New Yamaha Project???

Another productive day, however as it was Sunday I didn't get started until about 2:00 this afternoon. :shaking head:

Front end is complete, sans brake lines, cables are changed out (what a difference! clutch is smooth, and the throttle snaps h]shut), bars and grips on, wires back together, head light shell painted, and I'm sure there are other things.

The FJ600 front wheel is a direct exchange!!! Only two issues; 1) the wheel has a flat spot...the seller said he'll call me tomorrow, he says he has are replacement, 2) The FJ rotor bolts hit the XV caliper carrier. Ugh. Not sure how I'm going to resolve this one. The FJ fork legs are 38mm, the XV are 36mm. Either I have the Xv triple bored out, if there is room, or I figure out how to press the XV steering stem into the FJ lower...regardless, good things learned today. Oh, and Motion Pros cables have the cable housing about 1/4" too long....:disapproval:

Probably on hold until next weekend....

View attachment 12307

View attachment 12308

View attachment 12309

FJ600 front wheel vs. XV front wheel. FJ is several pounds lighter and wider too. Only this one has a flat spot.

View attachment 12310
 
Last edited:
stretched06 said:
I like the bars they look good on it.
Click to expand...

Thanks, it's getting there. The angle maybe a little to "down". So I may lower the fork another 15 to 20mm and put some chrome clip ons on the top.

The FZ6 foot pegs are due in tomorrow. They will help clean up the look of the rearsets, and provide much better feel of the bike. The stock ones are hollow with ribs of mush.

Tonight I'll take her for a ride in the neighborhood, albeit slowly as I've not front brakes. The exhaust sounds great too! :evillaugh:

Between the new tires, rebuilt fork, new cables, tune up, and new brake pads, she should feel like a new bike.
 
Brakelines are in! Ride tonight? Maybe?

Also scored an FJ600 fork and triple. In the end I'll end up with an entire. FJ600 front end on her. Better brakes, larger fork lighter wheel, etc. For cheap and still Yamaha.

This weekend I'm going to see if I can cobble the FJ rear wheel on. It should be "only" a matter of spacers. We'll see...

Sent from my LG-P925 using Tapatalk 2
 
Well they sent lines for a Virago, not the R. They are about 4 inches too long. Tonight I see if I CA figure out a creative way to route the lines.

Gotta love a project!

Sent from my LG-P925 using Tapatalk 2
 
Well she's back together. I still have to sort the wires out. The turn signals aren't working. Dim light, 48 year old eyes, can't see well enough...middle age totally sucks.

Bled the brakes, and they are so-so. With the clubmans at such a radical angle I think there is an air bubble at the peak of the MC banjo bolt. That said...the retro MC DOES NOT have a brake light switch. Ugh. Either I rebuild the original, OEM MC, or I can fit the FZ1 MC.

Took the bike for a short ride tonight. Run GREAT, like a R@PED APE! The larger diameter exhaust, and removing the airbox snorkel made all the difference. The handling is MUCH better with new tires, tapered roller bearings, and new fork springs/seals and oil.

Mirrors on, FZ6 foot pegs on...she's looking good!

Tomorrow I'll finish sorting the wiring, bleed the brakes again.

View attachment 12330

View attachment 12331
 
I'm guessing the Hawk is. The torque is pretty good on the XV, but there is no top end, or run over at all.

That said, she is a totally different bike from three weeks ago, much tighter and firmer.

Interestingly the soft seat needs to go. Totally too soft. I'll see if I can find a local guy to redo it.

The fork and replacement wheel went out yesterday. I'm curious to see how this play out. It should make a huge difference in both suspension quality, and braking.
 
Last edited:
I love the look of it Pete. There is just something about the look of a air cooled engine that I love.
Speaking of the Hawk. I'm tring to work a deal for a spindle and rear wheel. The spindle is modified to run a 916,996,998 duck wheel. It has the 3 spoker now.
 
Oh the FZ600 will kill both of them. The FZ600 we used to race back in the day would top out about 140/145 in race trim.

The XV would be lucky to hit 110 or so. It's big, heavy, AND slow. But a fun bike to ride. It's not in a hurry at all. I'm looking forward to putting some miles on her. I suspect it will be a very good sport/touring bike.
 
Took her out for a 15 miles shake down ride today. She ran great! Starts right up, smooth, pulls well and manage to bury the 85 mph speedo. I assume she hit 86!

I have a few things to sort out.

1) snug up the steering bearings a little.
2) adjust valves
3) there is a flat spot at 5,200 and 6,000, then she pulls nicely to redline.

The carbs are very old Hitachi's that were used for only two years. I'm not sure if I can get jets for them or not. If I can I'd like to be able to sort the Hitiachi's out.
 
stretched06 said:
How do you like/dislike the bars after the ride?
Click to expand...

I like the bars. The front end of the bike is so high compared current bikes. You actually sit behind the speedo and tach so they act as a fairing. So the clubmans bring you down to a "normal" level.

I'm thinking I might get some risers so I can bring the clubman's up about 1 to 2 inches. Then I can slide the forks up in the triple another 1" or so. Currently the forks are up 10mm and hitting the bottom of the bars. Or just slide them up and put clip ons on the top of the top clamp. Lots of options. Before I do that I need to fully explore installing the FJ600 front end. If that works I don't think I'll need to mess the bars.

One change I do like are the FZ6 footpegs. The look much better, and I get much better feel of the bike.
 
rc5695 said:
Yup, just put them on my sons '87 Interceptor. Transformed that bike! LOVE them!!!

Also Pete, check out this place when you need OEM parts sometime. EXTREMELY cheap, but sometimes it takes an extra day or 2 for them to ship for some reason... Worth it for the price most of the time...

PowersportsPlus.com - OEM Powersports Parts from Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha at discounts up to 80% off MSRP
Click to expand...

Thanks again for the lead for PowersportsPlus. I just placed an order with them for $35.55, the same parts and shipping from Bike Bandit was $48.50!
 
Well a few updates.

I learned that it can be difficult to get solid info about old bikes. I was using an old article from Cycle World for basic info. They stated my bike had 36mm forks, however the Virago of the same year has 37mm forks. Not the case, and yes stupid me should have measure with my calipers...

Anyone wanna buy a nice clean FJ600 fork and triple tree???

So in my quest for better/safer front brakes I'm going a different direction. On the Yamaha XS650 Forum, outstanding site BTW. I found plans for brake caliper adapters. "Fred" from the FZ6 site is going to whip me up a pair on his mill. In turn I'll use FZ1/FZ6 calipers. I'm going to try to keep my new/old vintage M/C, I really like the look.

For the fork, I'm going to go Race Tech; springs, seals, emulators, etc. While the Progressive Suspension springs are much better than the stockers, they are too mushy for me. I'm also going to see if I can use Suzuki '83 GS1100 fork caps with adjustable preload, we'll see on that one...

Once Fred has the adapter plates done, I can then install the FJ600 front wheel, it's plug and play. With that I will drop 5 lbs off the front wheel alone!

View attachment 12378

View attachment 12379
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top