Older versus newer street bikes

[fj11.5]

My guess on the indicators, , if you still have the large non fairing mounted ones,  they flop forward when stopping hard  ,, wouldn't sell the fj,s but would love a 916, , paningale,, mv,  ect ect

[ken65]

i cant really comment on this with any knowledge because the fj's the newest bike ive ridden, seems modern to me,even has a digital time piece in the dash, 

[Klavdy]

You ever ridden one without a helmet?
Sound like a galvanised bucket full of broken glass and rusty bolts.

Gotta say, mine has the usual starter chain rattle when cold etc. But what I like doing is when doing highway speeds, duck my head down behind the screen out of the wind and listen, everything sounds turbine smooth, no noise, engine is just spot on, just humming along.  

Yeah, they're ok when you've got your helmet on but without one,it's really noisy and odd for most of us Aussies who don't remember ever not wearing them on a road bike.
I rode for a bit in Arizona sans helmet a few times, didn't like it much.
Same with seatbelts, we just take it as normal to put a seat belt on, don't even think of it.

[Bones]

The first bike I ever rode was an old army BSA in the late sixty's when I was about 10yrs old. A succession of bikes followed, all at least 15 to 20 yrs older than I was at the time.

I think the most modern bike I ever had was a 79 Honda 750 bol'dor in about 1986. I've now got a 1979 Suzuki gt 250 x7 which is 34 yrs old, along with a 1993 fj 1200 which is 20 yrs old.

I love riding both of them for what they are, simple air cooled bikes that give you the buzz when needed, are easy to fix, have a certain soul about them, and attract attention when parked (especially the Suzuki).

Never ridden a modern bike to compere, but for me, old over new anytime.

[Bill_Rockoff]

What does it mean to outbrake your turn signals?

I have an '89, with the front turn signals that are part of the fairing.  The fairing has little tabs where steel clips slide on, which the screws screw into to hold the indicators in place. Because Yamaha's plastic age-hardens and gets brittle, all those tabs are broken. The air scoops are the same way.  So, there's no way to hold any of these parts onto the bike. The scoops, I have secured with zip ties. (This after losing one on the highway last year.) But there's no good way to get zip ties around the front of the fairing, so consequently the main thing holding my turn signals into my fairing is - wind.

And if I braked hard enough on a bumpy road, the turn signals would  fall out the front, and the lenses would hit the ground. I have had to get off the bike at an intersection to retrieve them.

I have since secured the lenses to the housings with non-stock hardware, so now the wires keep the assemblies from leaving the bike entirely. But sometimes  they do protrude a bit, like a cartoon character's eyes, under hard braking.

[Yamifj1200]

This post has been an interesting read no doubt, I keep my FJ in good shape and still enjoy riding it. I am aware that newer bikes are out there that can out run, out brake and out corner the old FJ with ease. When I first bought my bike back in 1993 is was one of the best bikes on the planet and I was its proud owner touting its ability to anyone willing to listen. Over the years I have made a few nice upgrades that have kept me happy with some of the weaker items on the bike that I could change.  Our friendship has grown to the point where no one anywhere would every consider it as special as I do.

After all these years I know I wont ever sell the bike, I may buy something else at some point but its the fact that we have spent so much time together on so many rides, sharing so many miles together building a strong bond between rider and machine. We are just good friends after all these years and I'm not ready to end that just yet. It has also been a bike that has allowed me to meet so many good folks over that time and I would not trade that fact for anything. I remember meeting Bill R on the Blue Ridge parkway and chatting with him long before there was a FJ Owners Group online. I also remember chatting with FJ owners all over the world  before I'd ever met them in person. Some of these FJ's owners have become my best friends and for that I am grateful.

To me some bikes are just good enough to hang on to. The FJ is one of those bikes..


Eric M

[baldy3853]

TOOL 

Tool?
Baldy, my FJR1300 crashing mate,

What you forgot to mention was the stupid bitch who crashed into me cause I was OUT RIDING my bike not talking about it!!! Tool
  indeed you've been told time after time that you are no longer a teenager but in fact a fat,
Fat I may be but I can always lose weight but ugly you will always be !!!
bald,
Bald I am by choice!!

middle aged man
Middle aged you tosser Im fu##ing old get it right !!!
yet still you debase these pages with them.
At least I own a FJ not an Italian piece of crap or that British junk pile

[Dads_FJ]

What I find interesting, is that all the comments of why we love the bike, even though it's old, sounds like a tractor, heavy, there's modern technology in newer bikes, we love them because of the memories and character... all these comments could be found on any Harley thread.  Maybe we have more in common than we think.

[Pat Conlon]

.....Maybe we have more in common than we think.

Very true, and not just the Harley's, include the BMW's, Triumph's, BSA's, Norton's, and all the old school UJM Honda/Kawasaki/Suzuki/Yamaha's.

