Found a 84 fj1100

[VaughanCustoms]

Hello everyone I am new to the site and new to the motorcycle world. I build cars and have always wanted to own and ride a motorcycle. I restored a 1967 Mercury Cougar myself from the ground up and have a fully built 1998 Mustang Cobra that I built as well. I was looking at alot of different bikes and a guy I work with used to race bikes and told me about the fj1100 and fj1200. This bike seems to fit my personality because I like to be different. I found a 1984 fj1100 near where I live and the guy got a new job in another state and this has been sitting in his storage. When he bought the bike the paint was bad so he took the fairings off. Its kind of a streetfighter look now. The bike has been sitting for like 8 months but he has started it a rode it a little here and there in this 8 months. Its been rejetted, has k&ns, and some aftermarket exhaust. He wanted $1800 for it but after talking to him we just kind of got to know eachother and he seems like a real honest guy and anyways the price now sits at $1200. I am curious to know this bike has a little over 20,xxx miles on it if there is anything I need to look for or anything. I researched a little and found there is issues with shifting mainly in 2nd gear and I asked if he has ever run across this. He said there was a few times he felt it not engage but he was patient and eazed it into gear and no problems. I love the bike but don't want to get into something that I will have to do a lot on to get back going and don't really want a bike that will give me issues. Let me know what you think. Thanks

[fintip]

The second gear issue is in no way a deal breaker. It will just give you trouble when trying to drag race. It is fixable, and it either takes money or time, your pick.

If everything else is good with the bike and you like it, that sounds like a fair price. Plastics will be expensive, though, if your bike doesn't come with them and you want them.

This is a big bike for a beginner; you might consider something that isn't so powerful.

[VaughanCustoms]

My brother has a shadow and I have riden around on it a few times. Just like in cars I use caution before I open things up or whatever to be on the safe side. I like the factory fairings but I wont lie he has the 2 headlight streetfighter headlights on it and a aftermarket all in one gauge thats pretty sweet. He has the front fairing with original gauges still and had the other fairings but apparently when he got divorsed his wife threw them out   I just got a message from him saying he started it on Saturday and idled a little rough but smothed out. Seems to be all there and in pretty good running order just not 100%
Just trying to get some opinions and seeing if there are things I should look out for.

[Thmsdoyle]

What it would take to get it back on the streets and being dependable is hard to determine without really looking the bike over. The key would be how it was maintained. If it was maintained fairly well one would think it would be minimal items. I think minimal would still consist of items like, clutch slave & master cylinder rebuild, rear brake master cylinder rebuild, carb cleaning and synchronizing them, tune up, inspect front & rear wheel bearings, inspect triple tree bearings. Again it depends on the upkeep of the bike. These are good bikes, known to run into the 80,000 to 100,000 mile range pretty easily. Sounds like you have a good back round, bikes are like cars. If they smoke when there running there is more than likely big issues. Plastics can be found if you take your time, they are ebay often. Items like the lower chin fairing will most likely be found as a aftermarket item.
Hope this helps.
Tommy D.

[VaughanCustoms]

The guy said he only ran premium gas in it and always did his oil changes. I mean the fact that it has been sitting for a little bit though a little smoke would be expected right? The tires are in pretty good shape as they are fairly new. How much does all of that tune up stuff and getting the carbs synced cost? I have built automotive motors both my 289 in the Cougar and my DOHC 4.6 in the Cobra is this stuff pretty straight forward? I mean in my mind a motor is a motor? Normally I would not mind doing work and spending money but at the moment on a tight budget and looking for a fun bike that I can commute to and from work on as well to save on some gas as my Cobra burns premium and gets 10-14 mpg

[Thmsdoyle]

The guy said he only ran premium gas in it and always did his oil changes. I mean the fact that it has been sitting for a little bit though a little smoke would be expected right? The tires are in pretty good shape as they are fairly new. How much does all of that tune up stuff and getting the carbs synced cost? I have built automotive motors both my 289 in the Cougar and my DOHC 4.6 in the Cobra is this stuff pretty straight forward? I mean in my mind a motor is a motor? Normally I would not mind doing work and spending money but at the moment on a tight budget and looking for a fun bike that I can commute to and from work on as well to save on some gas as my Cobra burns premium and gets 10-14 mpg

You may not need to do much to the master cylinders. However my thought is once rebuilt you have just improved reliability. Remember this is a 29 year old bike! You can look on Rpmracingca.com good resource for parts. To rebuild master cylinders and clutch slave cylinder your looking around 130 dollars (off the top of my head). You can synch the carbs yourself, what you have done on your cars tells me you have the knowledge to do this. A Haynes manual tells how to synch the carbs, its pretty easy. You need a vacuum gauge, it can be done with one gauge but two makes easier. I did my carbs a few weeks ago took me about an hour. Again if he has taken care of it there may not be a lot to do? Look it over good take it for a ride if your able to .

[VaughanCustoms]

Ok fair enough, thanks so much
What kind of fuel mileage do you guys get around town if your out of the throttle? About how much are the oil changes? Any other things I am missing that you should do regularly? The oil change intervals are they the same as cars or less or more?

[baldy3853]

  welcome to the forum lots of fun here, even running like a hairy goat the mileage should be better then you car,
get a manual check your plugs look ok and the gap is set correctly, check the air cleaner, change the oil and oil filter make sure u don't pinch the wires when putting the oil filter back on and so long as your not leaking fluid from the brakes or the clutch slave cylinder you will be fine 

[VaughanCustoms]

Anyone here know of anyone who lives in Georgia that may be able to lend a hand on this thing. I have a strong mechanical background but at the same time this is my first experiance working on a bike. I don't want to turn a running bike into a not running bike lolz.

[RichBaker]

If you can rebuild an engine, you can pull and clean the carbs... They're pretty simple. There's a tutorial in the files section.  With everything right, you can expect 40+MPG....

[VaughanCustoms]

OK sounds good, I am exited. Oh the bike doesn't have the lower air dam is this best for cooling and for air intake? This bike does have the k&ns on it already. I can buy one if it helps with cooling being it is a air cooled bike? Anyone run a spall electric fan or anything?

[FJmonkey]

The bike is air cooled, keep her moving and keep her cool, kookaloo

[RichBaker]

I've been riding without the lower cowl for a LOT of years, in Tucson, AZ.....  No problems with heat. Took it off because a good friend moved to a house in an area with unimproved roads, and I didn't want to bust it on the rocks....

[poker007]

OK sounds good, I am exited. Oh the bike doesn't have the lower air dam is this best for cooling and for air intake? This bike does have the k&ns on it already. I can buy one if it helps with cooling being it is a air cooled bike? Anyone run a spall electric fan or anything?

Welcome to the site, on the lower air dam; mine on my 85 was all tore up. i found one on flea-bay ,all fiberglass aftermarket, fur 130, it just came in today .. IMO .i think  it will help out at high speeds Most likely it will help stabilize the FJ by directing wind..Good luck on the bike,, and be carefull This is a very fast first bike,
MarkG

[VaughanCustoms]

This may sound like a generic and maybe common sense question but I plan on cleaning the tank out and the carbs, putting good gas in it, change the oil, put a new plug in it. Question is so I can have things ready what kind of spark plugs is popular for this bike? Any particular oil filters better than others? What oil is used weight? How much do you need? What are the better oil brands? I feel like I will pick up on everything quick but don't want to make mistakes early on in the process and mess anything up.