Oldfjman

Welcome here Johnny ? From your use of the term Motorcycle Permit, I'd assume you're not from the UK - where do you hail from ? Also very curious about your XS - is the DOHC 400? - I really liked those when they came out in the early 1980's.. A good bike to bring back to its best ?

I think I don't have a problem because I ride about 5,000 miles a year on my mountain bike - the "seat" on that is tiny and hard. Liz and I regularly cycle +50 miles in a day, but we do it at an average speed of around 10mph, so we get lots of "saddle time", and riding the FJ feels like I'm being cosseted by a lovely fluffy cloud LOL. Seriously though, I've never had a numb backside issue on the FJ - I didn't even have an issue on my Aprilia RSV when doing long distance rides. Maybe I'm just lucky.

Thanks to all ? - the Irish countryside was great, despite the weather (we caught the brunt of the tropical storm that crossed the Atlantic). The biggest surprise to us was how quiet the roads were - outside of Belfast, we never even saw a hint of a traffic jam. We will definitely be going back (the ferry and B & B prices were very reasonable), but a little bit earlier in the year though.

No worries Mike - as you might guess, I don't take myself too seriously and am always happy to take feeedback and constructive criticism ?. Life is much too short to get upset about someone trying to help. Now that the FJ is back on the road, I'm retired, and I don't have the Aprilia to ride (it's still in the family though), I hope to be doing a lot more riding of the FJ ?

LOL - that's exactly what I wanted to hear Mike - I'm not a natural "writer" and ? I just tend to blurt things out as they come into my head. i like to let folks know about the good things we've seen and places we've visited - I like to hope that any of my info can help somebody with a visit plan sometime. Next time I'm on a trip, I'll try to keep it mind to be simpler/shorter - which will make it easier for me anyway. ??

