The $100.00 endurance bike project!

VRRA Racing Forum Projects
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So, last weekend we were trolling around the CVMG swap meet in Paris when we spotted this tired 1985 Yamaha FJ600. Kevin Strickler and I have been talking about building an endurance bike to provide us with some extra track time and a new dimension to our race weekends. The challenge was to find a bike cheap enough but something that could be made reliable. The FJ looked like it could fill the ticket. After a little haggling, we scored this beauty for $100.00!

She won’t see the track this year but, watch this thread as we slowly transform this junkyard dog into a decent endurance bike. If anybody out there races one of these things or has any experience with them please pm me. I’m a bit nervous since this thing has 4 piston thingys which is 2 more than my sworn maximum. :smiley:

Notice the tape with the advertising tag line which sold us! :smiley:

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If you care to share it would be interesting to know your costs from start to finish.

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I was thinking of doing that Dave. With two people splitting the cost building a race bike is a little easier to swallow. Should be fun…

4

Looks like a good platform to start with.

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Now that the season is over it’s time to get back to “team cheapass’s” endurance bike build.

Ready for tear down.

The engine removed…

Down to the frame…

Engine on the bench, now the fun begins!

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:sunglasses: … Isn’t the Service Manual worth more than the Bike ?? :laughing:

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Need some Green Paint Guys? :mrgreen:

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Need some Green Paint Guys? :mrgreen:

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Peter,

Careful now. Don’t get carried away with all that cleaning& painting stuff. You may upset the balance of things, and the bike may not run right…

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Very nice piece, Paul Germain races one in AHRMA with great success…of course it’s in a bit better shape, similar paint scheme though.

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Paul Germain at NOLA in the spring. An XJ 550 RH punched to 640cc ish (near the AHRMA limit).
Very smooth, won everything.
Hails from Winterpeg.

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Peter, the one thing to take away from that pic…crankcase venting IS important. lol

pd

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I spotted the CR carbs,there worth more than my P1 350 :open_mouth:

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Well, it’s time to get back on the fj endurance bike project. We have located a pair of slightly pre-enjoyed Avon racing tires for $100.00, thanks Ray!

The cost for piston rings and a gasket set will cost us well over $300 but we luckily found a lightly used complete motor and a 4/1 exhaust system off a FZ600 (thanks Justin!) for $175 which was an awesome find. The motor has good compression and the valves are perfectly adjusted. Checked the clutch plates, removed the oil pan and all looks perfect. It only has 40,000 Kms and it shows. Just going to clean it up a bit and bolt it back together.

Kevin is cleaning up the frame and painting it so reassembly should start soon. The carbs need some serious help and I foresee 4 carb kits to get them acceptable. Still need to find operational brake calipers or rebuild what we have. Forks need seals and we don’t trust the rear shock so looking for replacement. If anybody out there have any parts that could help us out let me know!

Spent to date:

Bike $100
Manual $20
Tires $100
New motor & exhaust $175

Total so far: $395.00. :smiley:

15

contact Blair at litetek.co for carb kits. Good stuff.

He may not have a kit for your specifically, but he may be able to put one together for you. Hes a great guy with a lot of knowledge.

His kits use Viton for better resistance to modern fuels.

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Thanks Kirby, we’ll have to look him up!

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Engine inspected, checked valves, removed pan, checked clutch, all in great shape. Gave it a good clean up and a bit of paint and it should be good to install in the frame. :smiley:

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Got the frame back from paint (cost: 1 case of beer :smiley: ) and installed motor. Now the fun starts!

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powdercoated??? I’ll gladly pay 2 cases of beer for a frame to be powdered!

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It’s actually industrial baked paint but looks like powder coat…little easier to deal with. :smiley: