New Member & '86 FJ1200 Possible Project

[Feasible]

Hello all, new member to the board but a long time FJ1200 owner, even if it's been parked for years. There within lies my dilemma.

Some history... I bought this Fj1200 in '94 and rode it as my primary vehicle up until about '98 when I took it apart and painted the frame and body flat and gloss black respectively and replaced a lot of worn and broken parts. From '99 to about '03, I rode her mainly on weekends to enjoy being out and riding. In '03, I started a tear down (again) to repair some bad work on the painting to the frame and due to a series of circumstances, the bike has since sat in the garage halfway torn apart.

Here's the dilemma, I want a working FJ again. I MISS RIDING THIS BIKE! Would it be worth the money to restore this bike that has been sitting for 10 years in the garage or should I just save my money and look to buy an '86-'89 in excellent condition? I did a quick search all craigslist and I know they are going for $2500-$3500 in great condition and low miles. Or I could spend that money restoring this one to mint condition.

I'm sure others have been down this road and I would appreciate any thoughts.

[FJmonkey]

I did a quick search all craigslist and I know they are going for $2500-$3500 in great condition and low miles. Or I could spend that money restoring this one to mint condition.

I'm sure others have been down this road and I would appreciate any thoughts.

You are asking the world wide group that thrives on owning FJs this question? What answer did you really expect? We love our FJs and would give our kidneys to keep them.... I just learned how to weld ABS plastic because I need to my 86' in the Kookaloo zone for my own sanity... Welcome to the club, introduce yourself...

AKA Red Power Ranger...

[Feasible]

Thanks for the welcome FJmonkey. There's no doubt I will have an FJ, just which one ! The wife has mostly convinced me to restore this one as a project for me and my 2 boys (not including the sentimental value it has).

As far as introductions, you've heard most of it but here's the story of true love finding its way. Back in '86 as a 16yo young man in Deep South Texas, I happened to sit on a new 86 Fj1200 on the dealer floor. Amazed on how well that bike fit me, I vowed I would buy one someday. Fast forward to 94 with some money burning a hole in my pocket, I went to the library to look at the classified ads in news papers from around Texas and found an 86 FJ for $1500 in San Antonio. I called the guy up and the next day he picked me and my helmet up from the airport so I could see and test drive the bike. 2 hours later, I was driving the 4 hours trip back home!

Now, I, the family and the bike are in Richardson Texas where we've been for the past 12 years. The itch to get a working FJ just recently hit when I started a new job 6 weeks ago and parked my Vulcan next to a beautiful FJR1300.

[FJmonkey]

Thanks for the welcome FJmonkey. There's no doubt I will have an FJ, just which one ! The wife has mostly convinced me to restore this one as a project for me and my 2 boys (not including the sentimental value it has).

As far as introductions, you've heard most of it but here's the story of true love finding its way. Back in '86 as a 16yo young man in Deep South Texas, I happened to sit on a new 86 Fj1200 on the dealer floor. Amazed on how well that bike fit me, I vowed I would buy one someday. Fast forward to 94 with some money burning a hole in my pocket, I went to the library to look at the classified ads in news papers from around Texas and found an 86 FJ for $1500 in San Antonio. I called the guy up and the next day he picked me and my helmet up from the airport so I could see and test drive the bike. 2 hours later, I was driving the 4 hours trip back home!

Now, I, the family and the bike are in Richardson Texas where we've been for the past 12 years. The itch to get a working FJ just recently hit when I started a new job 6 weeks ago and parked my Vulcan next to a beautiful FJR1300.

Yep, you are gonna fit in quite well, stay tuned and use the search function...

[movenon]

Welcome !!!! Yes you will fit right in. Your FJ has soul, history and it yours..... My advice is fix it ( I am living my advice). Even if you buy another it to will have to be fixed to some degree...  What part of the world are you in ? 
George

[Flynt]

I'm sure others have been down this road and I would appreciate any thoughts.

Been there with many projects throughout life.  The answer is within you...  do you want a pristine and perfect original with all of the period foibles or a modified version that performs more comparably with modern bikes.  I look at pristine restorable and think "I'll spend a fortune building the bike to start modding", then I jump to the pre-modded category to save on the mods.  Then I go ape shit and mod the crap out of it...  but that's just me.

My point is one must know their behavior well enough to make rational decisions given where you're going to end up in the end.  Good luck figuring it all out.

Frank

[aviationfred]

Welcome to the group. 

Moditus is a disease, that once you catch it, you can't stop.

Fred

[fj11.5]

Fix her,  but buy another just to keep you on an fj

Rod

[Feasible]

Yep, you are gonna fit in quite well, stay tuned and use the search function...

Welcome !!!! Yes you will fit right in. Your FJ has soul, history and it yours..... My advice is fix it ( I am living my advice). Even if you buy another it to will have to be fixed to some degree...  What part of the world are you in ? 
George

Thanks FJmonkey & George, I'm thinking I will fit in quite fine as well  . George, I live in Richardson, Texas and you are right, this bike definitely has a story and a soul. Thanks for the advice and the push I needed.

