Son of SoCal Fix-Up: We just can't resist improving them, can we?

[threejagsteve]

Thanks, David,

Yes, I'd already resigned myself to a morning of cleaning before I can get to the fun part.

Also will have to bend and drill a reservoir support bracket. I'm figuring on using strap stock - don't think it needs to be terribly robust - mostly just to keep the reservoir from flopping around, but it'll need to be stronger than a bent coat hanger wire, eh?

[threejagsteve]

My name's Steve, and now my levers don't match either!  

An all-day job, but the R1 brakes are on now!  

Wound up with some rather corkscrewy s/s lines that were made for the stock FJ setup, but they seem like they'll work, and it's all together and half-bled.

All morning on cleaning and a close inspection. Decided to use ablout 5" of 3/8" aluminum tubing for the reservoir brace; flattened both ends, drilled holes, bent one end ~90* and attached it through the M6 allen that keeps the clipon from pivoting on the stanchion tube. I'd raised the tubes 1/4" when I reassembled the forks and bought longer bolts (and spacer washers) for those bolts anyway since I didn't want the clipons to also be lower.

After dinner, I bled the system until I could tell that it was time to let it "settle" as it says in the service manual (wasn't making any more progress, just running fluid through it).

So in theory, all I should have to do in the morning is finish the bleeding, and I'll FINALLY be good to go! (At least until I hatch the next plot, that is... heh-heh-heh)

[threejagsteve]

I just knew there would be yet another fly in the ointment...

I've got brakes (a.m. bleed was successful) but no brake lights! The seller had removed the switch from the underside of the m/c, and of course the FJ part doesn't fit! 

But she's all together at long last, and I'm gonna risk it and go for a ride!

[threejagsteve]

We don' need no steenking brake lights!

Wow! Feels like a whole different bike!

'Course with all I did, it's hard to separate the contribution of each change, but steering is quicker and sharper, and I've got real front tire feedback now! Before. everything was kinda numb. The forks are quite a bit stiffer, but still supple.

And yes, the front brakes are much better too; not sure how much is due to the R1 calipers and m/c, and how much to the s/s lines.

Both of the good and close canyons are still closed due to our recent fires, but I was still able to get in a pretty good test ride, nibbling on tasty bits here and there. It was so hot that the t-shirt underneath my leather jacket was soaked by the time I got home and sweat was dripping off my nose.

But yes, it was all worthwhile!

Now if I could just find a good pair of Supertrapp slipons...

[simi_ed]

My best guess was SS ≈30%, R1 parts ≈70%.  I did my swap & direct A/B comparo on old shitty radial.  New tires added about 20% improvement in my stopping power, according to my seat-o-pants accelerometer.

[Dan Filetti]

I gotta figure you could fab something up as a brake switch for the time being -I know you said the FJ switch won't work, but could it be MADE to work with a little persuasion/ ingenuity -at least until you can get it properly sorted?

Just wondering,

Dan

   

[threejagsteve]

I gotta figure you could fab something up as a brake switch for the time being -I know you said the FJ switch won't work, but could it be MADE to work with a little persuasion/ ingenuity -at least until you can get it properly sorted?

Yeah, Dan, I probably could figure something out if I had to, but a new one is only $16... and it'll be at Pasadena Yamaha on Monday.

[threejagsteve]

My best guess was SS ≈30%, R1 parts ≈70%.  I did my swap & direct A/B comparo on old shitty radial.  New tires added about 20% improvement in my stopping power, according to my seat-o-pants accelerometer.

Ed, it sounds like you made a bit of a science project out of it... Did you happen to try the R1 m/c with the 4-pot FJ calipers?

[Dan Filetti]

I gotta figure you could fab something up as a brake switch for the time being -I know you said the FJ switch won't work, but could it be MADE to work with a little persuasion/ ingenuity -at least until you can get it properly sorted?

Yeah, Dan, I probably could figure something out if I had to, but a new one is only $16... and it'll be at Pasadena Yamaha on Monday.

