Front end education.

[Alf]

I'm caught off guard that you suggest the 3CV for 'properly fast riding'. I'm not even going to ask, though.

Only to say that with different exhaust, rear set pegs and central stand and cowl dismounted the next thing that touch the tarmac is one of the detachable chassis downtube. No good, no bueno 

[andyb]

Only if your FJ fit 3" OE rim the correct tyre is 110/70/17. When appear the OE Dunlop was very narrow, a real 110, not a 120, and it was designed specifically for the FJ

It's true that the original tires measured a good deal narrower than their spec would indicate, but at least one manufacturer's fitment listing shows 120/70's as acceptable on a 3.0x17 wheel.  Of course, I can't find it right now, but I know that I've seen it in the past.  Obviously, yamaha wouldn't have indicated this originally as those tires didn't exist back then.

I'm a big supporter of radials as well.  Bias ply technology hasn't changed in the past 20 years nearly as much as radials have.  Heck, in the past 10 years radials have changed dramatically (for the better!).



With that said, and while facing directly the original poster:  None of the questions being asked are new.  There's a search function nearish the top right of your screen (as well as the option to use a google search that includes insite:fjowners.com) and you can find a wealth of information on various combinations that do and do not work.  The only thing that determines which is the best option is what your expectations are and what parts you can find available at a reasonable price.

[ribbert]

Michelin Radials: the third FJ. And speaks about the difference is so abysmal with radial tyres than in fact it is like to ride a 3rd bike with stronger chassis, harder suspension... and less brakes!!!!!!

Yeah right, just like "full face helmets caused a spate of broken necks when introduced and should be banned".

"Give me a good drum over a discs anyday".

"Single front discs cause the bike to veer under heavy braking and wear the tyre on one side".

"Kawa triples with 2 exhausts one side and a single on the other corner differently L and R".

"Hydraulic brakes have no place on bikes and are dangerous - what if it fails".

and more recently....

"ABS is dangerous, you can't lay the bike down to avoid an accident". duh, I thought throwing your bike down the road on its side was an accident.

All these views were expressed in print at some time by experts.

And, we all know REAL men turn off / disconnect the modern electronic wizardry on bikes because THEY can outride it!

Noel

[Flynt]

Yes, I'm researching possibilities...

This "research" involved a bunch of hypotheses with no effort to design an experiment and collect data.  You have asked for opinions and then, without your own data and basing your conclusions on others posts or crap you've read somewhere, thrown those opinions back to the crowd dismissively.  Then you proceed down an incredibly ridiculous path of custom machining and bracket fabrication (again, all hypothesis) and get defensive, blaming the crowd for not telling you this was going to be a problem...

The "Irishluck" gentleman did much the same and, understandably, pissed some members of the crowd off to no end.  Think about the reactions you've elicited through time and you'll see, the forum is full of knowledge/experience and opinion.  Your task is to solicit the former without pissing on the latter...  so far I'd say its a FAIL.

One basic issue you have is you don't own an FJ and any stated opinion on your part is going to be discounted heavily based on that, at least among the crowd that has bought, ridden, modified, ridden some more, modified some more, learned new stuff from buds at a rally, modified some more, sold that FJ and bought another, modified some more...  Have your opinions and act on them, then tell us what you did and how it is working out vs telling us what you're going to do.  I'm not going to defend my opinions for you and I think others have grown tired of this activity as well.

Have you ever heard the criticism that "you're all hat and no cattle"...  I think that's your basic problem in FJ land.  If you own an FJ and are looking for help, information, parts, tools, etc...  you're in the right place.  If you're trying to be a contentious troll, you're doing a pretty good job of that...  I'll cut you the benefit of the doubt however and assume you're really trying to buy something, but would recommend you take the data you have and make your decision.

Frank

[Alf]

With that said, and while facing directly the original poster:  None of the questions being asked are new.  There's a search function nearish the top right of your screen (as well as the option to use a google search that includes insite:fjowners.com) and you can find a wealth of information on various combinations that do and do not work.  The only thing that determines which is the best option is what your expectations are and what parts you can find available at a reasonable price.