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Not sure if their is right place for this, but I figured anyone interested would read it wherever I posted it. After completing (apart from some small cosmetics) my FJ refurb, I thought about giving it a brief shake-down ride to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything, or missed anything when putting it back together. What better way to do this shakedown than to take it on a 1200 mile road trip to Northern Ireland and back via the Lake District, Stranraer and Northumberland ?. We'd been promising our son (Ryan) a trip as his graduation present after finishing Uni, so with the time limitations we had and him wanting to see the Giants Causeway and visit Game of Thrones filming locations, Northern Ireland was the obvious choice for quick week-long trip. So, we packed everything up onto the 3 bikes (the FJ, Fazer 1000 and Fazer 600) in the glorious sunshine at home and went back into the house for a final cuppa and lunch before setting off for our overnight stop with friends in Cumbria. As soon as the kettle had boiled, it started to pee it down, so out came the waterproofs (first time this year) and the long faces - my first proper ride on the FJ that I'd spent months cleaning, polishing and painting, was going to be in a bloody rainstorm Heading up the M6 was cold and miserable, but all 3 bikes were running smoothly and soundly. After about 100 miles, the rain turned to light drizzle and by the time we reached Lancaster the sun was shining (although it was still chilly). The first fuel stop was at 202 miles, with the FJ fuel light having just come on, The 1000 showing just under 1/4 on the fuel gauge and the 600 showing just over 1/4) and then it was off to our overnight stop with friends, who unfortunately live at the end of a 1 and 1/2 mile dirt track, better suited to an enduro bike than 3 sports tourers - by now my once pristine FJ was filthy! Luckily for us, our friends have converted their garden shed into a bar, with a nice little log-burner pouring out some heat, so we immediately retired there for "refreshments" (and a very happy Liz and Ryan). The following morning was bright and breezy and we set off with a renewed sense of adventure, using back lanes to get to Gretna for a quick cuppa, before the trudge (but with a few nice bits) along the A75 to Stranraer and the ferry port. The late afternoon ferry crossing was a breeze and after landing in Larne we got our first taste of Northern Irish roads - wow, they're empty !! - for the short drive to the B & B. Just as we got there, the rain came again, so the bikes went into the "portable garage" that I'd stowed away in the FJ's luggage. The next few days riding took us up the coastal route (A2 and then the "scenic" coastal route) firstly on beautifully smooth, lightly trafficked roads through picturesque fishing villages and small towns, before branching off onto single lane, poorly maintained tracks with steep hills, tight hairpins and the occasional passing point, journeying up to Torr Head, the Carrick a Rede Rope Bridge and the Giants Causeway. Liz was not a happy bunny, but it didn't spoil her enjoyment of the whole experience as the sun shone for most of the day and the sights were fantastic. After the Causeway we stayed in Bushmills (yes, the home of the Whisky), sadly without doing a distillery tour and then headed south back into the drizzle (and the start of the really high winds) to Ballymoney for the Dunlop memorial garden. The weather had really turned to damp and cool, so we took to riding the back roads in around the hills east of Ballymoney before heading to Ballygally, back on the coast. At Torr Head (Liz and Ryan again) - can you spot the bikes ? Carrick a Rede Giants Causeway The final day in Northern Ireland saw us head south through Belfast - memorable only for the traffic - and down to Castle Ward (Winterfell, in Game of Thrones) for a fantastic day. Once past Belfast, we got on the back roads once again and really enjoyed the lightly trafficked, well maintained, winding and scenic roads to the south east. Castle Ward was well worth the visit, plenty to see, nice walks and even some (very easy) tourist cycling routes. If we'd have had the time, we could have spent 2 days there quite happily. Knowing we had the morning ferry back to Stranraer, we headed back to Larne, revelling in the empty roads......until we got back to Belfast and it's traffic (and the rain)...,.... and stopped off for a lovely "village pub" meal before settling in for our last night. Castle Ward/Winterfell The Sunken Garden The morning of the ferry was again blowing a gale and drizzling, but the wind was from the west and as we were headed to Northumberland and County Durham, it would be behind us all the way. The ferry crossing was uneventful, but as we'd been getting over 200 miles on each tank of fuel, we figured we wouldn't fill up before we left, thinking we'd fill up about 50 miles away from Stranraer. Safely strapped onto the ferry That was the worst decision of the trip - given that there's nowhere on the A75 to fill up once you get away from Stranraer, for about 75 miles. With clenched buttocks, we soldiered on with the FJ fuel light shining brightly until we reached the point where we could couldn't risk going any further and turned off into Castle Douglas and found Petrol !!!! At this point Ryan wanted to kill the person who'd designed the A75 to bypass all fuel stations and toilets for more than 75 miles. Feeling relieved and rejuvenated after the stop we headed east to Gretna again and then cross country to Brampton. After a couple of miles on the A69, we turned off at Greenhead onto the Military Road, running alongside Hadrians Wall on a beautiful empty, roller-coaster of a road. A quick refreshment stop at Chollerford saw the sun come out and us head towards Corbridge (feeling warm for the first time in nearly a week) and down the A68 before cutting back across country to visit my family for an overnight stay on the County Durham coast. The last and most boring day of our break (200 miles, of which 195 miles is motorway/dual carriageway) started in glorious sunshine and lovely warm temperatures and only got better through the day. We arrived home just after lunchtime, warm, cosy and happy. Once the bikes were unpacked, it was out with the washing gear, polish and lube and all 3 bikes were brought back to their pre-trip sheen. Now, the sharp minded amongst you might have noticed that I've not even mentioned any of the bikes, other than to highlight fuel tank range. That was deliberate because I'm very pleased to say that all 3 bikes performed flawlessly (certainly as expected for the 2 younger and regularly used Fazer's). To be honest, the FJ far exceeded my expectations; the steering and handling were much better than I expected and on it's 18/38 gearing we made great motorway/dual carriageway progress with it turning over at only 4,500 rpm. The handlebar swap was really successful with the bars being exactly where I expected/remembered them and the comfort was superb. No oil was used by either bike and no chain needed adjusting (I did one chain lube each bike on the trip). The FJ was the heaviest on fuel, but also carried the lions share of the luggage (and the heaviest items) - I didn't calculate exactly, but with over 200 miles on every tankful it was certainly not guzzling fuel (comfortably over 50 mpg I'd guess). The 2 Fazer's seemed to only sip the occasional cup of fuel, both over doing 200 miles with at least a 1/4 tank showing at each fill up and I never managed to get more than about 14 litres in either Fazer at fill ups (likely +60 mpg for each). So, all in all, a fantastic return to service for the old FJ and "business as usual" for the Fazer's, which just reminded all 3 of us just why we love our Yamaha's.

