thanetman Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Hi all; Just bought a 1990 FJ1200 - and it's big - for when I pass my full licence mainly because :- 1. It was cheap at £1000 off a guy who's honest and has had loads done to it - two new tyres, carb/tanks cleaned, rear caliper rebuilt, new clutch seal kit, fork seals, full service and 10 months MOT so it's ready to use for when I pass. The guy selling it has two trikes and is staying to 3 wheels in future instead of two. 2. The reviews had said it is bulletproof. 3. It was local and I could get it delivered. Now I'm done my practice for my mod1 yesterday at the training school (on their Honda NC700's) and I've had a practice of the FJ in the car park out the back of where I live doing the slalom and figure of 8's round axle stands (I haven't got any traffic cones) - and yes it's heavy but not as bad as I thought it would be at these low speed manoeuvres. I'm 6ft 3" and getting it on the centre stand is easy enough. Now the big question is how long can I use it for at walking speeds doing the figure 8's etc before the engine starts getting too hot in this weather, bearing in mind is 22c in the shade today! Also anything else to watch out for maintenance wise? It's done 77,000km so far. Cold start video below. Timbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slice Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Sold mine last year, a beautiful bike and easy to ride, just watch out if you give it a hand full. Nothing major wrong with them and it's a joy to ride, front fork seals need looking at once a year as it's a heavy bike, brakes are good engine will go on and on as long as you service it regular. Join the FJ owners club (http://www.fjclub.co.uk/) they know all about these bikes and have all the spares you will ever need and they only work on FJs and FJRs, other than that enjoy your new ride. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DutchFJ1200 Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Welcome to the club How long will it last without proper cooling ? dunno never ever done circles in a carpark :-) See you have an import as well. I have just cracked 100K (Km) and going strong. Second what Slice said, although I still haven't gotten round to signing up to the FJ-club 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thanetman Posted July 25, 2016 Author Share Posted July 25, 2016 Cheers Slice I'll keep on top of the maintenance and DutchFJ1200 i'll be going in straight lines once I pass my test There's loads of dual carriageways around here so taking it for it's first proper run will be easy. On a different note what fuel should I be using? I always put the high performance stuff in my 125's i.e. Shell V-max or premium unleaded. Will the FJ be ok with the same stuff or do I need to use lower octane rating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slice Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 98 ROM is fine for these bikes, they will run on most anything but believe it or not I get better mileage with the FJR if I use a higher octane fuel. Simply put the better the fuel the better it will run. Those few extra pence per litre are nothing to worry about and the bike will thank you for it. FJ didn't like sitting in traffic so learn to filter, didn't get real hot but it's uncomfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DutchFJ1200 Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 43 minutes ago, slice said: 98 ROM is fine for these bikes, they will run on most anything but believe it or not I get better mileage with the FJR if I use a higher octane fuel. Simply put the better the fuel the better it will run. Those few extra pence per litre are nothing to worry about and the bike will thank you for it. FJ didn't like sitting in traffic so learn to filter, didn't get real hot but it's uncomfortable. Me again As per advice from the distinguished gents on this forum IIRC : better to go V-Power i.e. the spensive stuff to avoid deterioration of carburetor seals, thingamabobs/whatchamacallits due to the higher content of ethanol in the cheap stuff. See I know all the expensive words ......... Edit : an FJ don't like 'sitting' in traffic ....... full stop !!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thanetman Posted July 25, 2016 Author Share Posted July 25, 2016 Well I've plenty of filtering practice today on my 125 - a road down there that links two major roads is closed so 5 mile tailbacks everywhere. I'll be taking the FJ out in the evenings when there's no traffic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted July 25, 2016 Moderator Share Posted July 25, 2016 engines need to be used, so doing little roundabouts in the car park is not going to do the engine any favours. ask a mate to give it a good run out every now and then or better still, sell it to me 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thanetman Posted July 25, 2016 Author Share Posted July 25, 2016 My brother in law and another mate are already lined to give it a test run - probably tomorrow. They have promised to to go too fast on it :-\ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted July 25, 2016 Moderator Share Posted July 25, 2016 Oh did they now, well, in my experience. Y'know Clarkson describes hire cars as the fastest cars in the world.......... Somebody else's that your shaking down is a very, VERY close second. