JimR

Hi Adrian, Perhaps query the date registered in this country but I cannot work out a typo from 1988 to 1993 but I can see a poosible typo 1988-1989, I'm not sure if DVLA would release license details to you (i.e when it was taxed or sorned etc) which would prove to you when the bike was first used in the UK, in section 4 of the log book what is typed in boxes b & b1 ? I imported (a while ago now 1989) a venture royale from Canada this actuall ended up on an 'A' plate (1983) as the canadian document indicated this was the year of registration. There is also the point was the bike a 'grey' import ? I'm not sure how that works !!! Regards Jim

My FS1's are slopeds also but if you are happy with 55/60 mph do the following :- Buy a Fs1e silencer of ebay along with a big bore kit fit them ... remove the foam air filter element but leave the metal gauze in there. Set the ignition timming to 1.7mm btdc (stock is 1.8mm btdc). That should get you to 50ish. Run the bore in gently (as you will find it lacks bottom end power), when done do a 'plug chop' and check the colour, you may find its running a bit rich and you will have to [jet down. getting more zip than this requires more detailed work (cutting disk valves etc). Once you have the motor running well across the range it may be worth considering up 1 tooth one the front sproket. Regards Jim

Hi Paul, you dont have a broken dipstick there will be a window to check the engine oil thro. With my early Yamaha expirence if you dont have a rattle@idle , idle doesnt dip when the lights are switched on the motor is running not to bad, just checked FZR600wc manual shows 15k for valve clearence adjustment, but just done one at 24k and the clearences where on the wide side of tollerence so let it ride !!! If you had an RD250/350/400 in the past the window will be where I say .. but if you are used to other Jap 2 strokes the position may be wrong ... so to define R/h side (clutch cover ... its the misty looking thing !!! Regards Jim

Through the window !!!, not worked on an R6 but it will be somewhere around where the kickstart shaft used to live I forgot the valve clearnce interval never seeing a manual for R6 but working off Yamaha principles I would guess 30k this distance was put in place on the birth of the FZ750 and I would guess it would follow with simular designed motors Regards Jim

well if it had bin lubed with WD it would have been fine ..... wouldn't it

you should be able to stip the bottom case off and leave the head & cylinders insitu but I dont think your noise comes from that bearing, if it was well worn you would have a major oil leak there. explain more about this noise did it appear after the chain lost tension ? regards Jim

Hi both engine number and frame number should match or be within 5 digits (i.e if your eng end in 05, 00 or 10 would be correct with a frame number of 05) both frame & engine should prefix 3F6. With thesse little bikes it stands a chance of the odd engine replacement over the time so if the frame has the plate applied to it that should also match the stamped frame number if no VIN sticker it may be a 'little odd'. I have 3 FS1's to date the plod have not turned me over and the one looks well dodgy!!! regards Jim

I know this sounds silly, but I will stake my life on it, the noise you hear at idle is down to the carbs, I can put you in touch with someone who was amazed by what I did ... the engine came in sounding like last legs all I did to it was valve clearence, adjust the cam chain (auto adjusters can stick) and fettle the carbs ... hey presto it sounded like new, so don't be supprised if the idle noise is there after rebuild !!! the oil gallery to check is the hole that runs up from the crank to the genny shaft ... At the genny shaft remove the ally oil seal holder (held on with torx head screws, this assumes 1988ish FZ600 the video seems to bear this out) and to the bottom right ( 4 o'clockish or may be 7 o'clockish dependant on modal ) will be a pressed in nozzle (this supplies lube to the hyvo chain) remove it & check it's not blocked (high pressure air would be good for this). When the cases are apart you will see a drilling by the main g/box shaft bearing (in the top case) this links to the nozzle at the genny shaft, later engines may have this blanked off just tryying to find the correct w/s manual/parts list for the bike you have to confim this either way high pressure air from the hole in the top case by the main axle bearing. This hole supplies force fed oil to the g/box ... if blocked bye bye g/box. If the nozzle is blocked bye bye hyvo chain both blocked ... ohh shit !!!! . if you find the idle knock on rebuild I can sort that for you, but you would have to get the bike to my locality in order for me to do it. any more advice PM me and we can comunicate in other ways. Regards Jim

