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Other Bikes and Workshop Woes
They are a hoot to ride. Except for people slowing down in front of you!
jussumguy
XS650 Addict
There's got to be a story there. : )
Michaelo
650Mick
Yeah, what a weapon jussumguy, I've been given this Yamaha FJ 1200 widow maker to re build and keep.... might rebuild and break in & sell.....
Anyone ride one before? Is it worth the effort?
Anyone ride one before? Is it worth the effort?
schlakeandbake308
XS650 Addict
that fj is a ton of fun, i got one in good running condition for like 700 bucks last year. It is very fast, i mean very fast. Id been on the xs pretty consistently and then hopped on that FJ. scared the crap out of me for a bit... i sold it and made a pretty nice profit. mine was the same color and everything. They handle pretty well, but it feels really heavy.
On a side note, love that Norton. Im in the middle of rebuilding an 850 roadster at the moment. Got all my parts, taking the frame for powdercoat on monday. should hopefully have it going by February. How do you like the try-spark? mine came with a boyer so i was trying to decide whether to ditch it or not
On a side note, love that Norton. Im in the middle of rebuilding an 850 roadster at the moment. Got all my parts, taking the frame for powdercoat on monday. should hopefully have it going by February. How do you like the try-spark? mine came with a boyer so i was trying to decide whether to ditch it or not
Attachments
Michaelo
650Mick
I did the tri spark in all the British imports, the last 850 Norton was running like crap, new top end did the timing etc, valve clearances, carbs and still wouldn't run right. Tri spark in, a bit of fudging around and Bam! Away she went, so if you say to Tri Spark, I would rate it pretty high....
FJ, I am tempted, pretty well will go ahead and do some work on the widow maker....Rode my XS today for the first time in 5 days, bloody love that bike more than my wife...oop's did I say that
FJ, I am tempted, pretty well will go ahead and do some work on the widow maker....Rode my XS today for the first time in 5 days, bloody love that bike more than my wife...oop's did I say that
Michaelo
650Mick
Here's a pick. A little disappointed about the HT leads, but I was getting to the end of the re build and was just over the bloody thing.....ended up putting new carbs on too, that made some difference as the bodies were worn out......
schlakeandbake308
XS650 Addict
then it sounds like tri-spark is the way to go, i love the JPN paint scheme. My tank and side covers are all the way across the country right now being painted. I bit the bullet and went with Vintage Vendor after seeing a guy here with a roadster. all hand painted pinstriping and logos. Im going with the classic black and gold, but the JPN scheme is so good...
I ordered new premiers too. The set if have work but they are pretty rough, figured i might as well do it right. I'm sure ill end up fudging around a bit at the end of it because now i just want to ride the damn thing. I love my xs too, the misses has been calling it the mistress for two or three years... she's not that far off lets be honest.
If you go with the fj, you won't be disappointed. i have a buddy with an r6 and a ZX10. i took the fj to a track day and had no problem keeping up in the straights. hell the guy with the r6 rode it for half the day. not to many air-cooled bikes that run that fast. plus all the old drag race gurus from the 80s want to buy it from you
I ordered new premiers too. The set if have work but they are pretty rough, figured i might as well do it right. I'm sure ill end up fudging around a bit at the end of it because now i just want to ride the damn thing. I love my xs too, the misses has been calling it the mistress for two or three years... she's not that far off lets be honest.
If you go with the fj, you won't be disappointed. i have a buddy with an r6 and a ZX10. i took the fj to a track day and had no problem keeping up in the straights. hell the guy with the r6 rode it for half the day. not to many air-cooled bikes that run that fast. plus all the old drag race gurus from the 80s want to buy it from you
Michaelo
650Mick
It is a JPS bike, there were noticeable differences in the two 850 bikes I re built...put in new front forks & seals, two master cylinders, one a complete, the other a re build, sprague clutch was a bastard on this one as well, so re placed the primary drive gear, clutch, and starter drive gear. Because it had jambed up the starter motor had been running in reverse after being started, it didn't like that very much and buggered the bushes and brushes in the starter.
If you pull the engine down give me a yell, I know some tricks (making special tools) about shimming the rockers, placement of the parts that make the clutch components up in their correct order....and others....I am getting keen for the FJ1200 now....
If you pull the engine down give me a yell, I know some tricks (making special tools) about shimming the rockers, placement of the parts that make the clutch components up in their correct order....and others....I am getting keen for the FJ1200 now....
schlakeandbake308
XS650 Addict
I'll be taking you up on that. It was a basket case so I'm still sifting through stuff as I go
phil1rowe4
XS650 Addict
I've got a couple of basket case XS's ready for the next 2 projects, but am currently working on another bike from my mis-spent youth.
Here's the xs project distraction... should be a lot of fun... Its a hybrid RZ350
Here's the xs project distraction... should be a lot of fun... Its a hybrid RZ350
Finished up modding my Bandit 1200 with 750 head and cams, RS carbs, Black Widow headpipe with RS3 can, It should go very well next year after the snow goes. I would have had a ride on it this year if I hadn't messed up the cam timing and bent the exhaust valves just enough to mess up the seal. All the exhaust valve reliefs had a nice crescent moon polish at the bottom. Yeah, ok, the filters.....The 54mm ones are a perfect fit for RS38 carbs, they actually have to stretch about 1mm to go over them, so the fit is ideal. Too bad the XS is upside down, but whatever, no one will see it anyway and the price is right. I had to replace a set of siamese RU2922 K&N filters which did not work and cost me over $100. It was a bit of a frustrating job doind all this twice, especially with the winter closing in and with no shelter. The last bit was done by worklight with freezing fingertips, so the promise of 130hp with OEM Suzuki bolt ons had better be correct!! I may not have sprung for the RS carbs had I had my time back, but the lack of CV tuning complications with the pods appealed to me. I have repainted the head with Honda graphite gray metallic paint and you can't tell it from the original Suzuki paint.
