Few Simple Questions from a New Owner

[hppants]

Hello Friends:

I just signed papers on a 2005 (non-abs) FJR yesterday, and in anticipation of this, I have been lurking around your great forum for 4 or 5 days. I am the 2nd owner and the bike has 5400 miles. This is my 6th street bike and by far the biggest and fastest. I have been saving for either an FJR or ST1300 and although I wasn't quite ready, the PO was a bit desperate and I picked it up for $5K.

Although I'm a weekender, I do enjoy riding. In the last 12 months, I've put 15K miles on a '96 Honda Nighthawk 750. At 6'-0", the FJR is a big step in the comfort department. But before I get to riding, I have a few simple questions:

(I did some searching for this before I asked)

1. Which service manual is considered the overall best for maintenance/repair guidance? In the Honda Nighthawk world, BION, the Cylmers runs circles around the OEM manual.

2. I'm going to change the coolant (drain and refill radiator) - going with the Honda pre-mix. Where is the radiator drain? Do I have to pull the entire fairing off to get to it? After draining and filling radiator, what is the best way to burp the system and ensure that it is full?

3. I'm going to change the rear-end fluid. I acknowledge all arguements, but I'm getting the Yami stuff for peace of mind. Do I fill the rear end with the bike on the side stand or center stand?

4. I'm going to change the clutch and brake fluids. I was planning to "bleed" it out (pump it 3 times, hold, crack bleeder, repeat, keep resevoir filled). Is this the best way to flush the old fluid out?

5. Are there only 2 choices for the pre-load adjustment for the rear shock? Just flip the lever?

6. The owners manual mentions nothing about changing fork oil. Does anybody do this or just wait until the fork seals leak? Can the fluid be drained without turning the fork upside down? How compressed is the fork spring - when I pull the top cap, will I need to really resist to avoid getting hit in the face? (I've done this job on a few 750 bikes)

7. My headlight clear plastic coverings have some hazing on them in the center (perhaps where the light is brightest). I removed it with that plastix paste stuff - anybody else having this problem and if you used plastix, did it come back relatively fast?

8. The ride on this bike is a little more forward than I'm used to. The PO included some Heli 1" bar risers that he bought and did not install. If I install these, will I need to replace throttle cables, brake lines, etc.?

I'm looking forward to learning about and enjoying my new toy.

 

[SkooterG]

Nice looking FJR! Congrats and welcome to the nuthouse!

1. Which service manual is considered the overall best for maintenance/repair guidance? In the Honda Nighthawk world, BION, the Cylmers runs circles around the OEM manual. As far as I know, OEM is really the only option. It's not perfect, but definitely helpful. The forum is another excellent resource.

2. I'm going to change the coolant (drain and refill radiator) - going with the Honda pre-mix. Where is the radiator drain? Do I have to pull the entire fairing off to get to it? After draining and filling radiator, what is the best way to burp the system and ensure that it is full? You need to remove the right fairing to get at the coolant resevoir. Drain is on lower right at the bottom of the water pump just ahead of where your right toes are. To get at the radiator cap to fill, you need to remove the 'A' panel - the black panel by the glove box closest to the rider. Procedure for burping system has been discussed a lot around here. Keep looking!

3. I'm going to change the rear-end fluid. I acknowledge all arguements, but I'm getting the Yami stuff for peace of mind. Do I fill the rear end with the bike on the side stand or center stand? Probably doesn't matter either way but I think you will find it much easier to do on the C-stand.

4. I'm going to change the clutch and brake fluids. I was planning to "bleed" it out (pump it 3 times, hold, crack bleeder, repeat, keep resevoir filled). Is this the best way to flush the old fluid out? Yep. You don't have to pump '3' times however. Other options to make the job a bit simpler is to use a MityVac vacuum pump to suck the fluid out through the bleed nipple, or instal speedbleeders on the calipers as many of us have.

5. Are there only 2 choices for the pre-load adjustment for the rear shock? Just flip the lever? That is correct.

6. The owners manual mentions nothing about changing fork oil. Does anybody do this or just wait until the fork seals leak? Can the fluid be drained without turning the fork upside down? How compressed is the fork spring - when I pull the top cap, will I need to really resist to avoid getting hit in the face? (I've done this job on a few 750 bikes) No, for some odd reason Yammie does not specify a service interval. In my opinion, flushing the forks and replacing the oil should be done around every 30k miles or so. I frequently have gone much longer - up to 80k miles, but I certainly would not recommend that. Expect to need to replace the bushings around 60-80k miles. And the cap is only under a little bit of tension so don't worry about that. Just make sure you zero out the preload.

