Fecking jap bikes!!

Rob Farmer · Nov 12, 2011

In the name of all things holy!!!! Whoever designs these fecking things wants fecking shooting!!!!

In a moment of madness last week I bought a 1984 fj1100 for £600 (looked and sounded great in the eBay advert) I don't need to explain the mrs gone away for a few days, Friday night bottle of wine and eBay syndrome to you guys. I'm sure your all familiar with this scenario

Essentially the bikes fine apart from the front forks and needing a bit of fettling and for£600...

So I'll just pull the carbs off for an ultrasonic clean thinks I...why would anybody make a simple job like pulling the carbs off such an impossible task with normal sized fingers and as for putting it all back together again :blast

The manual simply says "shimming the valves requires the use of a special tool" - "sod that" thinks I, I'll pay the local bike shop to do it...so after getting over the shock of being quoted £300 by the bike shop I ordered the factory shimming tool and set about the tedious task of shuffling shims about. Fortunately I only need to buy 3 new shims at a tenner each. so that's £30 for the shims and £53 for the shimming tool so I'm quits in and set up for the next shimming session in 8,000 miles time.

I can see why 2nd hand jap bikes are so cheap.

Devon · Nov 12, 2011

You can't help yourself Rob: You have to pull everything to pieces

Just change the oil and filters, chuck a load of carb cleaners in the fuel tank and ride the fecker. It isn't an old british bike that will let you down if you don't maintain it. It will just keep going and going (I hope).

JayC · Nov 12, 2011

Yes the carbs can be a pig to remove but in saying that there isn't alot of room to remove the carbs of a Funduro either. Special tools? Required for loads of vehicles, not just Japs.

A £600 FJ requiring some fettling....bargain, and when it's sorted you'll be laughing , until the fork seals go again , and again , and again.

On the plus side snick it into top and you won't need the gearbox for the rest of your journey. :thumb2

Dave Ett · Nov 12, 2011

If you need ANY advice on the FJ11, just ask. Had mine since 1990, and covered 96,000 miles on it...

DrFarkoff · Nov 12, 2011

Yeah I swear each time I get a rice burner to sort for someone that it is the last time!!!

and this time I get conned by my mate to split his 650 bandit I Fookin hate workin on them I'd RATHER do a clutch on a K1200LT than do this job again!

I had to split the cases to get in and find the rest of this
#

Wrigsby1 · Nov 12, 2011

Do you fix bevels on R12's or the latest Guzzi's? Or perhaps have the workshop hankies ready for Ducati buyers when "running costs" or depreciation comes up

Devon · Nov 12, 2011

Surely servicing Jap Fours means changing the oil and filter every 3k and then leaving them alone if they rev to the redline without farting or banging

Kenny · Nov 12, 2011

Robs gone quite...must be having a great time playing with a proper (Jap) bike...then he can sorn it until the salt has gone ( or the caliper pistons...whichever comes first )

Great bikes :thumb2

Rob Farmer · Nov 12, 2011

I'd gone quiet because it broke down 5 miles from home

the mrs is away so I had to walk home, get some tools, jump leads and the gs. Ride out there, find the problem and them leapfrog the bikes back home.

Piked up the thunderace front end this morning and a pair of R1 calipers to go with it so at least the crap anti dive front end will be a thing of the past. The 320mm disks and r1 calipers should sort the braking out.

Devon · Nov 12, 2011

Rob Farmer said:
I'd gone quiet because it broke down 5 miles from home the mrs is away so I had to walk home, get some tools, jump leads and the gs. Ride out there, find the problem and them leapfrog the bikes back home.

oops! That's my theory out the window then :blast

Why did the bike stop Rob?

Rob Farmer · Nov 12, 2011

Vacuum fuel tap Devon. The battery isn't brilliant and went flat before I sussed out what the problem was.

D6 · Nov 12, 2011

so a 600 quid bmw 1100 would be better??

Rob Farmer · Nov 16, 2011

After a spin over to Nottingham on Saturday it was obvious that things still aren't right so off with the cylinder head and a burnt valves been found :blast

Worth doing i reakon as it goes well enough with a bolloxed one in apart from spitting and missing at low rpm.

(RIP) Kaister · Nov 17, 2011

are you going to 'GS' it ?

turnipbmw · Nov 17, 2011

I made the same 'mistake' with a ZZR1100 last year, £600 start, 2 miles away, even had a you tube of it running.

No one else bid so it was mine.

Just hated it from the word go, so cheaply made.

When I sold it, I just left it outside and told the guy to stuff the money through the letterbox if he wanted it.

Buying cheap Ks this year - at least you know where you are with them !

Devon · Nov 17, 2011

Rob Farmer said:
After a spin over to Nottingham on Saturday it was obvious that things still aren't right so off with the cylinder head and a burnt valves been found
Worth doing i reakon as it goes well enough with a bolloxed one in apart from spitting and missing at low rpm.

You are not having much luck with rhe FJ Rob. On the plus side, You are going to be pretty knowledgable about the bikes the way its going

Rob Farmer · Nov 17, 2011

It's always a gamble buying bikes like this.

It's actually a really nice bike to ride and I figure that by the time I'm done it will stand me at £850 so still not a lot of money for an ICBM and I'll know that everythings ok with it.

Top down shot of the exhaust valve. Somebody cutting corners on maintainence by not bothering to check the shims.

David Nimrod · Nov 17, 2011

Rob Farmer said:
Top down shot of the exhaust valve. Somebody cutting corners on maintainence by not bothering to check the shims.

Ouch!

DrFarkoff · Nov 17, 2011

Rob check over the bushes in the rear suspension linkages and check for any cracks better still take them out and get them X rayed or MPI'd.

They have a habit of collapsing when the owners don't grease them regularly and they "just let go!"

A mate of mine had one from new and left it to the stealership for servicing and at 18 and ahlaf thousand miles or so they cracked and let go!

Personally I've always stuck to the service requirements (or repair anything remotely dangerous!) when I worked there and that was why I had trouble with the bosses! But that's another story!

Rob Farmer · Nov 17, 2011

These supposedly ultra reliable jap bikes aren't really when you start looking into it are they. I've had a few in the past and they were all scrap at around 50k (if they made it that far)

I'm enjoying tinkering with this yam though so as long as it keeps me happy it's money well spent

Fecking jap bikes!!

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