Glad you're OK Slice. What everyone says about driving standards really resonates with me. In my youth, I spent time working on speed limits, designing roads and white line schemes. In the '70's and '80's, we used "science" to determine appropriate speed limits and design white line schemes which prevented the main causes of accidents/incidents........Driver Frustration and Vehicle-Vehicle, or Vehicle-Pedestrian conflicts. Human beings come with an inbuilt perception of risk (self preservation) and behave accordingly. Speed limits and road element design used to take all of that into account so that traffic flowed freely, but safely and drivers didn't get frustrated into making dangerous overtakes. However, the ignorant Safety-Crats who have successfully created the "Speed Kills" myth, have created a society where the only "known" bad driving behaviour is to exceed the speed limit. Not using mirrors properly, hogging lanes, using mobiles, driving so slowly that you have 20 cars queueing up behind you are no longer considered unacceptable - there are virtually no traffic Police out on the roads dealing with these drivers, only officers in camera vans sat at the side of a dual carriageway targeting people driving at over 70mph - hence the only thing most people see as "bad driving" is Speeding. in times gone by, when rural roads had 60mph limits, traffic flowed freely and overtakes were minimal because drivers were content that their speed was "appropriate" to the conditions/risk and frustration was limited (this being approximately the 85 percentile speed for humans driving in those conditions with their risk perception). Imposing a blanket 50mph limit to make things "safer" (because only speed kills), now frustrates 85% of the driver population because they feel they are going too slowly for the conditions and the risk, prompting dangerous overtakes - it human nature to get frustrated when we can't do things within our "safe zone". Conversely, with the increased population and vehicle density in urban areas, speed limits, except near the odd school, have been left at 30mph or 40mph - which in many cases is too fast - and I now experience plenty of drivers who drive at less than 30mph in town centres, because they see the real risk in travelling at 30mph with lots of pedestrians in close proximity to their lane. In a pedestrian-vehicle collision, speed does indeed kill and dropping speed limits will definitely save lives - how about 20mph in every town/village centre where there are concentrations of pedestrian activity (I'd vote for that). In vehicle-vehicle collisions, the difference between a closing speed of 100mph and 120mph isn't going to cause a dramatic reduction in driver fatalities (driver will most likely die in either scenario) and having a car hit a pedestrian at 50mph will be just as fatal as one doing 60mph (or more). Somehow, we need to get away from the message that the only way to drive safely is to drive slowly and to get back to Policing our roads properly and teaching and managing the driver population to drive properly. in almost every situation we, as bike riders encounter, it's Bad Driving that causes accidents - that's what our Police and Government should be focussed on. Ironically, travelling back from Edinburgh on the A1 recently, we saw a big LED traffic sign with the warning message "Frustration Causes Accidents", showing that someone still understands the science..............but then shortly after, there was a speed camera at the side of the road, on a straight, wide, clear section of dual carriageway !!!!!!

Are you sure about that postcode, it's pointing very close to the end of the Severn Bridge - it doesn't look very isolated on Google Maps - would the neighbours be happy with 50 two-strokes revving their engines at night (plus the open-piped four-strokes) ? Anyway, depending on the date, I think we could be up for a visit and a ride out.

Thank you all ? The combination of suspension, wheels and tyres has made a big difference Dutch (a positive one) ! I must admit though, I do like the "cleaner" look on the chain side that a 4 into 1 gives ?

It's probably a good thing you took to bike to FJOC rather than a main dealer ! Just imagine what the cost would be from one of them !!!. i called in there to pick up some parts for my FJ a few weeks ago and a guy having his FJR serviced had ridden down there 280 miles from the North East and stayed overnight, and it was still worth it to him to do that rather than go to a local main dealer. The cost of "professional" servicing these days is ridiculous - that's why I do everything myself now.

If the previous owner can't tell you anything, I'd be asking them why not - a usual reason is that the bike was stolen at some point, so you may well have bought a stolen bike that would never be yours legally on the road. Finding out the bikes history could mean you end up losing the bike (at the extreme). if you can see the frame number and engine number, perhaps you could get help from the DVLA. Or given the age of the bike and the potential lack of history, maybe joining the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club could be an idea. I think they can give you a document based on your frame number which can confirm the manufacture year of your bike which will help you get a proper age-related registration number for it. Either way, I'm sure the VJMC will be able to advise.

