FJ1100, any good? and what to watch out for?

[wild foamy]

Hey peeps.

I've got the chance of buying an '84 FJ1200 from a dealership my mate works at, it's got 46000 miles on it, new chain, tapered head bearings, fork seals, new pads and tyres all round and new pistons in the calipers, they're after £1k for it.

Ideally I wanted a 1200, but if the 1100 is good for the price I'm not so fussed, I'm getting shot of everything else I have as I may be out of work for a while so it's likely to be my only mode of transport for the next year or so and I need it to be cheap to run/maintain and above all else reliable and simple.

Any ex or current owners out there have any advice on what to look for on a bike this age?.

[Ttaskmaster]

FJs are wicked bikes and, despite their age, still put many modern models to shame.

Several guys I know still race 1100s in the pre-injection classes and do rather well.

Probably the best break-down of what to be mindful of:

http://fjclub.co.uk/#/buying-a-fj/4546920434

http://fjclub.co.uk/#/faq-fj-models/4546869564

Cheap to run.... not that much. Mileage can range from 28-ish in town to lower 50s on distance (it's a Tourer after all).

Cheap to maintain - Hell yeah. Parts are plentiful and low cost, especially on your favourite auction site.

Simple - Every time I help a friend do something with their bike, I realise how easy it is on the FJ and love mine just that little bit more!!

Reliable - I trust mine with my life. It's 23 years old, never failed to deliver and came up still running perfectly with just minor denting where some other bikes would have been a mess of pieces strewn across the road!

If you're still not sold on this one, the Owners Club is a great resource for finding others in awesome condition for great prices.

[Ttaskmaster]

Hell, you're in Newbury - Come up to Reading (I'm off J11) sometime and have a play with my FJ.

PM me and we'll arrange it.

[wild foamy]

Well I'm hopefully going for a job interview this weekend, so if you're about Saturday i'll pop up for a bit if that's okay

[slice]

Same for me Foamy if you want to have a go I'm always up for a ride out and my new baby just loves long runs, as above really it's not till you realise how other bikes are put together that you see how simple it is to work on these things. Seat off tank off and it's all there for you to fiddle with, take it out for a ride and your going to be sold on it, they are a bit heavy to chuck around tho but otherwise not a thing I can say that Tasky won't already have said. The owners club are very good at getting parts and they are loads cheaper than the other dealers out there even beat the prices on EBAY quite a lot of the time.

PS just wondering, are the 1100s the ones with the steel rear swing arm? If so you need to check for rot in the arm, some, the 3CV,has the ali arm which some have swapped over to. Also check the rear mono shock is ok and the adjusters actually work (very expensive) front fork seals and steering head bearings as they are a heavy bike and a lot goes on at the front and finally if you have the VENTED disc at the back check to see how much meat is left on it as it's U/S at 7.5mm mine was down to 5.4mm and a fail for the MOT. All these bit's are dirt cheap to replace and easy to get at except the mono shock.

[Ttaskmaster]

PS just wondering, are the 1100s the ones with the steel rear swing arm?

No, that's the 1200 3XW, the one I have.

[Tommy xs]

Your getting me drooling now, so which is the best model + year

[Tommy xs]

Sorry to hear of your job situation foams, if you need a reference let me know as long as its not for a mechanic ha ha ha

[wild foamy]

All I know is its on a B plate, aleading MOT d and they want it gone.

As for the job, I'm starting with weekends and days off from my current job until I can bang out for good

[jimmy]

When are you out? My job is recruiting, with positive discrimination for ex service personnel. PM me if your interested in the details.

[blackhat250]

Is it a dishourable discharge foamy,,,, or any other discharge

[wild foamy]

Neither, just time for a change

[slice]

Good luck with the interview Foamy, hope you get the job and the bike.

[Ttaskmaster]

Your getting me drooling now, so which is the best model + year

It's a case of reading the above links and deciding for yourself, mostly.

The 1100 has some awesome features, but the 1200s have some considerable improvements over the 11.

Generally, owners seem to rate the 1200 3CV as the favourite.

I personally adore the 1200 3XW, particularly the paint scheme.

Either way, you'll almost always get a great bike for a great price.

[Preload]

If I was to buy an another FJ it would be an 1100 just because it was the first and was classed as a sports bike. I'm one of the 3CV luvvers I do like the 3XW as the rubber mounted frame was nice but they put cheaper forks and swingarm on it.

So my perfect FJ would be an 3XW frame with the swinger & forks off an 3CV and the bodywork and engine of an 36Y. Nice.

[wild foamy]

Well tbh, the best bike Ive owned is the XJ600 pre diversion, ugly as sin, cheap to buy, fast enough to be interesting, did 50mpg at a 90mph cruise, cheap to insure and parts could either be made in the home workshop or bought for next to nothing.

I want to get back on a daily bike, and the FJ cropped up but I'm still not so convinced that for the price I'm paying it may be the best option, obviously it's a fair bit bigger but is it likely to hold its value with such high mileage?

If I was to hold out for a 1200, it would be one of the later models, but they all seem to have 40 or 50 thousand on the clock sometimes more

[slice]

Foamy if it has ONLY 50K on it then it's just about run in, these things are mile munchers and not like anything you have ever ridden before, I have only ridden mine for a few days and can say that this is the best bike I have ever owned easy to work on and the spares while not as cheap as the XJ are fairly close, I need a new mono shock and that's going to be around the £300 mark but it will last about 10 years before I have to clean it let alone fix it. Don't waver now mate look on ebay and see what's out there if your not sure about the 1100, I saw 2 1200s just yesterday that were in the £1000 range and one even had all the work done. The 3CV is a mix of bikes and the ABS model is ok but the ABS can give problems, well it is 20 odd years old so if you can find one that has been rebuilt or has new parts that's the one I would go for, each to their own.

[Tommy xs]

If I was to buy an another FJ it would be an 1100 just because it was the first and was classed as a sports bike. I'm one of the 3CV luvvers I do like the 3XW as the rubber mounted frame was nice but they put cheaper forks and swingarm on it.

So my perfect FJ would be an 3XW frame with the swinger & forks off an 3CV and the bodywork and engine of an 36Y. Nice.

Cheer's Preload, I'll look out for one of those on ebay!!

[Ttaskmaster]

Cheer's Preload, I'll look out for one of those on ebay!!

It's not an uncommon set of mods anyway, so you may well find one. I think the Owners Club has a couple available. If not, they can sort you one easy as!

If I was to hold out for a 1200, it would be one of the later models, but they all seem to have 40 or 50 thousand on the clock sometimes more

So avoid the models that have 300,000 clocked... and there are a few.

50k is barely broken in for these things.

£1200 will buy you a pristine 3CV model (as in, there is one for sale right now) with touring screen, hot grips, Hagon shock, custom seat, engine bars, fancy exhaust, luggage rack, Scottoiler and all the trimmings.

My own tatty, beat-up Battle Bitch cost me £950 and was professionally valued at £1800, FFS!!

These things DO hold their value, parts are cheap and plentiful, they're a dream to work on, cost very little to run (even I can afford it) and if you don't stop flapping and just get one, I'mma kill you in the face!!

[wild foamy]

Well if this one I'm going to see on Saturday is any good I'm probably going to have it.

It's in my nature to flap, I'm part mockingjay