7. My headlight clear plastic coverings have some hazing on them in the center (perhaps where the light is brightest). I removed it with that plastix paste stuff - anybody else having this problem and if you used plastix, did it come back relatively fast? Never heard of that.

8. The ride on this bike is a little more forward than I'm used to. The PO included some Heli 1" bar risers that he bought and did not install. If I install these, will I need to replace throttle cables, brake lines, etc.? Straight-forward install. No need to replace or modify any lines or cables.

 

[C&C]

Great resources: https://www.fjrtech.com/farkles.cfm and https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=4295

 

[SkooterG]

As C&C mentioned above, Warchild's FJRTech is great resource. For the coolant flush, you'll find this link helpful: Clicky. Though personally, I don't flush the system with water. Just get as much of the old out as I can, and replace with the Honda pre-mix.

 

[hppants]

Great help - thanks.

The farkle page is very useful. I have already read the bin o facts but I need to re-read as I see some of my questions addressed.

Skooter - I'm going to drain rad and re-fill as well. I'll do some more searching on how to burp the system. That "B/J" link provides some good pics for me to cheat from - thanks.

For the forks - is there a drain plug on the bottom of the tubes?

I also noticed that the clutch engagement makes a more pronounced noise from the motor than other bikes I've owned. Nothing sounds like it's breaking, but it is more noticable.

200K on the same FJR? Really? Boy am I gonna have a lot of fun on this bike.

 

[SkooterG]

No drain plug on the forks. They drained by removing the cap.

And yep, 226,000 miles on my poor FJR that I bought brand new in August of 2003 before the final fourth crash and her untimely demise: Clicky, clicky.

 

[hppants]

Well, it's been a fairly unproductive afternoon. Frustrated would be a better word for it. I am waiting for my service manual, but I've been turning wrenches for well over 20 years (shade tree mechanic admittedly), and I thought I could do some basic maintenance items without so much trouble.

Oil and filter change - no problem

Rear end oil change - no problem (good grief - $27.50 for a quart of Yamalube!!! I know I know - Mobil 1, but I wanted peace of mind - I just didn't think it would cost me so much)

Flush the brake and clutch via the bleeding method - no problem

Clean the air filter - no problem

This is where the "fun" started. I can't figure out how to get the friggin plastic off to (1) install a 12V accessory plug (with fuse) on the battery and (2) change the coolant. I read the cheat cheat here 10 times about the ABCD plastic panels thing, but I'll be dammed if I can get past panel A and D. Take a look at this picture depicting the fastener between panel B and C.

Do I pry that off to remove both B and C panel?

If I can get past the dash panels, I think the Gen 1 cowl removal cheat cheat is pretty straight forward.

The other issue is finding the coolant drain plug. In this picture, is this the bolt I need to remove to drain the coolant? Maybe this is not the water pump, but it sure looks like it.

I pride myself in taking care of my stuff. I appreciate ya'll bearing with a newbie.

 

[madmike2]

The fastener for the B-C overlap is that round plastic thing. It's a push-pin...take a small phillips head screwdriver and push the center pin in until it clicks, then pull on the flange and the fastener will come out.

First...berfore I do any maintenance for the first time, I go to FJRtech.com and see if there's a write-up on the procedure. It's a very excellent source!

Heres a link to "The FJR Blowjob- Coolant Flush/ Refill": Linky Thingy

Uhm....yes, that is the drain.

FjrTech also has great write-ups on much maintenance, from steering head torque to brake replacement....please do as I do and read the articles.

 

[wfooshee]

FJRtech.com also has exactly what you're looking for on the dash panels here, complete with a pic of that fastener and how it works.

For further bodywork calamity avoidance, look at my fairing and cowl thread here.

 

[phroenips]

Rear end oil change - no problem (good grief - $27.50 for a quart of Yamalube!!! I know I know - Mobil 1, but I wanted peace of mind - I just didn't think it would cost me so much)

If it's any consolation, up until very recently, the stuff cost ~$30/PINT!!!

 

[hppants]

Thanks again for the advice. The fastener between B and C on my bike is like neither one in the FJRtech write up. I'm going to cut it out and replace with the correct "pin type" fastener. My local Mazda dealership has them - BTW they are now $1.81 and not $0.95 each.

I fail to see the advantage of using these "threadless" fasteners. I mean - come on - a few additional pennies to do this right on a bike that sold for $15K new. That's pretty chingy IMO. Of course, no one asked me and it is what it is. I'm going to give it another try this weekend.