Cheers guys. i know I can fit a 180/55 tyre on the rear, but thought I'd gîve the 170/60 a try first and so far, I'm not disappointed ?

After over 20 years of service, in early 2010 I decided it was time to give my FJ1200 a spruce up and to replace/upgrade a few bits (it had done over 50k miles, but was running perfectly). Since I'd bought an Aprilia RSV Mille as my main "fun" and track-day bike in 2003, this FJ had seen little use other than occasional touring over the period 2005-2009. Other issues that compounded things were that my wife had a Fazer 1000 which I also rode and we had trail/enduro bikes which we rode - at one point there were 11 bikes in the garage. On top of these, I got promoted at work in 2004, then we moved 200 miles in 2006 and work got even more heavy, so less and less of my time got devoted to the FJ. In 2009, we decided to take our youngest son a touring holiday, so the FJ saw some use in 2009 and early 2010, but just then I took ill (quite seriously with a lung disorder) and after medical attention, my recovery plan from the doctor was exercise, exercise and more exercise - so I became a very regular cyclist which ate up even more of my spare time Just when things began to settle down and we got into a routine, around 2011, instead of using my extra free time to concentrate on picking up the FJ project, I decided to check an item off my bucket list and get my helicopter pilot's licence and so for the next 5 years, my life was devoted to other things than the FJ !! To top all of this off, we had health issues with my wife's parents in the USA and my mother in the UK, so between caring and travelling, we had almost no time to ourselves. Anyway, this year saw my second attempt at retirement and an improvement in the care situation for our parents, so at the end of July 2018, I decided to actually start on the FJ project.The "Spruce up" consisted of the following steps. Strip the bike to rub down, de-rust, re paint & lacquer the frame. Add additional protection pads where the loom rubbed the frame for better loom protection. Clean, check and refresh covering on the loom where necessary. Replace all bulbs (and ultimately replace front brake light switch) Clean and re paint the engine, strip, clean, polish and paint engine covers, grab handles, yokes, footrest hangers etc, etc, etc..... Clean the (original) body panels and repair all of the mounting tab brackets and the small number of cracks that had appeared since 1989. Add foam pads to dampen vibration at all fixing points. Remove and give to a friend, my entire front end - install the FZR 1000 RU (acquired in 2007) front end, and add aftermarket discs, R1 calipers, FZ1 bar risers and handlebars, FZS 600 brake master cylinder, braided stainless lines and new steering head bearings. Home made lock stop to ensure steering lock remained in use and retained front brake splitter (I have a set of individual brake lines but will only use them if I feel they are "necessary"). Remove and give to the same friend, my rear wheel, disc etc and replace with the 17" wheel and disc from a YZF 600 Thundercat. Modify caliper carrier, new pads and add stainless braided line. Repaint both wheels to approx match to original silver/grey colour (used Ford Nimbus Grey as recommended by UK FJOC). Replace all seals/pistons in brake and clutch master cylinders and slave cylinder. Clean check and re-install all brake caliper pistons (all good !). Replace shock with Hagon unit. Clean and regrease or replace suspension linkage bearings. Remove, strip, clean and refurbish (with new diaphragms) the carbs - ended up doing the remove and clean 3 times before I was happy. Clean, polish and re-lacquer the exhaust (period Remus stainless with alloy can shroud). I was going to replace the oil cooler with a high performance unit, but am awaiting delivery, so I removed, stripped and repainted the original cooler and lines before re-fitting for use until the new one arrives. Tyres chosen were Bridgestone BT023's in 120/70x17 and 170/60x17 sizes. And.... generally refresh each part before I put it back on the bike and replaced almost all original (except for "visible" bodywork screws) nuts/bolts/washers and screws with same dimension stainless steel items. I'm sure there was a lot more that i did just in terms of tarting up and refurb'ing bits, and I also did the basics of changing all fluids, filters etc and made sure everything was "correct" as it went back on. The bike flew through its MOT with positive comments about how well it seemed to be "put together" and how good it looked ? There are still a couple of very minor cosmetic things to complete, but these aside, it was complete and "finished", so I decided to take it on a near 1200 mile round trip to tour Northen Ireland last week. The bike was perfect, nothing fell off, nothing went wrong, nothing vibrated loose ! I've added a couple of pictures below and hope you'll all agree that the effort was worthwhile - wherever possible, I've tried to keep the bike looking close to standard or "period-modified" standard (yes, even down to a few red anodised bolts for the fuel cap and screen). I wanted it to look "standard" to anyone who doesn't know FJ's and hope you like it !