Hi there, you have the 853cc modal rather than the 900f's 891cc and smaller carbs. In the UK 900 had a little nose fairing & round headlight F had a square light and a 3 quarter fairing (simular size to the 900 Diversion) but as your bike has lost its fairing it would be difficult to know if it had a round headlight or a square one !! But in the UK I seem to remember that both modals had the 3 clocks rev,speed,fuel (with in built clock) but for other parts of the world the setup maybe different Regards Jim

oh well it is normal for a motor stripped that far ... you can hear the gearbox pinions taking up lash, perfectly fine, as I guess this motor is well dry of oil, but if you strip the motor further you will see where the noise comes from !!! as you have the motor that far down you might as well part the cases (access to the g/box) where I guess you will find nowt wrong. To part the cases undo all the bolts, remove the pistons then just part the cases. But bear in mind on rebuild make sure you use the same crankshaft with the same cases if not the oil clearence for the main bearing journals could be incorrect (unless you have a plastiguage to hand to check that out), same is true if the con rods are changed to the crankshaft (all those silly numbers stamped on the crank, con rods & cases work out which bearing you need to supply the correct clearence). Now youve gone that far you might as well pull it all the way down ! Regards Jim

Ok you can get a 47X reg/rec from wemoto.com part number 47X-81960-A3. Brown wire supplies 12v dc to most components, green was the cut off for VR to stop over/under charging. 47X is the product code for the RD500/RZ500 so your bike may not be UK spec .. no finned box !!!. The white with red trace is the ignition pickup coil. check this out .. no XJ600's just FZ's so this is making me think the photo looks XJ (apart from the tank colour but that can change from std) but the set up appears FZ (same period as RD/Z500 in the UK) hence the same wiring so perhaps you have an FZ600 lump fitted into an XJ frame and the electrics ported across could I have the engine number prefix (first 3 digits) and the same for the frame. Regards Jim

I cannot remember an XJ600 without a fined box for the reg/rec which part of the world was the bike made for ? If its a US modal it will have a totally different setup due to the bike not having a lights on/off switch and relays to switch the head light off when the starter is pressed. So I guess you had 10vdc between the red & earth what vac did you get from the whites ? It is possible that the green and brown wires are fed from the genny as you have the brushless genny onboard. To date I've checked loads of UK spec manuals and cannot find a modal wired as you say, but I did find SRX600 wired that way ( you can tell difference between SRX & XJ as it has only one cylinder ) so we must have the 4 cylinder XJ as 1) non UK spec 2) someones electrical project using bits from other bikes Regards Jim

Ah with you now !!! so are you going to pull lump #2 to complete bits ? and fit the parts into lump #1's crankcases ? or is lump #1's bottom end ok, with the clutch off look very hard at the bearing,pressure plate and pull arm any sign of abnormal wear if so check them galleries I'd hate all that work to go to waste !!! Regards Jim

ok I didn't realise I was talking to Bob Marley .. wat uded need 2 doo is chill Fuel in the oil is not good issues here are was fuel put into the oil or was fuel intoduced to the oil ? Fuel could end up in the motor with bad rings & top end .. fuel being sent via the breather to the G/Box. we still dont know what failed on engine #1 from what you say the motor is OK so has the g/box/clutch failed (not the oil gallery problem ?) some input would be good !!! Regards Jim

is a US dab close to a Uk gallon that will make sense !!!

ok not checked the modal codes but one of those numbers seems to hit memory as a YX600 Radion (but I may be wrong). But what packed up with the original ? to date cylinder, cylinder head, con rods & crankshaft are ok . if your motor had clutch or g/box problems it could be down to silly oil gallery that motor had. just keep me in the loop Regards Jim

Atavar's cool but theres no GT85 got to fair to both !

Dont forget the rectifier/regulator dead easy to do std ohm meter on low (20 ohm) do red ->whites, Whites ->Red (6 combinations) o/c one way and not the other, then do the same subbing the red wire with the black if thats OK the rectifier is deemed good, VR is more difficult to test (same finned box) the green wire and the brown wire from the box unless you have a Yamaha tester (p/n 90890-03021) to hand so perhaps the wiring could be checked after the rectifer (and found good) has been tested.. what you would be looking for is mouldy greens (not the dark green indicator wires slightly lighter green) , browns, Whites, Reds and blacks. If you find nowt wrong suspect the VR section of the finned box. but bear in mind there may be soldered joints in the loom (without a diagram I'm not sure), these are noted on Yamaha diagrams by dots and not plugs. The diagram I have is for the XJ550 (different in some respects volt meter and brushes in the genny) which shows a few soldered (in loom joints), I guess the 600 will have a few also, bear in mind soldered joints die over time (they become 'dry' i.e crack) so the diagram becomes needed as it will show where wires are jointed, or give you some idea on where to look on the loom for the soldered connections. Yamaha never guessed the looms would last 15-20 years (or the bikes for that matter) so solder joints is a cost effective way of making internal connections but all those years on we have the problems .... what happens when an R1 hits 20 years old (if there are still soldered joints, I dunno not played with one), major problems for the restorer !!! Regards Jim

