What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Cut out the carbs! (in your diet, not on the bike.........)

 

I have been. It's so difficult though.

 

5 C. shouldn't be too cold since I rode the bikes well below freezing point and slept outside in tents during wintermeetings.
-10C orso was quite common.
Nowadays, getting older, the 'drive' to do so is becoming less. Also because lots of my friends quit riding or even choose to ride
only above 15 C. and only around the church so to say.
Covidshit doesn't help either due to concerns regarding money etc.
Not for me though but meetings are adjourned so there is a lot less riding going on and I like to haul distances.

 

It reached 22 degrees C here so I had to go for a ride.
I took the vintage FZ600 for a tour.
You can see me on a back road, this is the border between Canada and US.
A very desolate iron bridge is all that separates the countries.
In my mirror you can see more of the bridge.

Actually they were filming an episode of The Handmaid's Tale near Waterloo last week.
It's a series on Netflix, famous Margaret Atwood story, my wife watches it.
They did a good job painting this on the bridge and making it look old.



FZ is running sweet, need to look at the clutch though, it is really stiff.

 

Damn I just spotted a fastener missing!

 

Yamaha parts special? Looks like the tank didn't quite match the frame?

 

Parts bin special only in putting the air-cooled XJ600 motor into the FZ400R frame.
FZ400R had the same fuel tank with the cut outs between the frame, otherwise I think it would have looked too slab sided.
Certainly aids air flow for the XJ motor.

 

I spent a few of my dollars on taking the girl to a decent day-trip. Exploring twisty roads is a welcome change from exploring the Great Plains.
I had forgotten that the corner speed recommendations are just for cars

 

The fz has xj wheels? Still can't see why they would have mismatched the tank with the frame on the fz?
So did the fz600 end up lighter? And better? (Don't know much about the fz400 tbh).
Zoomed in on the fz pic - looks like a 16v motor?

 

This is what my OEM front wheel bearings looked like

 

FZ600, FZ400R and Radian all share that 16" front wheel.
FZ600, FZ400R (and SRX600 I think) share the rear wheel.
The FJ600 and RZ350 have 18" rears but are skinnier and have 2 hole pattern spokes instead of 1 big oval.
Lots of RZ350 guys mount the FZ600 swing arm and rear wheel for an upgrade to the wider (not as skinny LOL) rear wheel.

I've never considered this a visual flaw as I think it makes the bike appear slimmer.
The 1984 FZ400R was one of the 1st perimeter frames from Yamaha, perhaps it was meant to accentuate the perimeter frame?
The FJ1100 and FZ750 being others, they follow the frame and look good.

You guys in the UK have a better chance of seeing an FZ400R in the flesh than us over here as your grey import business is bigger.
Personally I don't have much to offer about them either, I suspect you're right that the FZ600 would be lighter, air-cooled vs liquid and all it's auxiliaries.
Certainly more power and torque, likely less RPM's.
@a100man said he saw a motor at a breaker and contemplated putting it in an XJ550 chassis.

In Canada we got the later FZR400 which had the inclined motor and aluminum frame, and had much in common with the FZR600.
I think the FZ600 disappointed the press at the time because it wasn't really an FZ right, FZ's have the latest & greatest, not some thro-back XJ motor.
I think they're an interesting bike, being a transition between the UJM's and the modern sportbike.

 

Yeah but talk is cheap right? I'll get onto when I've fettled all the current bikes, finished my dual-sport GS500 conversion, fixed -up my VW Type 2 back up and Alfa Spider (916 model type not the
expensive one), finalised the divorce finances and fixed up the house.

 

was the bike underwater?

 

No idea. For sure ridden on dirt roads frequently and probably too much pressure washing.

 

Pressurized the tires, placed the battery and tomorrow off to a private hifi-listeningsession.

 

Swapped exhaust from my JCB to My yellow Seca ,the mufflers have been drilled out has a nice throaty sound .

 

you should not use a pressure washer on your bike the water can get into places you do not want it to go

 

Rolled one of the 650's on the lift table out from under the stairs in the garage. Fired it up a few weeks back and let it run awhile. If the weather is decent this next week I plan to start riding to work. Next up is to get the "fiddled" with carbs on my 750 and get that ready to assume the daily driver role this season

 

Changed the startersolenoid just as precaution because the previous owner managed to get the startermotorbrushes worn out after appr. 20k..
Changed those last year and later I thought maybe it's better to replace this part too after some startingissues.
I thought to have a bad battery but no, as it seems this could be the culprit.. 'coz now it's a hit and run.
Just to be safe during next ridingsaeson.

 

Rode the XJ550 to work for the first time this season. Several years ago I was riding it to work each day in February. Been a long, cold spring here in South Dakota...but back in the saddle again.

Did my spring maintenance yesterday...new battery, oil change, adjust/lube chain, check cables, check tires/tire pressure, check brake function, check lights, inspect helmet, etc.

Running really nice even with last fall's gasoline (use Stabil in the fall for storage, Seafoam in each fillup).

 

picked up a newfloresent green jacket mesh all weather. glows in the sunshine.
zip out liner.

 

I did this today—-

just what a Good Friday needed......

Oh...... sorry. I just looked at the Yamahas. To much grit and salt on the roads. Too much snow between the road and storage, so I tried to ‘remove’ some of it by using my snowmobiles. Oops, I mean ‘snowblower’. Yeah, that’s the ticket——

 

Better weather is coming. Those Yamaha's will be out soon

 

Yup! But since I enjoy snowmobiling, too...... I can enjoy the cold just as much

 

I finished rebuilding my fork tubes and put everything together. Proud and happy. Still a ways to go before I can enjoy it but I think it was money and time well spent.

