Ttaskmaster

Not heard a single thing about Heidenbau. They do tyres for the 650 Drag as well, but not the FJ1200, so wouldn't appear on my radar. I personally love Avon tyres and swore by them on my Dragstar - 20,000 miles with many more to go, great grip in all weathers, reasonable price - Do everything you want, really. These are their options for the Viggie 535: http://www.avon-tyres.co.uk/motorbike/xv-535-virago http://www.avon-tyres.co.uk/motorbike/xv-535-virago-oversize-rear

However, we can NOT link to download locations directly here, as it *is* illegal and all....

Depends more on the circumstances

Already sorted. I've a pile of NOS bits already, but so long as they keep doing <10% Ethanol fuel, it should be OK.

Welcome bru!

To be fair, most cars nowadays do require you to plug in a laptop just so you can diagnose the problem without invalidating anything, so those kids are actually a few steps ahead too!!

Another residing in the Shire of Berks here, although I'm halfway to Basingstoke from Reading.

Because people are retards and will pay whatever the market charges? When I first started riding, it was about 70p a litre and people were bitching, swearing blind they would sell their vehicle if ever it went over £1.... here we are with prices at £1.35 to £1.50 and the dumbfuck sheeple are still buying while bleating... Maybe paying insane prices for stuff makes them feel rich?

Indeed - The owners of 1978 model FJ1100s are NOT happy... There's a reason I chose the 92 version!

I'd be using his low-powered compressor - The one that took eight minutes to inflate one bicycle tyre!!

Nice one Sam. I'm not into WoW myself, but I like what you've achieved!!

Nice idea.... However, we have several of the world's most knowledgable FJ experts here in the UK and none of them recommend flatslides. I assume there's a reason for that. I have read some of the US threads on thusly modded FJs and the amount of hassle everyone has with them is stupid. They generally crap out on the mid-range, which is the one thing an FJ is insanely superior at, so to kill that off is pretty much invalidating the whole bike to begin with. Yamaha spend many millions developing bikes like this to run a certain way, so I find it hard to believe anyone would really fuck with such a perfect balance... I also find it hilarious to read that, after many months (and in some cases several *years*) of fiddling and trying to get Flatslides to work anywhere close to the original carbs, many owners simply put the originals back on!! Couple that with the fact that a set of flatslide carbs would cost more than I bought the bike for in the first place and it's as pointless as owning a Ferrari on the tax-haven isle of Jersey (where you could drive it around all day and never get out of first gear). I'd also need to change the fuel lines and everything else that has problems. By the end of it, it'd no longer be a proper FJ and the amount of money I'd spend could buy me a modern bike anyway... So the best solution I can see is still to just spend a few pence per litre extra and get better performance without karking my bike or having to mod it at all.

Hellooooooooo... and welcome! XJ6Ns seem pretty damn popular these days. Lots of them around.

Doesn't everyone? They're only, like, £150 or so... I actually do have someone whose compressor I can borrow, so I may give that a try.

It's not a bonding agent. The diaphragm is clipped in place with a bracket collar. I recently had to recoat my carb rubbers, having found 'bubbles' that had split. Other FJ owners have found the rubber coating wearing very thin on diaphragms that were NOS and less than a year of being used. Others are finding corrosion around the fuel filler. Email concerning the fuel sold by BP: "In most regions of the UK our Ultimate Unleaded does not contain any Ethanol at present (South West UK excluded). This may of course change in the future as the specification allows up to 5%. Our Regular grade gasoline does contain up to 5% bio ethanol in compliance with EN228 gasoline specification allowance in most regions of the UK". More info here: http://www.groups.tr-register.co.uk/wessex/ethanol-update.html Basic answer direct from Yamaha Tech themselves: "Fuel with 10% ethanol is not suitable for an FJ1200 as the plastic and rubber components were NOT made to cope with it. Fuel lines will degrade as will rubber parts such as the carburetor diaphragms".

It has *LESS* ethanol in it... something like 5% rather than 10. It burns more efficiently and so you get more MPG (depending on riding environment), but more importantly it does not fuck up your carb diaphragm rubbers like the cheap shit does. Placebo, someone said? I get an average of 30 extra miles per tank if I use the super stuff. I have documented evidence of my trips and fuel economy (coz I'm like that with this bike). You tend to get more if you're doing distance, of course and playing high-speed games with motorway traffic seems to have no effect.... but whereas mundane urban riding at 40 and below gets you lower extra, it's still extra miles. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY... My carb diaphragms definitely suffered while I was using cheaper shit and not only do you have to send the sliders off for replacement (they're not the modern slip-off type), but they cost about £40 EACH!! There is the option of recoating them with Plasti-Dip spray, but you need to be very good at layering that stuff. TL:DR - Older bikes need the 'expensive' fuel. It's not actually that much more anyway, but it gets you better economy and saves your rubbers from karking it!

Masters? Master baiters, perhaps!! Perfect sense, though. Bigger bikes are heavier and more solidly planted in corners, typically with better handling and more money/time/effort spent on the features that make them easier to ride. You're gonna have a blast!!

Restore to a working, saleable condition. Anyone wanna buy a Drag Queen? 48k clocked!!

It's already in bits... and the state that bike had gotten in was pretty embarrassing!!

Whereas, IMO, 650 Drag Queens tend to start encountering notable problems around the 40,000 mark. Decent Service History is nice, but it more often comes down to what kind of mileage it's had (wet, dry, motorway, obsessive polishing, frequent servicing) and how often they strip the bike down and clean all the places you can't otherwise reach. There are components buried deep inside the bike that not even a jetwash will reach, yet muck still gets in there. Believe me - I'm in the middle of a complete bolt-for-bolt rebuild on a 2001 650 and I'm learning all sorts of things I could have done with knowing several years earlier. I'm also an expert in what happens when you abuse Drag Queen! 21k clocked sounds OK, to be honest, but do give it a thorough testing beforehand.

Wotcha mate!! Welcome to the forum

I assume the Citroen used no indicators, or anything... Are they insured? Bad news to hear, but glad that you and the bike are relatively OK. Just hope you can get back on the road before we start getting some proper good weather!

Put the socket set down and step away from the motorcycle... NOW!!! Caligula pipes are fantastic... IF you can find an early set. Otherwise, give me your money and I'll go spend it on something far more worthwhile. At best, you will need to clean them off after every ride and had better have invested in Autosol shares. They are fucking awful quality nowadays and really not worth the paper postage label. Believe me - I know!!

The FJR is very swanky modern and new, so will behave just like that. It's also fast, spacious, well-behaved, feature-laden and a proper Sports Tourer. By all accounts, it's much harder to work on, needs more effort and jiggery-pokery, the rear suspension linkages require a great deal of correct attention (Yamaha themselves don't do this properly) and is a bugger to do alone, a lot of the gubbins are electric... not something I'm that sold on, personally, but a lot of people like them. However, the FJR owners (on the same forum, naturally) are just as enthusiastic and Ernie at the FJR Centre (obviously connected with Doc, god of everything FJ) is the best in the business. Beyond that, you'd have to try each one out for yourself, see which you were interested in. Maybe hop on http://www.fjfjrbiker.co.uk/index.php?action=forum and chat with the riders there. All I can tell you is that the FJ1200 will NOT disappoint!!

To keep costs low, best to start by looking at things you can take apart without requiring new ones when reassembling: How are your wheel bearings? Spokes all nice and tight? Forks solid and aligned? Speedo unit in good nick? Everything fully lubed up?