put 10w40 in it will be sound Regards Jim

So I guess the history of head #2 is unknown ? perhaps the guide is no good there ? But why did head #1 run short of oil ? was that sorted out . simple check (with old SR125's) undo the screw on the oil filter cover & run the motor (oil should pee out of the hole, later bikes didn't have the bolt). Some modals had another 'test bolt' located on the head on the rear right handside of the head (the cylinder bolt that supplies oil to the top end) undo this one (if you have it ) and check for oil flow , which may sort the oil problem to the top end. The valve is (is breaking) at a non lubed part but if the rest of the motor is loosing lube it may get well to hot giving random failures. Just one more point did the collets seat well into the cap or did they sit 'proud' a bit ? if they did when you refit make sure they are well in the groove and level with the cap. with the oil loss to the top end I'm supprised that you didnt take a cam & followers out also, have you checked that the cam & followers are ok ? On a differnt point if the motor is not lacking in lube the intake valve getting hot points to other problems and perhaps thats phase 2.... any photo's of the distroyed bits/old head will make things easier for me. Regards Jim

Hi XS250 is not a wasted spark system but where well touchy with the way the engine was set up .... The Dwell angle was well critical if not set to 22.5 degrees they would act up no end. loosing the carbs from the manifolds was also quite common when the ignition was incorrectly set, the airboxes used to keep the damm things on with those stops (airboxes) removed the carbs are free to pop off when ever the engine misfires ... so my advice is to set the ignition timming/dwell, tappits and carb balance then run the motor and plug chop it to see what jetting needs to be altered, but bear in mind those CV carbs can give 'false results'. one more check to do .. the tube from the petrol tap to the R/h manifold a small leak there will allow fuel supply but also make the r/h cylinder run weaker than it should. Regards Jim

Hi Brian, I guess the new valve guides where fitted correctly (a guide off at an angle, no matter how small, could cause the top end of the valve to break these where bad to fit I had to find an oven in order to have the head at the correct temp and the guides cold so they 'fell in'). If the guide is off set when everything 'warms up' - in traffic, the guide may stress the valve, but I guess this is ok as it's a different head. but if your new head has been 'adjusted' the guides may be incorrect. Other things to check are if the valve guide seals retained there correct position of did they move ? With regard to Valve timing did you recheck it after the chain was tensioned, if the chain is worn the valve timing will alter after tension, again stressing the valve. Regards Jim

so when the xj550 was pimped with a fairing, different wheels and a bored to 595 cc it became the XJ600 in the UK then there after became the FZ600 (air cooled with twin headlights and a bad riding position ). The 600 engines differ from the 550's (528cc) with the yics port being blanked off, different cams and tarted electrics. my modal knowledge finishes in 1989 so perhaps the FZ600 became the FJ600 but from memory the newer slant block engine was badged up as the XJ600s diversion (in the UK) by the same context the YX600 Radion (was that a UK soap powder ?) was produced using the air cooled motor (aka 550) with Vmax type styling. FJ600 would have appeared in different markets to the UK as at the point of release XJ series was well known FJ was not it was that big 1100 thing that was high tech (in the UK.. 142mph, fluid clutch cable and cruddie paintwork). So I guess this bike is a good old XJ550 (in the UK 4V8 prefix) regards Jim

Hi Dj, is it true the streets are paved with gold ? us country bumpkins are not sure if London is a country or a continent or is that down to someone in a place called the USA, where ever that is ... perhaps its past dobbins barn next to where the John Barleycorn lives ! apart from that oops sorry meant bumpkins r bad at technology you know Regards Jim

I did read the thread .... TTCB = Timing (including Dwell important on XS twins), Tappits & carb balance. The XS400 (UK. those odd blue ones that where ment for spain came in with km clocks & head lights that dipped the wrong way) had a choke that pulled out and had on, half on & off just asked that as I did get problems with that carb. If yours are the same check the following :- remove the float chambers in them you will find a brass tube with a little hole next to it this links to the hole in the side of the float chamber, these can block well easy & will cause bad cold starts. If you cannot work out which bits I'm talking about photo the float chamber and the underside of the carb and I will point them out from the photos regards Jim WD40/GT85 as a salad dressing ... not sure I would be to fond of that ..... but each to their own !