You're going to like those RS carbies. Effects of component changes are much more tightly isolated than older designs, and that makes the tuning job a lot easier.
....sorry my colonial brother but the term North American is wildly over-used by folks from away....
Michaelo
650Mick
Hey Pete, welll done on the win! We are Colonial brothers, when I was working in the states, I was told by my Southern hosts that I should refer to USA, as North America?
This is incorrect?
Do you think that encompasses Canada?
This is incorrect?
Do you think that encompasses Canada?
Well, I don't have anything quite as exotic as a JP Norton or a Triumph Trident but my other ride is a 2007 Honda ST1300 (Pan European to the EU crowd). The ST is a 730 lb, liquid cooled V-4, 32 valve DOHC, EFI, fully faired, mon-shock shafty with linked ABS brakes, electrically adjustable headlights and a windscreen that is also powered up and down, a transporter beam and a full suite of photon torpedoes. The first time I uncorked it on the highway (to quote Clint Eastwood in Firefox when he opened up that Russian fighter he had just purloined), all I could say was...."Is this a machine!" I may have also said, "holy crap!!!" - or something along those lines. That thing could tow an XS650 much much faster than it could go under its own power - easily.
Anyhow, my ST has about 51,000 km on it which is nothing for one of those scooters, and has been trouble free until late in the autumn when I was unlucky in that mine has developed a small leak in the clutch slave cylinder (let's call it that f@cking thing ....or the CSC for short).
The CSC is a little round hydraulic gizmo-thing - smaller than a hockey puck (for Canadians), the size of an Oreo cookie (for Americans), a Tim-Tam (for Aussies & Kiwis) or a scone (for Brits). It costs about $75 CAD (about 8 dollars American or 157 quid U.K...post Brexit). It is held onto the rear engine case by three crummy little 6mm bolts and it has a double banjo bolt hydraulic fitting on it. The problem is that the space in which the CSC is located is extremely tight being in the middle of the bike, about 8" above the top of the centre stand pivot, about 50 mm in front of the swing arm and blocked by the gear shift linkage, the oil filter and whole sh!tload of wiring and drain hoses.
The Honda shop manual procedure for changing the CSC reads like this:
1) drain clutch hydraulic system fluid;
2) remove engine from frame;
3) remove three fixing bolts and hydraulic fitting;
4) remove CSC and replace with new unit;
5) installation is the reverse of the above;
6) refill and bleed the clutch hydraulic system.
This is all good except for steps 2) and 5), the combined labour cost of which is $1273 CAD.
Sorry Uncle Soichiro - but on this particular repair task - YOU SUCK!!!!!
Anyhow, my ST has about 51,000 km on it which is nothing for one of those scooters, and has been trouble free until late in the autumn when I was unlucky in that mine has developed a small leak in the clutch slave cylinder (let's call it that f@cking thing ....or the CSC for short).
The CSC is a little round hydraulic gizmo-thing - smaller than a hockey puck (for Canadians), the size of an Oreo cookie (for Americans), a Tim-Tam (for Aussies & Kiwis) or a scone (for Brits). It costs about $75 CAD (about 8 dollars American or 157 quid U.K...post Brexit). It is held onto the rear engine case by three crummy little 6mm bolts and it has a double banjo bolt hydraulic fitting on it. The problem is that the space in which the CSC is located is extremely tight being in the middle of the bike, about 8" above the top of the centre stand pivot, about 50 mm in front of the swing arm and blocked by the gear shift linkage, the oil filter and whole sh!tload of wiring and drain hoses.
The Honda shop manual procedure for changing the CSC reads like this:
1) drain clutch hydraulic system fluid;
2) remove engine from frame;
3) remove three fixing bolts and hydraulic fitting;
4) remove CSC and replace with new unit;
5) installation is the reverse of the above;
6) refill and bleed the clutch hydraulic system.
This is all good except for steps 2) and 5), the combined labour cost of which is $1273 CAD.
Sorry Uncle Soichiro - but on this particular repair task - YOU SUCK!!!!!
To finish the tale, I will NOT be spending $1273 on having my CSC replaced. I will, instead, be doing myself by reaching up into the interior of this big gal with a tiny wrench and fumbling around doing something gmuseful without being able to see it.
Sort of like what I used to to do in the back seat of my Dad's old brown Pontiac Catalina at the drive-in movies with my girlfriend.
Isn't she pretty?
Yes, my Antipodean friend - North America officially includes, Mexico,, the USA and Canada - but I would suggest that each of these nations sees itself as distinct INA number of ways including culture, language, currency and....dare I say it....politics.
Tee Hee.
Michaelo
650Mick
Don't mention the "Trump" word, Ha! hey thanks for clearing that up, they told me when I was working in USA I was the "North American" contact, now I know why I spent so much time in Saskatchewan, Canada, thought things were different, bloody cold too.
Did the big mining show in Vegas too, really appreciated the help from my attorney as she spoke fluent Spanish...great interpreter....
Did the big mining show in Vegas too, really appreciated the help from my attorney as she spoke fluent Spanish...great interpreter....