Yes, but where is the fun? 

[Arnie]

Yeah right, just like "full face helmets caused a spate of broken necks when introduced and should be banned".

Probably caused by rider's turning their heads around to try and see out of that tiny window

"Give me a good drum over a discs anyday".

Well, if the drum was the Norton twin leading shoe with huge scoop vs the early Lockheed disk they offered as an option in '72+, then above is a true statement.

"Kawa triples with 2 exhausts one side and a single on the other corner differently L and R".

Had nothing to do with the exhausts.  It was caused by the flexxy flyer frame.

"Hydraulic brakes have no place on bikes and are dangerous - what if it fails".

Result is about the same as if the cable snaps

"ABS is dangerous, you can't lay the bike down to avoid an accident". duh, I thought throwing your bike down the road on its side was an accident.

ABS is dangerous.  Some folks believe it is magic and will prevent them from hitting anything.
Do you think that's what Nicky 69's problem was in Spain?

Noel, I agree with your points, just had to point out some exceptions :-)

Arnie

[1tinindian]

Michelin Radials: the third FJ. And speaks about the difference is so abysmal with radial tyres than in fact it is like to ride a 3rd bike with stronger chassis, harder suspension... and less brakes!!!!!!

Yeah right, just like "full face helmets caused a spate of broken necks when introduced and should be banned".


Noel

Yesterday, one of the supervisores at work, (a Hardly rider) was relating a story of a rider going down the day before after hitting a patch of spilled grain (harvest time here in Iowa) and hit a concrete embankment, resulting in head trama/ brain injury, and another fellow asked, "Was he wearing a helmet?" and the supervisor responded with, "Christ no, he would have broken his neck, then!"

What the fuck is wrong with these Hardly guys?
Geez!!

Leon

[FJmonkey]

Michelin Radials: the third FJ. And speaks about the difference is so abysmal with radial tyres than in fact it is like to ride a 3rd bike with stronger chassis, harder suspension... and less brakes!!!!!!

Yeah right, just like "full face helmets caused a spate of broken necks when introduced and should be banned".


Noel

Yesterday, one of the supervisores at work, (a Hardly rider) was relating a story of a rider going down the day before after hitting a patch of spilled grain (harvest time here in Iowa) and hit a concrete embankment, resulting in head trama/ brain injury, and another fellow asked, "Was he wearing a helmet?" and the supervisor responded with, "Christ no, he would have broken his neck, then!"

What the fuck is wrong with these Hardly guys?
Geez!!

Leon

Maybe the skull is acting as a dampener as it cracks and caves in reducing the energy that is transferred to the neck. Seems like a fair trade, if you think like that you are not really using your head anyway.

I wonder how so many racers go down and not only do they not break their neck but get back up on the bike and continue to race?

[fj11.5]

Michelin Radials: the third FJ. And speaks about the difference is so abysmal with radial tyres than in fact it is like to ride a 3rd bike with stronger chassis, harder suspension... and less brakes!!!!!!

Yeah right, just like "full face helmets caused a spate of broken necks when introduced and should be banned".

"Give me a good drum over a discs anyday".

"Single front discs cause the bike to veer under heavy braking and wear the tyre on one side".

"Kawa triples with 2 exhausts one side and a single on the other corner differently L and R".

"Hydraulic brakes have no place on bikes and are dangerous - what if it fails".

and more recently....

"ABS is dangerous, you can't lay the bike down to avoid an accident". duh, I thought throwing your bike down the road on its side was an accident.

All these views were expressed in print at some time by experts.

And, we all know REAL men turn off / disconnect the modern electronic wizardry on bikes because THEY can outride it!