If I had to pick any old school bike to fuss over...the winner is the mighty FJ.

Now if I can only figure out how to get fuel injection on it.... Futzing with the carbs and the ethanol gas is getting old.

[pdxfj]

The one benefit to the FJ is they are a rather simple design which makes for a reliable machine.  Even abused engines with burn valves still run fairly well.  Given the Japanese track record for making reliable machines, just about any bike could be considered totally reliable.  Sure the newer bikes have computes, sensors, etc but all of those items have a very low failure rate compared to the past.

As far as the plastics becoming brittle, it happens with age, heat, gas, oil, etc.  Just about all of the issues can be taken care of and improved with a little bit of work.  Doing a carb sync, replacing missing foam and such can greatly reduce vibes.

I too have had the issues with the front signals on my '87.  A bit of repair work with a product called "Plast-Aid" or "Devcon Plastic Repair" makes things better than new.  Repairs I made years ago are still holding strong.

http://www.devcon.com/products/products.cfm?family=Plastic%20Welder%E2%84%A2

http://www.plast-aid.com/

One example of missing vibration absorbing materials would be on the inner faring panels.  I noticed mine were missing a rubber trim piece that isolates the tank from the side panels and missing foam that makes a snug fit from the inner panel to the faring.  I found some thin, self adhesive foam and used some black rubber window trim instead of paying for OEM Yamaha parts.  I can't remember the last time I heard the 4k buzz.

[Vsekvsek]

I look at some motorcycles as fine wines. Certain years represent the era and designs seemed to match accordingly. My 89 was a good year. Soviet union was crumbling, we where riding high off new optimism and wealth. An overall good year.

[FeralRdr]

Being as how I just went through this quandary, I'll offer my thoughts on the subject.  First off, I purchased my FJ brand new from the dealer in 1987.  My previous bike had been an '85 Honda V65 Saber.  I wasn't happy with the Saber as I found it tall, top heavy, and very intimidating in tight corners.  To be honest, many of the deficiencies that I found with the bike, were in no small part due to my inexperience.  I bought the V65 because I thought that my 700 Saber was too small for me, and that a larger displaced bike would offer better ergos, and that extra HP would never hurt.  So there I was at one of the local Yamaha dealers, and there she was.  Sitting on the show room floor looking sultry and drop dead gorgeous.  Her bright crimson and purest alabaster hues mesmerizing me and filing me with a lust  so profound, I knew that I was doomed to slake it in the bosom of her power and the siren's call of her exhaust tone.  So, one week later I made an offer, and as a result had 23 years of bliss.

However, life moves on: we grow and change, we learn new things, and end up exploring new possibilities and experiences.  Sadly, this means we sometimes grow apart from our loved ones.  Over time, I found that many of the roads I used to love riding, just weren't the same any more.  I found that I started gravitating to the more tighter and twisty roads.  The FJ handled herself well, but I always felt a little uncomfortable asking more of her.  Oh, I certainly wasn't pushing her anywhere near her maximum limits, but I was certainly bumping up against mine, and didn't feel comfortable pushing more out of her.  I assumed that was all there was to it.  Then one day, I was seduced.
   
A friend and mentor, suggested that I ride his little KLX250SF.  Though I balked at first (it's only a small little 250 I thought), I eventually accepted his offer.  Though initially a little apprehensive  by the thought of a mishap on a friends bike, after  just a few curves on Washougal River Road (a local twisty delight in our neck of the woods), I became quickly enthralled by the little minx's agility and quickness in the corners. "What's that baby?" she would purr to me, "You want kitten to lean over a little more?  No problem Tiger, I'm going to take good care of you.  Just don't be gentle".  As I learned the nuances of that little machine, I quickly found out what she meant by that last statement.  She had agility and grace, but definitely lacked power.  The power that I had taken for granted on the FJ was something the little minx lacked in a huge way.  In the twisties that didn't matter, and I quickly learned to manage the power I had.  However, in the straits it could be downright frustrating.  Especially when I happened upon slower moving traffic and I was already wide open in top gear.  Passing definitely became a challenge, and in some cases down right frustrating as I would whip her hard while trying to pass (if I could).  Do to this one issue, I knew I would never swap my great lady for the little tramp.  Still, through out that day and every subsequent ride on her after, I always ended up with a huge ass grin.  The type of grin that only a proctologist could chase off your face.

