All the hard work and $ pays off: I just took my first FJ ride.

[TheRadBaron]

I've been riding bikes my whole life, but I've always had old (slow) stuff.  I love all my old '70s Japanese stuff.  They run great and they're a blast to ride, but last year I decided to step it up a notch...or a few notches.  Last fall I bought a poorly maintained '84 FJ1100 that had gotten bad enough that it wasn't rideable. Prior to getting this FJ, the most powerful bike that I'd ever ridden was my XS650.
I spent all winter going through the bike.  It had top-end problems, carb problems, and every other moving part on the bike needed to be gone through.  I spent a LOT of time and a LOT of money getting everything just right and upgrading since I plan on doing some serious mileage. 
Well, it finally all paid off today when I took it for its first ride.  Well, I took it for a ride a few weeks ago but the carbs were really screwed up so the bike ran like crap and it doesn't count.  It's sure running properly now.  I'm not telling you guys anything you don't already know, but the FJ is one hell of an impressive machine.  I didn't know that acceleration and speed like that could be had.  I think I'm gonna like this "late-model" stuff.  I'm used to singles and twins, so the extra two cylinders will take some getting used to.  The engine sounds to me like it's screaming at 20,000 RPM when it's really going 5,000. 
I rode it about 40 miles and everything seems to be working great.  No leaks, no problems.  I don't get giddy very often, but this bike does it for me.
I also want to thank all the guys here who answered my many questions and sold me parts.  I would have had a hell of a time without that stuff.  This is a hell of a forum.

[weymouth399]

Very cool. We all get giddy over our FJs, and now you know why.

Bob W

[racerman_27410]

5K RPM is just getting into the party! 



Good onya for sticking with it so you can finally experience the FJ like it was meant to be!


KOokaloo!

[Flying Scotsman]

Get back out for a real ride 40 miles just aint enough.Have fun and be safe 10,000 rpm is just round the corner.I bought mine last summer and ride it daily weather permiting.I realy like the old bike i am slowly making mine better when i have few $$ to spend.

[TheRadBaron]

Don't misunderstand me about the RPM.  5,000 was just an arbitrary number that I threw out.  My new FJ did indeed spend some time at redline today. 
What impressed me most is how composed the bike is at very high speeds.  The bikes that I'm accustomed to riding feel like they'll explode at any moment if you get them up around 100mph.  They're vibrating so much that your vision is blurry, the chassis is flexing and weaving, the engine is screaming frantically.  None of those things in a bad way, though.  I love the feeling.
The FJ feels to me like it's going about half as fast as it really is at any given speed.  I zoom away from a stop and accelerate until I feel like I'm going about 70, but I look down and I'm going 120.  I'm having a hard time believing that I'm really traveling as fast as my speedo says I am, until I come up on cars that are going the speed limit but seem like they're standing still.
Man, it's just incredible to have that much power available.  I might sound kind of cheesy about all this, but like I said, I'm pretty pleased with this bike.  That and I've had some celebratory drinks. 

[jvb_ca]

Good on ya.... ...looks like ya found the Kookaloo....

Cheers...Jake

[racerman_27410]

LOL   Now you're part of the club!


KOOKALOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Pat Conlon]

You have adopted a '84 FJ1100 with 51,000 hard miles which probably (based on low comp #'s) never saw a valve adjustment in her short life.
You have invested your time, your effort and your money into restoring and even upgrading her to her former glory.

Any Bozo can walk in to a dealer, write a check and ride away with bitchen bike. I know, because that's what I did when I bought my '84, however...

What you have accomplished with your '84 is much, much more special.  Major Kudos to you.  

Sooooo....What's next on your list of mods?   Heh, heh... Pat

[1tinindian]

I can totally relate to the speed thing you describe.
I too, can't believe I'm going as fast as I am while on the FJ.
Compared to my GS1100L Suzuki while hitting 100mph and feeling like a hand full, the FJ feels smooth, composed,and ready for some more, while at the same time being very controllable.
If it weren't for the speedo, my speed would be very hard to judge.

Glad to hear you have her running as she should be.

Post up a couple of recent pictures so we can all enjoy a piece of your FJ.

Leon

[Flying Scotsman]

Dont trust the odometer it gets further off the faster you go. Get a handheld GPS put it in your pocket and make a high speed pass.Look at the odometer and then when you stop compare the odometer top speed and the max speed on the GPS and you will see how far off the speed is.Tach is a better gauge than the odometer.If your odometer reads 155 or so your really going about 140-142.Odometer drives me crazy im constantly figuring out my speed.Enjoy your FJ I enjoy mine.
Scott....

[andyb]

^ Tachs are frequently wrong about the same amount. 

It's also not necessarily linear, it might be 4% at 50mph but 12% at 150mph.

[dbelch]

I can totally relate to theRadBaron.  I'm out on the dry pavement watching the snow in the ditches blur by.  Great to feel the power again.  Poor FJ really doesn't enjoy the speed limit tho....

[Mark Olson]

Radbarron,

Congrats on all the hard work and finally getting your fj on the road 

[paulfj03]

Awsome eh!

I know the feeling....   And what makes it even better is you having done the service, so you feel that much MORE secure!

Good on ya, RedBaron!

[TheRadBaron]

HOLY COW!  I had noticed that there was a lot of free rotation in my throttle, so I adjusted it up correctly and went for a ride.  Well, what I had thought was full throttle was not.  The slack in the cables was not letting the butterflies open all the way before running out of rotation.  Now I have full-throttle capability.  And I thought that the bike was unreasonably powerful before 
Thanks for the attaboys.  Again, I'd still be wrenching on it with a big "?" over my head if it wasn't for this forum.
Like Paulfj03 said, I love the feeling of doing all my own work.  Obviously, there's the pride that comes with taking something broken and making it work.  I also really like the familiarity that it gives me with the inner workings of the machine.  I haven't had the cases split, but just about every other part and mechanism on the entire bike has been gone through by me.  I like knowing how my stuff works.
Everything is still going well with the bike.  There are no oil leaks or anything.  I was a bit worried about that because I switched to Rotella synthetic.  The PO used Yamalube.  This is the first time I've used synthetic in a bike and I've heard the stories of oil leaks, slipping clutches, and clogged filters.  My clutch is doing a bit of slipping.  Only at high RPM/high load, though.  I replaced the clutch spring with one from Randy and inspected the clutch.  The plates and discs look brand new and are plenty thick.  I also took out the narrow disc, retaining wire, and springs at the bottom of the clutch pack and installed a new, wide disc.  That helped but there's still some slipping now and then.  The transmission was also very clunky at first, but it seems to be smoothing out.  The slipping seems to be getting better, so hopefully it clears up.  If not, I might try to double up the spring.  I have a mighty clutch hand from all my old cable-clutch bikes, anyway.
The only leaking that's happening is from the UNI pods.  No matter how much of the oil I try to squeeze out of them, there's still a green, slimy snail trail down the side of the bike every morning.  It has to clear up at some point.