1984 Yamaha FJ 600- Rise of "The Mighty Jig"

IF you bridge the solenoid will it spin every time?
Sometimes the solenoids will corrode internally, and depending on exactly where the plates inside make contact you may get a connection, and you may not.
The solenoid will click every time, but the starter doesn't always engage.
Also, check your grounds carefully.
THe starter motor grounds through the motor and the frame back to the battery negative.
New Paint/powder can sometimes affect the electrical continuity between the pieces.
Handlebar controls also corrode over time, so inspect the contacts inside the starter button too.
 
Amazing what a pocket voltage detector and a loose ground wire will discover sometimes.... (slapping forehead)
 
Old FJ's ... the don't just fade away ... they keep coming back from the dead!

Seems the FJ600 I found on the 'list is none other than Kickeroo's long lost FJ600 project!
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Time to revive an old thread?
I didn't even know the 600's existed until I found this one. I came across it while looking for a nice FJ1100 or 1200 to use as a daily driver. I had an 1100 many years ago and it was a comfortable highway bike.
Didn't take me long looking about the internet to figure out what it was, and to see the potential it had for a clean cafe project.
It was up for barter, so I offered a trade, and a day later it was in my truck!

The starter solenoid was removed (and missing) but I was assured it would run (I had heard that before, but the tags were still current and it had been inspected the year before, so couldn't be but so bad) and I took a chance.
Charged the battery for an hour, touched starter wires together and ... BAM! She fired right up!

http://vid51.photobucket.com/albums/f377/fastcoasty/Bikes/WP_20150811_010_zpsjqmk6lza.mp4

Sound on the video doesn't do it justice ... it has such a sweet sound coming from the Vance and Hines!
I have replaced the starter solenoid, so it starts every time now (and she starts very easy, even cold) and run it up and down the street a few times.
All the lights work, the brakes work (but one rotor is a bit wacked) and it shifts good. Runs well, even though it has pods, so it must be jetted correctly for them.
Right now I have the front apart, waiting for another rotor to show up, and rebuilding the forks. Forks were really "mushy" and rather soft, but I am 6'5" and 270 lbs. so I am used to working on forks and shocks on any motorcycle I want to ride for any length of time. We shall see how they turn out.

I am in a quandary right now about what direction to take with the bike.

When I first looked it up, I was dead set on doing a cafe looking bike, and they do make nice looking ones.
But looking through images on google I came across this bike,
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and I really like yellow, and always liked the "competition yellow" Yamaha's.

Eventually I came across pictures of the RZ350's that inspired that bike ...
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and if you look really close, that looks a LOT like the profile of an FJ600!
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So now I am thinking ... make an FJ that looks like an RZ? Besides paint, it's a fairing and a few details from a very close copy.
No matter what, its a nice old bike that deserves to live on just a little bit longer!
 
Re: 1984 Yamaha FJ 600- Rise of "The Mighty Jig"


Big Chuck said:

I'm happy with my stock-ish FJ but that is an outstanding build. Wow.

No matter what, its a nice old bike that deserves to live on just a little bit longer!

Hear hear! I use mine daily to commute to work, love this quirky old thing.

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Best of luck with whatever you decide to do! I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.
 
Best of luck with whatever you decide to do! I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

Thanks!

As soon as I get a rotor in I should have the front end back together and an update, new pictures. Should have had one (a rotor) by now, but somehow it didn't get paid for yet.
Seems we have one of those "rolling expense accounts", where when I need a bike part we are fresh out of extra money, but as soon as I tear out some cabinets in the kitchen, we are on our way to Home Depot for new ones. :eek:
If it were up to me, we'd live in a trailer out behind a garage the size of a small warehouse. All this washing, mowing, raking, painting and occasional remodeling crap takes too much time and money away from my habits... I mean hobbies!

On a side note, I have thought about the red and black paint job on your bike if I decide to go back to stock. It looks good, and I have found the full decal set for that color combo reproduced in new vinyl for about $90.
If they made it in the colors for mine, I might be pushed that way even more.
 
Managed to do a few small things ...