I'm sure others have been down this road and I would appreciate any thoughts.

Been there with many projects throughout life.  The answer is within you...  do you want a pristine and perfect original with all of the period foibles or a modified version that performs more comparably with modern bikes.  I look at pristine restorable and think "I'll spend a fortune building the bike to start modding", then I jump to the pre-modded category to save on the mods.  Then I go ape shit and mod the crap out of it...  but that's just me.

My point is one must know their behavior well enough to make rational decisions given where you're going to end up in the end.  Good luck figuring it all out.

Frank

Welcome to the group. 

Moditus is a disease, that once you catch it, you can't stop.

Fred

Frank, I was originally thinking of restoring to factory condition, but as I hear of and research the mods.... whoa! it does seem like a dark, but extremely fun road to go down. Fred thank you for the welcome, Moditus looks like one of the fun diseases Since I am tearing the bike down, this might be a good time to do some mods. Search and research will be fun over the next few weeks.

Fix her,  but buy another just to keep you on an fj

Rod

Rod, I wanted to do that. I saw a nice FJ in PA for 3k that I wanted to pick up but the budget just didn't work out to be able to do that AND restore mine. Great Sadness

[movenon]

Good on Richardson, Texas. The reason I ask is that we have members all over and there might be one or two close to your area that you can bounce ideas or problems off with along with the forum here. Also take some time and look at the Rally section video's and comments. If you get a chance attend one, you will have a good time and the people are great to know.
George

[Feasible]

Good on Richardson, Texas. The reason I ask is that we have members all over and there might be one or two close to your area that you can bounce ideas or problems off with along with the forum here. Also take some time and look at the Rally section video's and comments. If you get a chance attend one, you will have a good time and the people are great to know.
George

Thanks George, I would think that there would have to be other members in the DFW area, just a matter of finding them. the rallys also sound fun, I will take a look at the videos when I get a chance. Cheers.
Mike

[fj11.5]

Yes mate, its a shame all these great condition fj,s show up,  and just tease us as we can't afford them,  , sort yours out,you'll enjoy it 

[Feasible]

Happy 2016 everyone! Well, after having to deal with life and and waiting for the sh!t to settle in some form or fashion, I am finally starting the rebuild of the '86 FJ1200 I was asking about earlier (2.5 years ago!)! I am excited and trying not to feel overwhelmed with all the work I know that is ahead of me; but it's almost poetic that life forced me to wait till it's 30th BDay to start.

The holidays and January were spent prepping my work space and saving some money for the tools and stuff that will invariably be needed. Today I was able to begin. I figure I will continue this this thread for the rebuild and post / document as often as I can starting with today's work and progress in the next post. Looking forward to sharing this with you'all and thank you for any help in advance!

Mike

[Feasible]

Stardate... wait... wrong log.

So on my to do list today was to pop off the spark plugs, drop an endoscope to get an idea what condition the cylinders are in and then pour some Marvel Mystery Oil into them so it can start working it's magic while I tear apart the rest of the bike. This idea was suggested to me by both my current motorcycle mechanic and one of my close friends who spent many years as a motorcycle mechanic to help minimize or eliminate scoring the cylinder walls since it's likely the piston rings may have frozen to the walls.

? One of the items to research later and I will put out here to the forum is if it's worth doing the same to the crank case?

So I pulled off the gas tank to get to the plugs (inspecting the inside of the tank was also on the list for today, but more on that later) and blew off as much dust and crap as I could so I could pull the plugs off without introducing anything into the cyliders and come to discover that I no longer have a spark plug socket that fits!  So that task has been postponed. I did spray around the plug threads with penetrating oil so when I come back with the socket, they will come out easier.

To the gas tank inspection... Well, when I removed the tank, I heard not rattling, but thunks!! I dropped the endoscope in there and lo and behold, I find rocks of assorted sizes AND a hot wheels! Apparently the tank was probably a safe keeping place for one of my boys when they were young (now 19 & 15) since my 6yo tomboy princess vehemently denies that she put them there. :/ Well, I inspected the rest of the interior of the tank and it's entirely pitted with rust (I'll attach a picture as soon as I can).

? Does anyone have any ideas what would be the best process for removing the rust and restoring the tank to hold fuel?

That's it for today. The tomboy princess and I are going to enjoy the awesome sunny 75F degree weather and go to the park and ride our bikes.

Cheers!
Mike

[FJ1100mjk]

? Does anyone have any ideas what would be the best process for removing the rust and restoring the tank to hold fuel?

Cheers!
Mike

Hi Mike. Here's some reference material to read for methods on rust removal in the fuel tank. Personally, I have used Miracle Metal, and another from Sudco called Rustol. Both worked great for light to medium rust removal.

Fuel Tank Rust Removal Reference Info One

Fuel Tank Rust Removal Reference Info Two

Good luck!