As a result of my new infatuation, I decided to make my lady more accommodating for my riding style: heavier fork springs here, new Penske shock there, and finally switching over to Avon Azaros.  All great improvements, but I still wasn't satisfied.  I quickly found myself in the dilemma, of how much did I want to spend to make her more like what I wanted.  That also led to deciding how far I wanted to go.  If I spend the time and money to improve her handling, should I not also spend the money to have the engine rebuilt when it comes time?  As her mileage continued upwards, I kept having to think about this.  I finally came to the conclusion that for me, it didn't make sense.  After all the money I would have spent, I still wouldn't have what I absolutely wanted.  My lady was just too heavy for where I wanted to go with the improvements, and she still would be a twenty plus year old machine with inevitability of having to fix something else that was wearing out.  With the money I would have put into modding her, I probably could have bought a decent used bike, that was lighter, more nimble, and with newer technology.  So with this realization, I chose to accept my lady for what she was, and put my spare change into saving up for a new machine to eventually replace her.  Oh I would still put money into her to keep her running and to solve problems that were important to me, but would forgo performance enhancements that weren't absolutely necessary.  For example, Randy's RPM Oil Cooler.  When visiting Arizona, I noticed that the FJ really didn't like the heat when we were running in temps well over 100^oF.  Randy's oil cooler solved that problem, and she ran just fine the following year's trip (last summer).

Flash forward to the beginning of April.  An old friend of mine calls and says that he just got a small windfall and wanted to know if I was still thinking about selling my FJ.  His question took me a little off guard, as I hadn't really planned on selling the FJ until the following spring. However, since he was serious, I told him I would think about it for a few days and get back with him.  So, after thinking about it for awhile, I came to the realization that it just made too much sense to sell the 'Old Girl' off.  First off, I had over 86,000 miles on her.  If I waited until next spring, she would probably have well over 95,000 on her, and if that was the case, I didn't expect to get as much as I would have liked.  Also, I had just spent about $500 on rebuilding my carburetors, and replacing my fork seals.  Meaning, that every time I was fixing the FJ, I was taking money out of the new bike fund to fix the old bike.  I therefore decided to finally let her go and accept my friends offer.  Effective 9 April 2013, I've been FJless.  She's now with someone who appreciates her for what she is and what she is capable of doing, and he doesn't place excessive demands on her.  I'm OK with this.  I've said my goodbyes, and know that she is being well taken care of.

As for me, well this is what I got: 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 (Z1000SX)







Lighter than the FJ, shorter wheelbase, a little more power, and basically all the new technology.  Plus, a 5 gallon fuel tank for just a little more range than some of her contemporaries.  Obviously not for everyone, but for me she's everything I wanted in a replacement for the FJ.  A lighter more nimbler dance partner, yet with the long legs needed for an all day ride and then some.  After 600 miles, I have to agree with Klavdy on most of his assessment.  I disagree on the 'cheapness' impression of it, but maybe that's because mine is still so new it hasn't had time to develop the rattles in the fairing.  Time will tell of course.  On the other hand, one thing I do agree with him unequivocally, is that this machine will definitely not be a 'modern classic'.  As some have touched upon already, there is something about the FJ that just sets it apart.  I saw it the first time I laid eyes on the FJ in the dealership, and as Garth has mentioned, you see it every time your pulled over somewhere, and someone walks up to you and says something to the effect that they either had one or always wanted one.  I will miss that aspect of my old FJ, it did stand out in a crowd.  Though the Ninja may never be a modern classic, I'm OK with that as it does do everything that I wanted from a new bike.   

[ribbert]

One thing that hasn't been touched on much in this discussion is money.
New versus old is not a choice everyone has. I, like many others here I'm sure, ride on a budget.

An FJR cost $25,000 here, a really good FJ maybe $3000

I bought my bike after researching the best bang for buck for the amount of money I had to spend. I had no particular hankering to own an FJ.
At the time if I'd had more to spend I no doubt would have bought a later model bike. If I'd had even more money I would have bought a new one.

Now, If I had the money for a new bike, I would keep the FJ and the spend the money on something else.

Noel

[The General]

Nice epitaph Feral...but when me tears cleared I realised it was YOU who kicked out the one that honoured and obeyed. It was YOU who went for the younger sleek hussie with all the moves in the curves.
We`ve seen it before...You`ll be left with only an artificial legacy, while tales of chance historical encounters and conquered mountains will diminish as the younger expensive pup sucks all your Soul, to the point of senseless crasse murmerings... Then one day too soon, your pail will seem EMPTY... and it is YOU that will yearn for the Galvanised bucket with it`s heart beating to soul and cymbal.

[Steve_in_Florida]

...and it is YOU that will yearn for the Galvanized bucket with it`s heart beating to soul and cymbal.

...and then it will be HIM who will scan (craigslist, kijiji, flea-bay) for a suitable $1,500 to $3,000 replacement FJ!

I test rode my first FJ on the autobahn in Germany about a month after getting my motorcycle endorsement (~ `93). That set the hook for me, and I've been a loyal fan ever since.

I don't have any spare money (never have), so maintaining the FJ just seems like the way to go. She treats me right! (SO comfortable!)

Steve