh in at 240 pounds (and i have no intentions to hurt myself or anyone else). I've raced wave runners (still never opened it to work on the engine) and now im lookin for somethin to take to the road instead.

im fully aware of the speed and torque of my FJ1200, one of my hayabusa friends took it out yesterday to test the gear shifts and speed and to find if theres anything weird sounding about it (because i refuse to ride it out of my apartment complex untill ive mastered the mental side of riding and have my endorsement and insurance in place)

[rktmanfj]

to answer all questions, yes the is my FIRST bike, I've literally never touched another one before this. the HD guys knew it was my first bike. im getting my endorsement next weekend, i have countless friends with hayabusa's, ducati's and CBR 1000's who are excited to teach me to ride. yes im takin it slow and easy. im 22 years old, 6'0" and weigh in at 240 pounds (and i have no intentions to hurt myself or anyone else). I've raced wave runners (still never opened it to work on the engine) and now im lookin for somethin to take to the road instead.

im fully aware of the speed and torque of my FJ1200, one of my hayabusa friends took it out yesterday to test the gear shifts and speed and to find if theres anything weird sounding about it (because i refuse to ride it out of my apartment complex untill ive mastered the mental side of riding and have my endorsement and insurance in place)

Go take an approved riding class somewhere.

1. You'll learn stuff your buddies won't teach you.

2. You'll probably get an insurance discount that will offset the cost.

3. You're more likely to have your head in the right place when you finally do hit the streets.

JMO,

Randy T
Indy

[weymouth399]

Plus 1 on what randy said, I know we don't like to take directions but in this case it's a good idea. 

Bob W

[Carterc]

im getting my endorsement next weekend

got it covered 

[Marsh White]

im getting my endorsement next weekend

got it covered 

Thank god!  Make sure you DEFINETLY take that MSF course!  I've been riding since I was 7 years old (I'm 35 now) and I nearly killed myself on each step up the cc ladder I took.  I couldn't imagine starting to ride a motorcycle on an FJ1200...   

[Carterc]

you guys are starting to scare me, everyone previous to you guys said i could do it no problem with some practice

[Yamifj1200]

you guys are starting to scare me, everyone previous to you guys said i could do it no problem with some practice

ROFLMAO, do they own FJ's or have they riden them??

Its your bacon but I'd be looking into a motorcycle safety traning class, or up your insurance on your backside...

Eric M