Hey Meat, was that hotel in the pictures in the town of Vianden in Luxembourg ? it looks remarkably like the a place we stayed at in Vienden in 1992, on our home neymoon bike tour

We used H & R Insurance for our son's first moped at 16 and then for his Fazer 600 from 17 onwards. TPTF rates were great from them (and still are). His moped (Reiju RS 50 Matrix Pro) insurance was around £250 when he was 16. When we first insured his Fazer 600, when he was 17, I think his insurance cost around £800 TPFT. If you haven't already tried them, they may be worth a call.

Thx - really looking forward to it now !!!

Thanks guys - very much appreciated . I'll post some pictures once the ride is over. We'd be happy for you to join us next year - plenty of time to get those legs going !

Hi All. Over the weekend of 27th-29th May, my wife and I have organised (for the 10th consecutive time) an annual 150 mile Cycle Ride across the UK from "Coast to Coast", to raise money for a very deserving cause - Macmillan Cancer Support. Many here know this, but for those who don't, Macmillan provide free care and support, both at hospital and in-home, for cancer sufferers (and where necessary, their families) which is only made possible by people making donations and carrying out fundraising activities. Liz and I have both lost our father's to Cancer, in both cases their suffering lasted a period of years, rather than weeks - and we have a number of other family members and friends who have also suffered and who benefited tremendously from the support that the Macmillan Nurses provided. We have somehow managed once again to get another 25 riders to take up the challenge with us (most of whom have links to someone who has been supported by Macmillan) and we're looking forward to a great challenge, as well as great fun (over 13,000ft of ascent). I've attached a link below to our "Just Giving" donations page and while thanking those who donated last year , we hope that there are plenty of members here who will feel inclined to help us in the cause and make a donation (or "another donation", for those who have supported us in previous years) no matter how small, or large, everything will be greatly appreciated. So here's a "thank you" in advance and the link to our donations page. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Dean-Liz-Welburn-C2C-2017

Hi John - are you also on FOC-U ? Good folk here, even if it's little bit quiet sometimes. Plenty of advice and assistance going around. Welcome - I expect we'll be up north the odd time on the summer - will pm you to maybe catch up for a cuppa on a ride out when we're there.

Hi Jay - it looks like you're one of the (few) sensible youngsters out there. Not sure how many Co Durham riders there are on here (I lived and rode in the NE for 30 years before I moved to the Midlands. if you've not had any response here, I'd suggest you get yourself up to Hartside Cafe on a nice sunny Sat/Sun and go and just talk to Yamaha riders there - undoubtedly there will be dome Co Durham riders there. hope you have some luck :-)

Nope Keith, the result will be the opposite of what you've described :-) - replacing a 47 on the back with a 45 will mean verrrry slightly lower revs at any given road speed and verrrry slightly better fuel economy. I doubt either would be noticeable and with such a small change in overall ratio, I doubt anyone would be able to detect any change in acceleration. The only noticeable effect might be the position of the wheel spindle in the swinging arm and how that could affect chain tension adjustment - it will sit further back and will reach the end of the adjusters earlier, if you keep the chain on long enough to let it extend/wear that much. IMO, if you go ahead, you'll not damage anything and you'll hardly notice the effect (a dirty air filter will have more impact on acceleration).

I regularly wear my MX body armour (just like that Acerbis set) under my Teknic textile jacket, with the leather trousers from my 2 piece Teknic leathers. I removed the back protector, shoulder and elbow protectors from my textile jacket and feel happy because I now have all of these, plus chest protectors and a built-in kidney belt when I wear my MX gear under my textile jacket.. I can't believe this is less safe than any of my as-bought Textile winter gear, but for track use, I always wear my full leathers (either 1-piece or zip-together 2-piece).

If you can get onto FOC-U the Fazer owners web forum, you'll get all the answers you need. I joined in 30 secs and I'm a technological Neanderthal.

That sounds great then - looks like I'll be there on the Sunday