- Joined
- Jan 25, 2015
- Messages
- 2,558
So back in 1983, I was lusting over pics of the 1984 FJ1100.
It was THE superbike to have at the time. Sure, there was the 900 Ninja and the VF1000F, but the big Yammy juuuust edged out the Ninja and the VF (while a heck of a superbike) just couldn’t catch the FJ. Suzuki had the big GS, but that old girl (while still pretty damned fast!) was just out of its depth in this company.
But alas, I was in high school and couldn’t pull together enough scratch to get one. I ”settled“ for a VF750F interceptor (was also a heck of a sportbike), but the FJ was always in the back of my mind.
Over the years, the desire only got worse, but an FJ always seemed just out of my reach. The ex-wife was a big part of that….and while not the only reason, its part of why she’s the “x” wife.
Then, when searching for a Venture, I came across a 1989 fj1200. It was old, it was beat up and honestly it was probably a half step away from being scrapped. But it was 800 bucks and about an hour drive from the Venture I was going to go look at, so a “viewing” must be made!
The missus (current missus) knows the FJ is an item I had always wanted but never got. I showed her the ad and she told me to just buy both!
Back off boys, she’s taken!
So I borrowed a larger trailer and the wife and I loaded up to go see the bikes two provinces away.
The FJ was indeed in hard shape. It was stored in a ramshackle shed about 30 yards from the atlantic ocean. It would run if I hot wired it, but not well and not long. No smoke, which was a good sign. The odo had been rolled at least once and it showed 80,000-ish on the dial so it was a good 150,000 kms more than most of my bike purchases. Rust was everywhere and it was genuinely a junkyard dog. Bad respray, broken panels everywhere and just generally neglected all around.
The pic makes it look waaaaay better than it was.
But it was an FJ and for the most part, complete. After a bit of a conversation, I slip the guy 800 bucks and load it on the trailer. Turns out I got a call from the guy the next day to see if I wanted to sell it back to him. Seems a buddy of his wanted the engine for a legends car. Yeah…nope. Mine! I’m not letting this FJ be sacrificed on the legends car alter like so many others!
We unloaded it once back home:
It was ride-able as it was, so I just rode it that summer:
Mostly just to get a feel for what it needed.
It was nirvana! That engine, even though pretty ragged, pulled like a freight train from right off idle. The handling was typical early/mid 80’s superbike, meaning slow by todays standards and you had to give it a good wrestle into the corners. But once set into the curve, it was like it was on rails. Great fun!
but after that first summer, it was obvious the bike needed some attention.
First up was replacing the cracked/broken plastics. Ebay served up useable spares.
Wheels and tires were next. I sourced an ultra rare fzr750R front wheel, which slots right in:
I cannot stress how hard it is to find one of these wheels. Only availabke a couple years, limited number imported and most that hit NA shores ended up on the track.
The rear was a different story. Most guys just go with a gsxr rim which bolts right up. But while it looks very close, it just doesn’t quite match the yammy front wheel. after some digging, I ended up going with an fzr1000 rear rim:
Another hard to find piece. The 17” rim only cane on a couple yeats before the yzf obsoleted the fzr. Adding to the scarcity was the fzr1000 cane with an 18” wheel for most of its run and the 17“ was only a few model years before the yzf took over.
It took a lot of work to get it to fit, but well worth the effort to swap the 16” rim for the modern 17” rim.
Then I decided a stronger swingarm would be good. Took an fz1 swingarm and cut it down to fit:
looks great and much stronger than the original arm.
The rear shock was pretty much shot. its a non-rebuildable unit, so replacement was the only option. Or was it?
I’ve always liked the cbt600rr rear shock. High quality, rebuildable, easy to get parts for and a dime a dozen.
So I took one apart, cut it up to install a remote reservoir, added a hydraulic preload adjuster from a kawi zg, a higher rate spring and a re-valve for the new spring rate:
the mufflers were in decent ahaoe, but they didn’t fit right (from a different year) and you could see the skin starting to crack and split. So I dug up an okd set of kerkers and refurbed them:
to be continued….i can only two finger tyoe for so long and then need a break!
lol!
