What to do first?!?!?!?!?

[andyb]

Oh, ffs.  You can get just as killed on some horrible underpowered lightweight thing. 

Upgraded brakes are nice and all, but until you've trained your reflexes to not grab a big fistfull all at once in an emergency, it's not something I'd particularly want.

[SlowOldGuy]

Abso-frickin-lutely!  You give race grade brakes to a newbie and the first panic stop will throw them on their face.

And the "notion" that the stock FJ brakes are crap is bullshit! 
Can they be made better?  Hell yes! 
Do they need to be made better?  IT DEPENDS!  If you do a lot of threshold lockup braking, then by all means upgrade the brakes.  But, if you're riding that way on the street, then you probably won't be doing it very long..

Properly maintained and cared for, the stock FJ brakes are very good.  Spend money on the suspension until you get quick enough to NEED batter brakes.

DavidR.

[yamaha fj rider]

David may be right unless he has ABS model (AWFUL BREAKING SYSTEM). Then he needs brake upgrade.

Kurt

[SlowOldGuy]

Sorry Kurt, but I disagree.

I have a '93 FJ with ABS.  The ABS does not work (never has as far as I know), but the brakes are still good.  Are they as good as my FZ1?  Probably not.  But, they are still good enough to lock up the tires if over-applied.  They are not racer-grade brakes, but they are far from being considered crap.  

I have monoblock calipers waiting to go on, eventually, but I'm in no hurry to install them as I have another new set of pads to use up before I consider "upgrading."  And, since the current set of pad has been in there for almost 10 years, I don't think that's going to be anytime soon.  Again, upgrading the suspension, emulators (or better yet Randy's fork valves) and a Penske shock are FAR better upgrades than "better" brakes.

That being said, if you need to rebuild the stock calipers, it's far more economical to buy a set of monoblocs off of eBay than to buy stock caliper rebuild kits from the dealer.  In that case, go ahead and "upgrade" to the newer monobloc calipers instead of wasting money rebuilding the stock calipers.

DavidR.

[yamaha fj rider]

David my front brakes (93 ABS) SUCKED. Glad yours work well. I could not get these to lock or even close. Stopping distance way to long. Huge improvement switching to gold pots and stainless lines (stock pads) EBC HH pads waiting to be installed. We just disagree but we have great taste in motorcycles.

Kurt   

[andyb]

Guys, it's a >20 year old bike.  There's going to be some variation in the condition between the machines that are out there, y`think?

Personally, if you're going to go for modifications for a first bike, I'd say that getting everything working as well as it can for stock is the starting point.  A few decades worth of maintenance and wear items fixed up, and by then you'll have a handle on what it does and doesn't do well for your style of riding.  What's better, is then you'll have gotten familiar with some of the bike for when it does come time to start upgrading, and you'll have a good idea of how things are actually supposed to work.

Someone who lives five minutes from twisty mountain roads is going to have very different priorities than someone who frequents interstates to do thousand-mile trips--and that's if they're the same person!  If they have different expectations from the bike, then their desires will be different even if they're neighbors.  Either way, it's hard to find an FJ that can't benefit from a solid going-over, getting things back up to stock condition.  If it's an expensive item to restore, that's when you start looking for alternatives that may be cheaper and yet upgrade at the same time.

(As a note, the stock 90 brakes in good order with original lines, calipers, master, etc... provides enough force to pull the rear wheel off the ground.  Upgrading it won't improve the power in any way, but hopefully would improve the feel and linearity of the response.)

[Grey runner]

I got to agree with SlowOldGuy all that is wrong with the standard FJ brakes is that maintenance is a very high priority with them, because of the krud that builds up behind the seals. If you change the master and fit steel brake lines without changing the callipers you would find little difference between the two types of calliper. Having said that I do have blue spots on my own mount  'cause they really do look nice.

[Alf]

Do they need to be made better?  IT DEPENDS!  If you do a lot of threshold lockup braking, then by all means upgrade the brakes.  But, if you're riding that way on the street, then you probably won't be doing it very long..

Properly maintained and cared for, the stock FJ brakes are very good.  Spend money on the suspension until you get quick enough to NEED batter brakes.

DavidR.

Yes and no. Let me explain

Yes, properly cared for the FJ brakes are not too bad. Change the brakes when you feel that you need it

An no about the suspension: learn to feel the suspension and use the possibilities of the stock settings. With an STD FJ you can stay with much modern tackle on the road the 80% of the time. That fantastic engine, the supple suspension and the high handlebars let you surprise to the fast guys when the road start to get tight, curvy and with potholes.

I will spend my money in a complete maintenance (carb sync, valves, greasing suspension arms & headstock bearings, change fluids & hoses...) and in a set of AVON radial tyres for the OE rims. With the time and experience you will learn that you really need

[mrluckey]

David may be right unless he has ABS model (AWFUL BREAKING SYSTEM). Then he needs brake upgrade.

Kurt

How do I tell if I have the ABS model... There are no tells on my model.

[Harvy]

How do I tell if I have the ABS model... There are no tells on my model.

ABS light on the dash.
ABS lettering on the side panels.
ABS pump in the tail and a heap of extra brake hoses.


Harvy

[1tinindian]

How do I tell if I have the ABS model... There are no tells on my model.

ABS light on the dash.
ABS lettering on the side panels.
ABS pump in the tail and a heap of extra brake hoses.


Harvy

Front hub is a dead give-away, as well!

Leon

[mrluckey]

How do I tell if I have the ABS model... There are no tells on my model.

ABS light on the dash.
ABS lettering on the side panels.
ABS pump in the tail and a heap of extra brake hoses.
   


OK. No ABS system for me... I was looking for a picture of a 92' model with ABS on it to confirm but thanks, now I know I don't have that system
Harvy

[mrluckey]

I hate to say it, but this is really a kind of poor choice for a first bike; too heavy and powerful for a beginner. I hope you had lots of experience on other people's smaller bikes before hand or grew up on dirtbikes.

I'm not telling you what to do, but that's exactly what I'd tell any of my friends just now getting into motorcycling--get something 500cc or smaller. You've made your choice, and it's a great bikes by all accounts, so I doubt you'll go take it back. But please be properly afraid and cautious.

I'd say go read the HURT report, and definitely do the upgrades on the brakes. Then DEFINITELY go do a rider course if you don't have prior dirtbike experience--if you do, it's still not a bad idea if your dirtbike experience isn't extensive.

In any case, go really easy these first 6 months... That's when a huge percentage of motorcycle accidents happen, a rider's first 6 months.

Best of luck, and thanks for serving our country.

Don't worry my friend I am a large, former defensive lineman. And when it comes to muscle I have enough to control the caos. The first month I thought I put the kickstand down but I guess I didn't... anyways I muscled the bike back up on my own and no it never touched the ground... I found out later that the bike is lbs.