thanetman

That'll do fine, just down here there's a junction onto a dual carriageway just past a blind bend so you need to pull away quick incase a truck comes round that bend at speed

Problem solved - there's a guy breaking a FJ1200 and he bought hyperpro springs for it, heavier fork oil, new seals, headstock bearings and mudguard but never fitted them as he got another bike instead so he'll fit the lot to the forks and yoke off the bike he's breaking then I'll ride up and swap them over with mine, job done . Now here's a question which is probably a bit thick - if you want to make a fast acceleration from standing still i.e. turning onto a dual carriageway from a junction what's the highest revs you can use in 1st gear without the bike chucking you off or doing a wheelie when you let the clutch off as after 1500 miles I haven't quite worked it out yet and my 0-60 times are probably still about 7 seconds. Timbo

Cheers Ttaskmaster - something to keep me busy on Thursday

Hi all; Got a FJ1200 and whenever I go over a manhole cover that's dropped an inch or over a pothole (of which there are plenty round here) the front wheel bites right down and it feels like the rim on the front wheel is hitting the road and the whole front of the bike crashes down quite hard with a loud bang/clang, even with the tyre at right pressure. Someone else took my bike for a spin and he reckoned it was steering head bearings that needed doing. Does that sound right or is it something else? There's no wobble from the steering when going round corners etc. Timbo

I'll go hunting around eBay for one

Yes I read up about this which could explain why when I put it into second gear sometimes the engine just revs up instead of engaging - embarrassing when in a narrow street as everyone turns and looks at you Can you get a double bubble screen for the FJ or some sort of second screen to keep the flies out my eyes? The carbs we're only balanced two weeks ago so guess it's fuel mixture - do I need to turn the screws in or out?

It does to me when I do occasionally go past 5000 rpm in 2nd gear On a different note I've noticed when I close the throttle or use the gears to slow the bike down there sounds like a bit of backfiring or popping sort of like the 2 strokes of the old days - but not when you accelerate. Is that normal? Having only had bikes with one cylinder before this is new stuff to me!

First thing I did was fit some daytime led lights, problem is they aren't as good as I thought they would be, that was what the bollocking was about as I was relying on them in the daytime instead of the dipped beam :-\ although at dusk they are pretty bright. They are on the wing mirror stalks.

Sorted! Bumped into a decent bike mechanic by chance at a bike meet near me who used to run a bike shop. He discovered it was only running on 3 cylinders (!), checked the plugs, spark, compression test, adjusted carb mixture (carb number 4 screw had been turned out 4 times, hence why she was guzzling fuel), and synced them all for £30 and now she goes like rocket! He did give me a bit of a bollocking for not riding with my lights on in the daytime and keeping it in too low revs before changing up a gear, he said on the open road don't change up until it gets to 6000rpm when accelerating. I've also discovered that all bmw drivers with nearly new cars insist on racing you - or trying to. It's quite nice to know a £1000, 26 year old bike can piss them off when leaving roundabouts

Out of interest has anyone had their carbs synced before and if so what sort of price does that cost?

Joined!

Cheers Slice, sadly I won't be riding it anywhere today as the clutch went last night, Checked the reservoir and it's empty and looks like a fluid dribble over the left hand side of the engine down the bottom. Called the mobile mechanic who serviced it before I bought it and he said he replaced the clutch seals and he'll come round Tuesday to check it out but gives me time today to oil the springs and do the idling.

Yep mine was imported, going by the writing on the swing arm could be Germany. It's done 77,000 km so not massive mileage. To get the cables off I'll need to remove the fairing as my screwdrivers are too long to fit the gap between According to what I was given with the bike the carbs have been cleaned so mystery as to why it's still a bit stuttery but guess I can have them done again. I've got some new plugs to go in it but I need to burn off a bit of fuel first as I almost filled up the tank. I'll get a holder for my mobile phone and use it's gps speedo in future. Just been for another hours ride and it is very comfy, not even feeling tired.

Righto, I'll do that but the rideout did show up one big problem - when you come to a stop and put the bike in neutral the revs we're sometimes (but not always) taking a few seconds to drop back to idle and on two occasions they stayed at about 3000rpm so the traffic next to me probably thought I was after a race! Any ideas? It happened a lot more when it was hot.

First big ride out and it's nice to be able to pull away from a junction onto a dual carriageway without waiting for a huge gap in the traffic coming up Pulled onto the A2 and it went up 125kmh before I realised it and it didn't even go past 5000 rpm. Only the wind blast on my helmet made me look down at the speedo..

Cheers people. As regards threading plugs I'm careful with that from my cheapo chinese 125 with crappo metal - turn one of the original bolts too much and the top snaps off. Stick a decent English steel bolt in and it threads the block! As for a sealing washer does it have to be a specific one for that bike or will a generic one the right size from a car parts place fit as there's plenty of motor factors around here. Timbo

Cheers Dutch, that'll be my first job tomorrow morning, before that sun gets too high Riding up to the test centre on Wednesday in town the sweat was dripping onto my glasses even with helmet vents open. Talking of which being an air cooled monster how do they cope in this heat? I'm guessing on the open road between 40 and upwards they are fine but crawling through town might it get a bit too hot?

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

Looks very smooth at speed..

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 :-\

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

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?

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