Front suspension - how soft is it meant to be?

[SlowOldGuy]

Sorry Jesse,
But you're asking a bunch of basic questions that you need to have some reference knowledge to start with.  Otherwise it's going to constantly blow up into a multi-page thread that's confusing for you and will spiral out of control in frustration.

Do you have a public library?  Someplace where you can do some computer research? 

Take fork work, for example.  You need to familiarize yourself with the components and terminology a bit before you start asking a bunch of random questions.  That way you will have a much better chance of understanding any answers that you receive.   These guys are patient and will answer anything you ask, but it helps if you meet them halfway with some knowledge of the subject. 

Again, I'm not trying to be mean, but I'm beginning to skip most of your questions just from the sheer frustration of "where do I start" when trying to answer what you're asking.  Some of your questions show you have no idea of the subject, components or purpose.  That's frustrating for someone like me, because in order to give a useful answer, I have to also give you a lot of background.  Most of this background information is available in manuals and if you know some of it up front, we can have a much more useful and informative dialog.

Otherwise, questions begat more questions and so on, and soon it's just not worth the effort anymore.  I appreciate you quest for knowledge, but study up some and take some time to familiarize yourself with the topic before asking questions like: "How do I rebuild my engine?"

Here's a link to the page where you can order a Yamaha Owners Manual for the 1985 FJ.  $20 seems like a lot and if someone has offered to get you a copy, then wait for it.  In the mean time, be patient and try to do a little research to narrow your questions down a little and meet us halfway.

DavidR.
http://www.yamahapubs.com/index.do

[hein]

    Jesse, read SlowOldGuy's reply carefully. BUY a SERVICE MANUAL and an OWNERS MANUAL. Get the actual ones printed on paper and you will have a great resource of information. Learning requires some effort on your part. At an average of over 4 posts per day, your asking other people to do your research for you. I understand that you want to learn more about your bike and how to deal with the various issues but this also requires effort on your part. Now about you front end. Since you haven't changed your fork oil yet do so now along with some new o rings to stop the obvious leaks. Your fork springs are now 26 years old and where not great to begin with so change them out for some new single rate springs. The preload adjusters give a limlted amount of adjustability and will not compensate for a set of bagged out springs. Do your research and keep on working on the bike and it will all come together.  Hein.

[RichBaker]

With the age of the forks and unkown condition, better do everything......
http://www.rpmracingca.com/proddetail.asp?prod=M%2FC%3AForkR%2FBKit

Get a service manual 1st, then rebuild the forks.

[FJTillDeath]

Sorry my one point I am not good at is patience. But I will listen to everybody especially Arnie and David. I will go about solving one problem at a time - its cheaper. Its just that when I see something wrong I panic and want to fix it. But patiance is a virtue and something I WILL learn.

I have found a few links with downloads that work, but my work server speed is too slow to download them. So I am going to find a a good place to download or ask a friend, rebeiw the manual extensively(do a little homework) and then see what I can fix myself and where get stuck ask questions so that I have the knowledge, the experience of what I have tried and what I am working with.

my racing buddy invited me to a track day and said I must try his bike out, but before I do I want to be able to handle the FJ well and then maybe even surprise my buddy. So far I have a very long list of parts I want to order from Randy and the beauty is that some of the parts have CHEAPER shipping than that of within America! So that brings a smile to my face.