Bringing FJ out of hibernation

[fj11.5]

no chance of me spilling beer into anything  drank my fill of every alcoholic drink, just waiting for everyone else to catch up

[rktmanfj]

Just once, can we try to NOT spout the same old crap everytime someone asks about DOT 5?  I've had exceptional performance from DOT 5.  Unfortunately, that message gets lost everytime someone posts all the "truths" that they read about it on the internet.

I post this same argument everytime this comes up because someone who doesn't use DOT 5 has to give an UNinformed OPINION.

Amen!     

[zz28zz]

I'm getting close. Got the new clutch slave cyl installed. Master is mounted.
Now for the line flush. I went to a few different stores but could not locate "contact cleaner".
I did find some "electrical cleaner".  Guess I'll try that.

In regards to flushing the master cyl: I got the master cyl off ebay. It's pretty dry but the banjo bolt was a little wet with old brake fluid. Can I just spray some cleaner thru the holes in the reservoir into the the master cyl and spray in thru the banjo fitting, or does the plunger need to come out and get all traces of the Dot3 out?

I'll be introducing the Dot5 into the slave cyl bleeder port and back filling the reservoir anyway. So after the reservoir is full, I could suck all of it out with my vacuum bleeder gizmo and refill it again thru the slave bleeder port.

Sounds like I may have answered my own question..

Oh yeah, I also got my flasher relay (from ebay) today. It's installed and I'm happy to report the turn signals are working like a champ!
I also discovered the starter circuit goes thru the flasher relay (I was wondering what the 4 extra wires were for. Schematic showed 5 wires, relay physically has 9 wires). I tried to crank eng with relay disconnected. Headlight went out so I know the starter switch was working, but the starter didn't make a sound. With replacement relay installed, eng cranks normally. That might be a handy piece of info to have in the future since the wiring diagram does not indicate the flasher relay contains starter circuitry.

[rktmanfj]

In regards to flushing the master cyl: I got the master cyl off ebay. It's pretty dry but the banjo bolt was a little wet with old brake fluid. Can I just spray some cleaner thru the holes in the reservoir into the the master cyl and spray in thru the banjo fitting, or does the plunger need to come out and get all traces of the Dot3 out?

You've come this far, why not clean it out?   

You already have the m/c on the workbench, right?

It's like only one snap ring, after all.

It might take you 10 extra minutes.

[zz28zz]

In regards to flushing the master cyl: I got the master cyl off ebay. It's pretty dry but the banjo bolt was a little wet with old brake fluid. Can I just spray some cleaner thru the holes in the reservoir into the the master cyl and spray in thru the banjo fitting, or does the plunger need to come out and get all traces of the Dot3 out?

You've come this far, why not clean it out?   

You already have the m/c on the workbench, right?

It's like only one snap ring, after all.

It might take you 10 extra minutes.

Okay, you talked me into it. The master was actually installed, but no biggie.
I'm glad I did. There was more old fluid in there than I thought there would be.

Got everything buttoned-up and filled from slave bleeder port with syringe. After reservoir was full, I retracted the syringe a little and sucked some air out.

Lever felt pretty good right away. Bled it a few times the conventional way and got one little burp, then no more. I think I got it whooped!!

One thing I noticed abt the FJ1200 master; the clutch lever does not spring all the way back when released. My 1100 lever did as does the 1100 front brake lever. The 1100 lever actually has a little helper spring to assist lever moving to the release position. Noticed the 1200 master/lever does not have that provision.

You guys with original 1200 clutch master cyls; does the lever return all the way when released??

[rktmanfj]

One thing I noticed abt the FJ1200 master; the clutch lever does not spring all the way back when released. My 1100 lever did as does the 1100 front brake lever. The 1100 lever actually has a little helper spring to assist lever moving to the release position. Noticed the 1200 master/lever does not have that provision.

You guys with original 1200 clutch master cyls; does the lever return all the way when released??

My 3CV m/c had a lever return spring also.

Will the one from the 1100 fit?

[zz28zz]

Whats a 3cv?

The levers are different. The 1100 levers have a cutout for the spring to fit into, the 1200 lever doesn't.

[rktmanfj]

Whats a 3cv?

The levers are different. The 1100 levers have a cutout for the spring to fit into, the 1200 lever doesn't.

What year is your m/c?    

I just looked at the 'fische from each generation FJ, and each of them had a spring pictured.

You can look at them yourself here: http://www.yamaha-motor.com/partviewer/default.aspx?ls=sport

[zz28zz]

Whats a 3cv?

The levers are different. The 1100 levers have a cutout for the spring to fit into, the 1200 lever doesn't.

What year is your m/c?    

I just looked at the 'fische from each generation FJ, and each of them had a spring pictured.

You can look at them yourself here: http://www.yamaha-motor.com/partviewer/default.aspx?ls=sport

The bike is an 84 model.
Not sure what year the clutch master cyl is from. It was listed only as FJ-1200..

