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Engine & Transmission

I'm no mechanic - I reckon I can tackle most of the three-spanner jobs in the Haynes manual. So almost all of my engine work will be done by a mechanic I came accross the first time I needed crash repair work on my FJ. He got me back on the road quickly, and because he's not a dealer or legit workshop (though he is a professional mechanic, working for Yamaha for the last 16 years), he didn't hold me to ransom. That's not to say he's a cowboy. Let's just say he's the only bike mechanic (private or dealer) I've found in nine years of biking that I trust. He's done work for me maybe 5 or 6 times on my FJ and I've never had the feeling that he's not genuine.
I don't think the engine actually needs a complete overhaul, but if enough parts are close to end of life, then it would be justified. After all, it has over 76,000 mls on it, and I probably won't be doing this major a rebuild on the bike again. So, here we go...

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Inhouse Work

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• Overhaul clutch master & slave cylinders.
  - The last six months of riding my FJ were punctuated by weekly clutch bleeding sessions, so, aside from this being a pain in the hole, now practically all the paint is gone from the whole lower left side of the engine, and the clutch master cylinder/reservoir. At first I only had to do it about once a month, so I used cloths and cleaned up properly. But that went out the window soon enough. Sometimes I'd get home from work, intending to go and bleed it after dinner, but Friends or Top Gear or something was always on telly and I'd just say, "feck it - I'll get up 15 minutes early next morning and do it before I head off". And of course I'd forget and try to ride off the next morning only to find I'd no clutch. So then there'd be a rushed clutch bleed, with fluid everywhere, and off I'd go.
• Replace clutch hoses and clean clutch fluid line.
- Fit Motoflex braided steel clutch hoses.
~ Black shrinktube on hoses.
~ Black anodised alloy banjo bolts.
~ Blue anodised alloy sockets, banjos & bleed nipple.
• Overhaul carbs.
• New RK XW-ring chain with blue sideplates.
• Renthal gunmetal grey alloy sprockets.

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• Starter motor, starter motor clutch & starter motor idle gear wear.
- These are aparrently items susceptible to wear. I checked the starter motor brushes at about 40k mls, but I wouldn't have known then (or even now) what to look for to find wear in the motor itself, or the clutch or idle gear.
• Output shaft bearing/big-end wear.
- Sometimes there'd be a graunching sound from the bottom left of the engine. I first thought it might have been the big end bearings, as when I topped up or renewed the engine oil the sound would disappear. But when the noise was still there when the oil was full, I adjusted & lubed the chain, and that got rid of the noise too. So I'm well confused. But it must be one of the following...
~ Big-end bearing wear.
~ Output shaft bearing wear, caused by over-tightening the chain too often.
~ Dry/tight chain.
• Top-end wear.
- I'm sure that valve, cam/camchain wear will be found. Not necessarily through neglect, but who knows what abuse the scumbags who stole it subjected the bike to? There is a bit of a rattle from the camchain, and adjustment is already at max.
• To overhaul or not to overhaul?
- If any of the above are found to be worn, or close enough to their end, then I'll decide to open and completely overhaul the engine. To be honest, I almost hope that is the case. Even though it would cost more money now, the peace of mind I'd have would be more than worth it. If overhaul is deemed unnecessary, it'll just enjoy a really good, thorough service.
• There are some parts that I definitely want to replace anyway, regardless of it being necessary or not...
- New clutch plates & spring (to complement new hoses & fluid).
- K&N air filter & ND ZU sparkplugs (to complement Dynacoils).
- New standard & Magnom magnetic oil filters (can't be too safe).
- Magnetic oil drain bolt (even safer).
- New fuel pump (old one's dead).
~ I hear the fuel pump from a Bedford Rascal van can be fitted with mods - can someone let me know what these mods are?
- New throttle connector cables (the short ones from the pulley to the carb bodies).
- Goodridge oil cooler & braided steel lines (engine may run a little hotter after light tuning?).
~ Black shrinktube on hoses.
~ Black anodised alloy banjo bolts.
~ Blue anodised alloy sockets & banjos.
- I've always used Silkolene Pro 4 oil and have had nothing to complain about, but I'm hearing a lot of good now about a particular Castrol oil, which I'll look into.

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