FJ1346 from ashes to... Well, we'll see...

[FJ1100mjk]

and it's so damn [hard] to keep it from turning into a who rides harder pissing contest. All I can say is, I'm tired of it man.

You're missing something here. Pissing contests along with: one-upmanship, know-it-allism, look-at-what-I-did/got, group think, and herd mentality, (use this space for your additions) are integral qualities of this forum. You need to get with the program here.

[ribbert]

Mike, I read an account of a weekend ride a couple of years ago involving Kevin Magee and half a dozen motorcycle journo's
You most likely have not heard of Kevin Magee (Aus), but he rode for the Kenny Roberts Yamaha team, was team mate to Wayne Rainey, was the only rider to ever grace the podium in three different world championships in one year etc.

The journo's no doubt consider themselves pretty slick riders, after all it it what they do for a living.

On this ride, as described by one of the journalists, they were all thrashing the bikes to within an inch of their lives, so as not embarrass themselves in such esteemed company, knee dragging, braking hard and so on while Kev was just cruising along, in at least one gear higher most of the time, giving the appearance of being on a leisurely afternoon cruise, with one exception, he was passing them all at whim. The writer could not believe just how relaxed he looked and the fact that he did not appear to be going fast.

He made riding faster than them all look like a stroll in the park.

Riding is for fun and over the course of a day I ride sections at all sorts of pace dictated by all sorts of variables and conditions. At the end of the day the best I can ask for is to get home in one piece and to reflect on the days riding with a great sense of satisfaction and a lot of fun. The only "bar" I am riding against is my own skills.

If I'm hanging off the inside of my bike with everything scraping and some kid whizzes through on the inside with one hand on his hip looking back at me as he passes, so what, I'm having fun.

As for the brakes, have a look at Capn' Ron and Monkey Mark's bikes in the photo below, I wonder just how much difference there is in the surface area of the two discs and how you would go about determining the surface area of each? I wouldn't be surprised it they were much the same.

Noel

[Pat Conlon]

Very well said Noel....I agree smooth is fast, cars, bikes, running, skiing whatever...

Hey Mike, sorry to jump in on this late...so you cooked your pads huh? Happens often to the Miata track guys. After arriving at the track we have to change our brake pads to track pads which have a higher temp. rating. We can't use these track pads on the street because they don't heat up fast enough.

The thermal capacity of the rotor is not the issue, it's the pad compound.

Regardless...I agree with you....if you are cooking HH pads on the street, something's wrong.

[Mark Olson]

Hey mike,
I am even later than Pat on this one .. Brake problems .
Ditch those wave china rotors and get some EBC pro-lites and use the HH pads . That's the setup .
For maximum riding pleasure use a little trail braking with the rear brake as well.
As many here have stated smooth is fast . However ride your bike as you feel comfortable .
I have found the fj works best for me, with engine braking and minimal actual brakes applied for the twisties.
Panic stops should be practiced often.

ON a side note : if your fj is wanting to stand up when brakes are applied you have a suspension balance problem .. probably due to front springs are too soft.

This is my opinion and probably already been stated somewhere on this site by someone else.

MarkO.
 

[FJmonkey]

So good to see a post from you old friend....
 

[Mark Olson]

So good to see a post from you old friend....
 

Yeah , it has been a while.

[aviationfred]

I know that I am really late on commenting on the brake issue. We all know the Arashi rotors are Chinese made Galfer knock-offs. I know that there have been tens of thousands of miles ridden by this forums members using the Arashi rotors

Recently in another thread, another member posted that his knock-off wave rotors were trashed and the spoolies that connect the steel rotor to the aluminum hub had rusted. From what I saw of the other thread. The rotors were NOT Arashi brand and very well could be made of sub standard materials. Possibly Mike got ahold of a set of these bad rotors???

[skymasteres]

Well, I'm at it again. One week before the rally and I finally decided to get the beast back up and running. He's been sitting in the cycle shell in quite the dilapidated state.

Of course step one is getting the doner engine dropped.

[skymasteres]

Well then, it's really prep time. And that means it's time to roll the Beast out of its shell and get started on fixin him. (Poor bugger has been laid up since the accident.)
I don't know why, the engine got me home, and around for a few short runs, but when I cranked him up to move, he started pissing oil everywhere. I knew that the engine was on borrowed time since I put it together after the 1346 threw a rod through the case. Ended up having to reuse the 120k+ mile pistons and cylinder block that was totally shot. Though I did end up putting about 10k miles on it. (Ring gaps were huge when I put it together, and the valve stem seals I used leaked from day one) Between that and the fact that the output and shift seals, and the base gasket was leaking, it was time to put a new mill in.







Getting these things out is always a chore.



I got an 86 FJ1200 as a parts bike with a known blown engine, so I started with taking the engine out of it last week.  Figured I'd run a compression test , but it turns out I was getting a zero on all but one cylinder because the head wasn't fully bolted down. (It was actually curious to find all the evidence on how far the last guy went down the rabbit hole trying to fix it.)




It's funny that I had to bolt one of the frame rails back on for the side stand because this one doesn't have a center stand.



Okay, this doesn't bode well. Looks like I got a little bit of water in the case. And I pumped it all through the engine when I added oil and cranked it for a compression test.



These little dollies from Harbor Freight are great for throwing an engine on and wheeling it around the shop.




Yup, that's a god awful slurry.



It's EVERYWHERE!



It's all the way up on the cams too.


Although on a side note. Sometimes there are good surprises.



Time to throw the sucker in the parts washer and flush it out.

[moparman70]

Go Mike Go ---get'er done --------- amazing pics


steve

[Pat Conlon]

Hey Mike...What the hell was in that crank case? I've never seen oil foam up like that.

You have your work cut out for you....

Looking forward to seeing you at the rally. Is Lilly coming?

[FJscott]

Looks like yoohoo doesn't make good lubricating oil

[Capn Ron]

I snuck over to his place and topped up the crankcase with Guinness.   

[aviationfred]

That is the new food grade lube.... 

Seriously..... The last time I saw oil like that was when I worked in a meat processing plant and a gearbox was drained. A lot of water and oil mixed together gets creamy.   

Fred

[Capn Ron]

Yeah...I've seen it get frothy like that with a blown head gasket in an SBC.  My question is...where did the water come from?  Rain?