 

The SecaRat is home and parked where there can be limited wrenching.
Now I have to wait till the temps are up (+15) to pull the engine partly apart.

 

Is there an estimate in how many wrenching hours go into splitting the engine and replacing the chain(tensioner) and stuff, by a certified mechanic?

 

I don't know to be honest. When l did mine l had problems with the barrel crankcase stud and nut behind the oil cooler pipe bracket. The two studs were seized on the cylinder head barrel joint at the exhaust side of the cam tunnel. Might be worth putting a gas torch on these before putting bike in for the engine rebuild.

 

they probally have a flat rate manual for pricing it at a dealership

 

Flatrate; nope it comes down at hours of labour and is dependable on the season.
In wintertime no or less work so lower pricing to keep things going several shops told me.
So autumn it is and next year probably the rebuild of the engine into the frame etc.
6-8 hours was their estimate.

 

That's what Flat rate is. Dollars per hour of labor, as opposed to charging separate amounts for each step of the job, or a fixed amount for the entire job regardless of time spent.

 

Aha, thanks.. didn't know that.

 

Flat rate as I know it is a particular job is supposed to take "X" amount of time to complete and the charge is based on that amount of time and the shop's hourly labor rate. Some jobs are strictly time and material where however much the parts and labor add up to be at the end is what the bill is. Maybe that's what Kmoe was saying and I misunderstood. Either way, I finally got a few minutes in the garage tonight. Aside from chasing down my 1 year old who is way too good at stealing tools already, I managed to get a new, used set of CB750 coils and new wires installed on my 750 midnight maxim. I was somewhat surprised when I turned the old coils over that they were cracked quite bad on the underside so hopefully this will be an improvement. I was mainly wanting to be able to change the wires as I already had new plug caps. I have the carbs I got from a forum member that were rebuilt by hogfiddles wet set, installed, and vacuum synced. Just need some more time to put a fresh set of plugs in and break out the color tune. Raining on and off for the next few days so hopefully I will get it done. Then only a few more things to check off the list and should be good to go for the season

 

rode to work yesterday and today 37 degres F and the sun hiding behind the mountains.

 

I also thought it was the rate to do the job completely in one go.

 

yup thats what it is . they look it up in a book it says x amount of hours to do the job .
I worked at an auto dealership. some mechanics were paid by job and others by the hour. when you got good enough to complete jobs quickly you were moved to the hourly bracket.

I had to have a header replaced on my Jeep and they had to remove ps pump and belt to do the job.
got a call and was told i needed a new serpintine belt .
dealership wanted to charge me for the part plus the flat rate manual labor for instalation even though the had not put the bad belt back on .
putting belt on was part of original job quote but because they said i needed a new belt they wanted to charge me to put that on too.

told them put the old one on , pulled off the property opened the hood and replaced the belt in 10 min. while the service manager was yelling at me and threatining to call police for doing the repair on the street. told him to call them and insulted him for being a thief and a few outher choice words about his mother.
saved an hours labor charge.

 

A badass xj rider..like that..

 

yes that would be flat rate. the flate rate manual has hours of work listed in it.
the question was how long does it take

 

Took the Maxim out for the first time in 2 years. Engine ran great after a 5min warm up. It has been sitting because the wife didn't trust it, so she convinced me to let her buy me newer bike, S83 Suzuki for my birthday. I've been riding the Suzuki so long I couldn't find the pegs on the Maxim it felt like a sport bike in comparison. I like the inline 4 way better.

 

I'm very curious how my experience will be on a 2 cylinder Tracer after 40 y of 4 cylinder in line and V-4 engines.

 

What engine is in the tracer? 700? I test rode the xsr700 and hated the throttle it seemed like a light switch on or off. It might be just that bikes fuel injection but carbs seem to suit me better.

 

Put my new painted 750 tank on my 82 650 maxim!! Looks and runs like a dream!!

 

Valve shims valve shims valve shims !!!

 

only 3?

 

Rode the first time on my new bike.. a 2006 Yamaha TDM900 abs with 37k km.
Was during the testride I did today and bought it/him/her/? on the spot.
Won't pollude this xj forum with this bike just thought I would mention it.
Still is a Yamaha ..lol

 

https://www.xjbikes.com/forums/forums/other-motorcycles.5/. We still would like to see photos

 

Ordered rebuild kits for brakes, rh handlebar switch, headlight bucket brackets, indicator mounts for this..
Ok, that pic was from the ebay ad, it's since been put on wheels, I've had it running. I think I may have a thread somewhere.

 

Today I went riding with the Tracer 700.
Nice bike but to pro-aktive with steeering, seat/sitposition. It's like a moped.
TDM 900 it is.

 

Start color tune on The boys Radian with pods wish me luck lol

 

Rebuilt lhs and rhs bar switches, using bits and spares from others. You have to be careful, some switches have the right colour wires but the rating is for a headlight relay, so they are thinner.
Managed to keep both lhs plugs and sockets but had to go single male and female on the rhs. Headlight bucket in place, binnacle and tacho cable fitted. It will be good to take this for a quick spin once I've fitted the rebuilt callipers, rebuilt the clutch.... must be more to do...