Noel

funny because its true , I remember not long ago about the tyre wear single disc topic , , now that was good reading

[fj11.5]

no helmes because they look stupid, block your vision, impeachment of hearing, colours are ( gay ) woops sorry not that gay the happy gay dig dig dig , got myself out    and a full face will save you from getting facial scars, and chics dig scars , , other than that I got nothing ,, wear your gear boys and girls , stops you looking like street pizza with a mushed head

[Dan Filetti]

http://youtu.be/xGyKBFCd_u4

But I digress....

Dan

[SlowOldGuy]

Any chance you can comment on acceleration beyond 8k between the two motors?

In all honesty, I don't think I can comment on any performance difference beyond 8K.  In the 27 years that I've been riding FJs, I don't recall ever "needing" to turn the motor that high.

I don't drag race as that takes way too much skill that I don't have.
Any nimrod can twist a throttle on a straight road.  That's the likeliest place to get popped for a nice fat speeding ticket, so I tend to keep the straightaway speeds to a more sane level.
Riding twisty roads seldom requires use of the entire rev range.  Given the FJs considerable torque, only a small fraction of the rev range is needed to run through the curves at an "entertaining" pace.

If you're intending on frequently banging off the rev limiter, trple digit speeds and all-out braking for the curves, then I don't think you'll be doing it very often.  You'll either lose your license or be DEAD.

If there is a difference between the 1100 and 1200 above 8K, then I'll probably never know it.  I certainly don't need it to ride at the pace.

DavidR.

[fintip]

That's good to hear, David. The FJ will certainly be the most powerful bike I've ever ridden (similar weight, 1.5 times the horsepower of my current bike), and I have never gone above 115 mph in any vehicle I've driven (and probably less than that; my speedo only goes to 85, being an '81, so I can't be sure).

That being said, while in the states I won't risk getting a ticket like that, some roads it is expected that you go 90 mph in Mexico here at least, and it is not even frowned upon to go even 110mph when hurrying, so... There are times... Like my 15 hour drive a week ago that was over 600 miles... Would have definitely liked to have a higher top cruising speed available, was definitely pushing the bike as hard as I safely could for that kind of distance, cruising at 90mph or so for most of that. (Would have meant less night driving, which is the real danger in Mexico.)

All that being said, thinking about it, I bet even cruising at 115 on this bike isn't 8k in 5th, no? Anyways, I highly doubt I'll take the bike to anything near its limit for quite some time. I do have a cousin with an '01 Ninja 600, though, and I do intend on someday having some fun and going to a closed track with him, when I get the suspension up to spec.

Never said "frequently", no reason to assume I'm a hooligan based on my wanting the best possible tuned engine...

But knowing that you get up there so rarely that you can't comment on it does make that seem a little less relevant, so I'm glad to have heard that.

There's an '86 I'm in serious discussions over, by the way, for anyone who was "wondering". I'd rather an '89 or an '84 (ideal front end or ideal-for-me-engine+bodywork+lightweight), but it's a good bike at the right price in good shape, just needing electrical work supposedly, and its a fair compromise of what I want and I know I'll enjoy it. I'll start a thread about it, actually.

As to the Harley/Helmet discussion... I never cease to be amazed... It's like they write the south park episodes for them. "No, then his neck would be broken!"

You just can't write this stuff. Honestly, I find riding without a full face helmet unpleasant unless it's very low speed; wind and noise suck, you know?

[RichBaker]

You do realize that the speed limits in Mexico are in KPH, and NOT MPH, don't you?  I live 60 miles from the border, been down there many times over my 54 year life, and have NEVER seen a Mexican speed limit over 60 MPH....   

[fintip]

Not the listed speed limit, but I had my host in Monterrey tell me I shouldn't take such-and-such toll road because I cruised at 'only' 130kph, and people go faster there.

15 hours of straight riding at about that speed, no problems. I was passed a couple times. I even passed 3 cops, though I think I had toned it down around them a bit because I was closer to towns--but definitely still 'speeding'. The posted speed limit is absurdly low most places here.

As far as never seeing a speed limit here over 60, do some more driving... 100 and 110 are common on the toll roads.