It was THE superbike to have at the time. Sure, there was the 900 Ninja and the VF1000F, but the big Yammy juuuust edged out the Ninja and the VF (while a heck of a superbike) just couldn’t catch the FJ. Suzuki had the big GS, but that old girl (while still pretty damned fast!) was just out of its depth in this company.
But alas, I was in high school and couldn’t pull together enough scratch to get one. I ”settled“ for a VF750F interceptor (was also a heck of a sportbike), but the FJ was always in the back of my mind.
Over the years, the desire only got worse, but an FJ always seemed just out of my reach. The ex-wife was a big part of that….and while not the only reason, its part of why she’s the “x” wife.
Then, when searching for a Venture, I came across a 1989 fj1200. It was old, it was beat up and honestly it was probably a half step away from being scrapped. But it was 800 bucks and about an hour drive from the Venture I was going to go look at, so a “viewing” must be made!
The missus (current missus) knows the FJ is an item I had always wanted but never got. I showed her the ad and she told me to just buy both!
Back off boys, she’s taken!
So I borrowed a larger trailer and the wife and I loaded up to go see the bikes two provinces away.
The FJ was indeed in hard shape. It was stored in a ramshackle shed about 30 yards from the atlantic ocean. It would run if I hot wired it, but not well and not long. No smoke, which was a good sign. The odo had been rolled at least once and it showed 80,000-ish on the dial so it was a good 150,000 kms more than most of my bike purchases. Rust was everywhere and it was genuinely a junkyard dog. Bad respray, broken panels everywhere and just generally neglected all around.
The pic makes it look waaaaay better than it was.
But it was an FJ and for the most part, complete. After a bit of a conversation, I slip the guy 800 bucks and load it on the trailer. Turns out I got a call from the guy the next day to see if I wanted to sell it back to him. Seems a buddy of his wanted the engine for a legends car. Yeah…nope. Mine! I’m not letting this FJ be sacrificed on the legends car alter like so many others!
We unloaded it once back home:
It was ride-able as it was, so I just rode it that summer:
Mostly just to get a feel for what it needed.
It was nirvana! That engine, even though pretty ragged, pulled like a freight train from right off idle. The handling was typical early/mid 80’s superbike, meaning slow by todays standards and you had to give it a good wrestle into the corners. But once set into the curve, it was like it was on rails. Great fun!
but after that first summer, it was obvious the bike needed some attention.
First up was replacing the cracked/broken plastics. Ebay served up useable spares.
Wheels and tires were next. I sourced an ultra rare fzr750R front wheel, which slots right in:
I cannot stress how hard it is to find one of these wheels. Only availabke a couple years, limited number imported and most that hit NA shores ended up on the track.
The rear was a different story. Most guys just go with a gsxr rim which bolts right up. But while it looks very close, it just doesn’t quite match the yammy front wheel. after some digging, I ended up going with an fzr1000 rear rim:
Another hard to find piece. The 17” rim only cane on a couple yeats before the yzf obsoleted the fzr. Adding to the scarcity was the fzr1000 cane with an 18” wheel for most of its run and the 17“ was only a few model years before the yzf took over.
It took a lot of work to get it to fit, but well worth the effort to swap the 16” rim for the modern 17” rim.
Then I decided a stronger swingarm would be good. Took an fz1 swingarm and cut it down to fit:
looks great and much stronger than the original arm.
The rear shock was pretty much shot. its a non-rebuildable unit, so replacement was the only option. Or was it?
I’ve always liked the cbt600rr rear shock. High quality, rebuildable, easy to get parts for and a dime a dozen.
So I took one apart, cut it up to install a remote reservoir, added a hydraulic preload adjuster from a kawi zg, a higher rate spring and a re-valve for the new spring rate:
the mufflers were in decent ahaoe, but they didn’t fit right (from a different year) and you could see the skin starting to crack and split. So I dug up an okd set of kerkers and refurbed them:
to be continued….i can only two finger tyoe for so long and then need a break!
lol!
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