I'm looking at the 86 FJ1200 "Front master cylinder 2" diagram. I don't see the spring. You may be looking at the front brake master cyl diagram.
When I look at 84 FJ1100 "Handle switch lever" diagram I see the little spring (item 23).
(The clutch lever moves from one diagram to another between 85 and 86 models)

After looking at the diagrams some more, I think I figured it out. The 1100 has the assist spring on the lever out in the open. The 1200 has the assist spring inside the master cyl.
If you look at the master cyl (clutch) rebuild kits, the 1100 doesn't have the little assist spring. The 1200 rebuild kit does have the little assist spring (in addition to the main spring).

I had the 1200 clutch master cyl plunger assy out this afternoon, but failed to notice if the little spring was there or not.  Now it's all back together and full of fluid.

Went out to the shop and pulled the clutch lever off. Something is not right. The push rod goes all the way thru the bushing, that rides in the lever, and is digging into the lever itself.
Basically it appears the bushing isn't taking any of the load. Maybe the push rod is installed backwards?? I pulled the rubber dust cover out and didn't see a little spring.
It's not real clear at this point if I'm supposed to see the little spring or not with out pulling the snap-ring and disassembling the master cyl..

Getting late. I'll dig into it more tomorrow..

[FJmonkey]

When I rebuilt my clutch master I reassembled it with the plunger rod in backwards. The lever felt wrong, felt like it had air in the system after much bleeding. Got really frustrated and took a break. Then thought it through, what could go wrong? Figured the plunger might have been flipped. So I turned it around and my clutch was back, felt perfect.

[zz28zz]

Spent some time this morn checking the clutch push-rod. It was in backwards. Had to tug on it pretty good to pull it out. Turned it around and reassembled. It was better but still not quite right. Lever still didn't retract all the way when released and clutch didn't completely release until lever was almost to the grip. The enlarged (middle) part of the pushrod is contacting the lever now. Isn't the bushing (in lever) supposed to provide the push on the push-rod?
Seems like I'm missing a piece. Guess I need to snap a pic and post it. Maybe someone can tell me what is missing.

Installed a thick washer over the rod and that helped with the disengage point, but still wouldn't return to full fwd position. Found an old spring in my magic tool box and cut it to what seemed like the best length. Installed in on the other side of pushrod. Walla, lever goes full fwd when released.

With the clutch working better, went for the first test drive since starting all this work. Eng ran good, no carb issues and front forks are working well. Even the turn signals were functioning properly.

Unfortunately the "good" road (the one that makes my passengers car sick) was recently resurfaced. Lots of loose gravel. At least there wasn't any traffic..

Not happy with front brake perf. When first applied, nothing, squeeze a little more then semi-hard braking, not much in between (not so good with loose gravel on the road). Brakes are gripping well. Was able to lock wheel no problem on good pavement. Not sure if master needs rebuild, or maybe there's still air in system, but it sorta feels like something is sticking, then releasing.

Just as I was turning off highway onto my street, rear brake pedal dropped straight down. Pulled into garage and discovered the pin that connects the brake pedal to the link (I have rearsets) fell out. 
Glad it didn't happen in the twisties!!

Search all thru the magic tool box for something to replace pin with, but nada.

Fired off an email to Tarozzi. We'll see how good their customer service is..

[FJmonkey]

My neighbor has a 68' pan head HD, nicely restored, that he took for a short ride a few weeks ago. Not far from home he was braking and felt a thump in the front and a distinct lack of stopping power. Turns out the adapter bracket for the hydraulic brakes had lost the primary bolt and let the caliper fly loose. Lucky for him he was going slow. Lucky for you it was only the rear brake...

[zz28zz]

Back in the day, when street bikes had drum brakes, I replaced the rear tire for a buddy. On the test drive I discovered that I have not secured the backing plate anti-rotation rod (Kaw 440 LTD). Had it on the highway and was taking the cloverleaf to test out the rear-end traction. I was just starting to lean her over and elected for a tiny amount of rear brake to help drop her into the corner. The instant I touched the rear brake, it kicked back up with tremendous force. Glad I was wearing boots! The brake lever came up striking the foot peg and actually broke the brake lever in half. Brake actuator rod was wrapped around the axle a few times. That took some explaining!!

[rktmanfj]

Back in the day, when street bikes had drum brakes, I replaced the rear tire for a buddy. On the test drive I discovered that I have not secured the backing plate anti-rotation rod (Kaw 440 LTD). Had it on the highway and was taking the cloverleaf to test out the rear-end traction. I was just starting to lean her over and elected for a tiny amount of rear brake to help drop her into the corner. The instant I touched the rear brake, it kicked back up with tremendous force. Glad I was wearing boots! The brake lever came up striking the foot peg and actually broke the brake lever in half. Brake actuator rod was wrapped around the axle a few times. That took some explaining!!

Kinda like this?

A friend's V-Star that I ended up fixing this summer after a local chopper shop mounted a new rear tire:

[zz28zz]

Yeah, like that. Except I managed to wrap the rod around at least 3 times. Was that a low speed discovery? Looks like a very effective parking brake.