That'll do.  Just thought you were going to need another 7-ish days for the parts.  Which, given that you've just got got it back together after many weeks, (a good chunk of which was waiting on parts), wouldn't do at all.

Ride safe!

Dan

[threejagsteve]

Just thought you were going to need another 7-ish days for the parts. 

Yeah, I would have had to wait another week if I was having it sent from one of the cheap parts places on the East Coast again.

But the shipping charges would have eaten up any savings, so I'm getting it local and quicker!

Cheers!
threejagsteve

[simi_ed]

No science project, just a good/vivid memory of how crappy the brakes were and the marked improvements made along the way.  The 'ol FJ never had the stopping power to get the rear off the ground, and would not lock the front wheel ever, plus the feel was not too impressive either. 
After I put on the new lines, it got better, front tire would at least howl and chirp a tad.  When I put on the new calipers, I had 2-3 wheel lock incidents and scared myself silly.  Why was I even thinking of riding on 11-12 year old rubber???
At that point  I went to Michelin Power Roads on a new YZF front wheel.  Now, there's more and stickier rubber on the ground, and occasionally the wheel tire skips off the ground.  I'm happy, and she stops like a modern bike with no great drama.
Never tried the YZF M/C, went with the FZR 14mm that came with the calipers, and it essentially matches the stock clutch M/C as well.  Good enough for me!

[threejagsteve]

Ah, yes, Ed, your setup came from an FZR... sometimes this alphabet soup gets the better of me! 

But you have a YZF front wheel, not the usual '87-'88 FZR1000? How'd that work? You have to make a sleeve?

Still, a 14-mm m/c is a 14-mm m/c - Sounds like your reservoir is a better match than my solution, but I'll bet the m/c innards are interchangeable.

But it sounds like you put on the new calipers before or at the same time as the m/c and never went back. So, assuming that's correct, the answer to my original question would be "No."

[threejagsteve]

Brake switch on yesterday.

Today, ~25 mi. of:


for ~60 mi. of:


A nice ride, but too damned hot!

They've repaved Little Tujunga Canyon since the last time I rode it, about 15 years ago... used to be 1 lane in spots, treacherous, crumbling pavement, and 500-ft dropoffs in spots. Now, it's a good 2-lane blacktop end to end! (But the cliffs are still there.)

Bike performed great, kept its composure through a downshift in the middle of a posted-10 mph uphill hairpin (100-ft. cliffs!) and tracked well through a bump in the middle of an 85-mph sweeper (freeway). Better than it's ever been! And of course R1 brakes are also a big improvement!

[simi_ed]

Correction: I have the FZR front wheel, with new bearings.  Correct OD, 15 mm ID, pound 'em, tap 'em in, new rubber, ride away.  That extra 1/2" of wheel adds about 1/2" of width to the contact patch (at least when vertical).  More stopping power to use. stick better in turns, leaps higher, faster that a locomotive ...

Sorry, I got carried away. 

[andyb]

No science project, just a good/vivid memory of how crappy the brakes were and the marked improvements made along the way.  The 'ol FJ never had the stopping power to get the rear off the ground, and would not lock the front wheel ever, plus the feel was not too impressive either.  
After I put on the new lines, it got better, front tire would at least howl and chirp a tad.  When I put on the new calipers, I had 2-3 wheel lock incidents and scared myself silly.  Why was I even thinking of riding on 11-12 year old rubber???
At that point  I went to Michelin Power Roads on a new YZF front wheel.  Now, there's more and stickier rubber on the ground, and occasionally the wheel tire skips off the ground.  I'm happy, and she stops like a modern bike with no great drama.
Never tried the YZF M/C, went with the FZR 14mm that came with the calipers, and it essentially matches the stock clutch M/C as well.  Good enough for me!

My FJ with stock brakes will lift the rear wheel without much trouble.  Biggest improvement was installing sticky front rubber....  They don't feel like much, but absolute power isn't the problem.