Broke out my cheesy DIY sand blasting box,
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Blasted the front wheel while it was off, and painted it with "Graphite" wheel paint.
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Not 100% sure about the color, but I tried polishing parts of the rim before I resorted to blasting it, but it just needed too much work.

Blasted the fork tubes as well,
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Then put a few coats of "Stainless Steel" on them,
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Its an Epoxy "High solids" paint, so I will let it dry for a couple days and go back with a clear coat over top of that.

Cleaned up the speedo drive too, it was not "clocked" correctly on the rim, so no way to attach the speedo cable (probably why there wasn't a cable on it).
Gave it a good coat of VHT Wrinkle-plus. I love the hard finish it makes once it dries out.
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Fixed the chip missing from the front of the fender, welded up some cracks, and primed it out.
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Sure looks better without that chip!
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As long as I was at it, I polished the fork brace/fender mount a bit and threw a spot of clear on it so it might last a few days.
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Now I am working on the controls and the levers. They are kind of a mess, and one of the clip-ons is bent.
Trying to see if I can convert over to risers and a regular 7/8" handlebar.
 
Nicely done. I'm envious of your shiny bits. ;D My bike badly needs a thorough cleaning and a fresh coat of paint.

I really like the "graphite" wheels. Maybe I'd re-paint the inside part of the spokes in black to add some contrast, but they already look really sharp.

8)
 
Had a nice box show up from Ebay today!
Got a new side cover ... with all it's tabs intact! And a chin scoop made out of Un-ubtainium!
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Machined the top tree down last night, now ready to fit a set of risers to it.
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Might want to check out ... FJowners..com good group of guys like here and lot of FJ fun parts . I have a 85 1100 I ride every day to work and will never leave my ownership LOL
 

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Might want to check out ... FJowners..com good group of guys like here and lot of FJ fun parts . I have a 85 1100 I ride every day to work and will never leave my ownership LOL

Thanks! Your 1100 is very nice... the kind of thing I was looking for when I found this 600.
I had an '85 1100 many years ago, but it was in very bad shape, and I was not capable of the restoration it needed at the time. I will always miss that bike.
There will be another one out there as soon as I get done with this little one! Just have to think of it as practice!
 
It's starting to look like Christmas around here with all the parts hanging like ornaments everywhere!
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Hard to see, but I managed to get some 2K clear on the forks...
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Took the gauges apart during some rain, polished the lenses some.
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Don't look too bad.
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Just a little bit more ...
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Had to prime some cabinets the boss lady says we HAVE to have in the kitchen (Who needs new cabinets?, if she would let me tear down the house and build a garage with an apartment over it, I could see it - maybe :D), so I busted out a few pieces of the bike and got to sanding while the gun was full of self etching primer!
 
Not a lot of movement on the bike lately, kitchen job turned out to be a disaster!
Did get some rotors in, waiting on caliper kits now.

Managed to spend a little time hamming it up on the mill at work ... made a couple of risers to mount a regular handlebar.

Started with drilling into a couple chunks of aluminum...
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Ended up with some rather "Hefty" risers that look like this...
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They are clearanced to sit on the tripple tree top I milled flat spots onto...
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They are a bit on the chunky side, but they should hold up!
Need to rough them up in the blast cabinet and paint them black to match the tree top.
 
Why do you want to switch to a handlebar?

Because one clip on was bent, the other one was cut off short, I had the bar laying around (I think it came with the extra stuff with the bike?) because the bar matches the height and pull back of the clip on's real close (is that what you call them?), because I can change it up any time later if I like ...

And because I'm a cheap bastard.
 
Made a tiny bit more progress...

Tire and fender are back on, so she sits on her own without a jack!
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New rotors look good ... just need to finish up the calipers and hoses.
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Turned some bar end weights on the lathe, should look a lot like the factory ends sticking out of the grips.
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Now I am waiting on primer and paint to dry so I can start mounting the new bar.
 
Very cool write up. I have an 85 FJ600 that I picked up for $500 about 17 years ago. Rode it a while, but it has been sitting for probably 14 years. Looking at putting it on a lift and starting a cafe project. Love seeing what is being done with this one, and it gives me hope that I can get my old beast bake on the road.
 
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