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 FJ1200s are the absolute Dog's in most areas of biking. Probably the easiest to maintain that I've ever had - Just take off the tank and everything is there! It's big, but not overly so. A touch heavy for throwing around in traffic like a 125 and too heavy to try and reverse up a slope, but still one of the fastest bikes around. You can break the NSL in 1st gear or, in 3rd gear from 40mph, just roll on the throttle - You'll be doing 120 before you realise! As mentioned, use top grade fuel. Cheap stuff has too much of that ethanol crap that kills your rubbers. Also consider putting some rubber rings between the bulb holder and the socket on the rear brake lights, as those occasionally blow due to vibration. Do check out the owners club website, as they have a plethora of info on looking after it. The guy that runs the club and the club workshop owns 3 FJ12s and still races his FJ11, and has made over 2 decades worth of living from just servicing FJs, so he knows his stuff... to the point where another club member makes his living off servicing the FJRs - Each guy has one side of the workshop! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slice Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Just remembered this thing I did a couple of years ago, give you some idea on what to expect! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thanetman Posted July 27, 2016 Author Share Posted July 27, 2016 Looks very smooth at speed.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finnerz89 Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Oh they are Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DutchFJ1200 Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 8 hours ago, slice said: Just remembered this thing I did a couple of years ago, give you some idea on what to expect! Although your speedo was duff I had a look myself this afternoon : you're just touching 6K revs tops which translates to a whisker over a ton. 3 hours ago, thanetman said: Looks very smooth at speed.. Yup! .... too smooth 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slice Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 If you look close Dutch you will see it's not a duff speedo it's an old one over the top of the original, had a spare and some bluetac so thought "if you can't see it you ain't doing it" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DutchFJ1200 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 5 hours ago, slice said: If you look close Dutch you will see it's not a duff speedo it's an old one over the top of the original, had a spare and some bluetac so thought "if you can't see it you ain't doing it" What ..... come again !! looked at this a couple of times and can only see your needle pegged at Zero. So you say that if you're tearing along at warp 7 ....... then you tell the sheriff...... sorry mate my speedo is duff ..........and expect to get away with that ???? Or am I dim and missing a trick here? Off tomorrow to head office in Brixham again .................A30 + A38, here I come............. at warp 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slice Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 It's only there for the camera Dutch, it's actually stuck to the wall of my workshop at the moment, if you want it mate I'll post it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DutchFJ1200 Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 10 hours ago, slice said: It's only there for the camera Dutch, it's actually stuck to the wall of my workshop at the moment, if you want it mate I'll post it. Pffff As for warp 8 today without 'stuck-on' 'bluetacked' speedo's .......................... topped out at 130 on the way back gents. Good ride. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thanetman Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 Update - passed my MOD2 with 3 minor faults Took the big girl out for it's first run last night about 9:15pm when it had cooled down out there (25C in the shade in daytime). Stalled first 3 times as the engine hadn't warmed up. Filled up the tank with fresh fuel - premium unleaded, always do in my bikes - at the petrol station 3 miles away and upon starting it the engine surged up to 2500rpm and stayed there until I killed it and restarted, after that it was around 800-1200rpm. Another 3 miles down to Broadstair's (40mph limit) to watch the fireworks so loads of riding at walking speed through traffic and pedestrians and surprisingly it's well balanced for such a big bike. Brakes aren't as sharp as what I've been training on which were a cbf600 and a year old nc750s (with abs) but guess as it's bigger it takes a bit longer to stop? In the sight glasses the brake fluid level is about halfway up. I topped up the oil as the warning light came on with some decent Castrol 10-40w as I'm not sure what oil is already in there but I'm guessing that won't do any harm? The engine is a bit rough but that could be because it's not had a proper ride from a few months? I did put a gallon of fuel in it about 3 weeks ago. Could the electric connections i.e. earthing points need a decent clean up? It did have a service before it was sold but the oil in there is brown and the new Castrol oil I put in was red, use it in my other bikes. I did keep it below 3000 rpm while riding as I didn't want it to suddenly take off as it was mostly 30/40mph limits. What revs does the power kick in so I can be aware of it? On a vanity note what's the best stuff to clean/polish up the wheels with? They are grey but dull and faded, almost like the surface of sand paper! Timbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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