Weekly Update - Bucket List Bike V2

So that FZR I posted about? Guy sold it out from under me. Even after we had a meeting set up where I would get the bike. Some people just have no moral standards I guess.

Anyway. Onto a bucket list bike. An all original Yamaha FZ600.

The FZ600 was Yamaha's first attempt at a full blown "race replica." Hate it or love it - the FZ600 had the tech which led to the R6 and R1. A buyer could take the blinkers off and show up to a race track and blend right in.

First introduced in 1986, the FZ600 took the motorcycle world by storm. Many magazines tested it. One such magazine wrote that a professional rider made a better lap time on a showroom stock FZ than his competition (AMA I think) FJ600. That's a testament to how much of an improvement the FZ was over the FJ series.

A couple years after it's introduction, Honda entered the 600CC race replica market. The CBR600 of 1987 completely upstaged the little FZ600. Honda managed to squeeze around 85HP from a water cooled 600CC motor while Yamaha had a paltry 58HP from an air cooled motor. They both crossed the scales at ~200KG.

Having owned both a Honda CBR600F1 and a Yamaha FZ600 - the only one I regret selling is the FZ. You can look on your local Craigslist and see 4-5 Honda CBR600F1s listed for various prices in various conditions. But you will rarely see a Yamaha FZ600 listed in ANY condition. If one comes up in my travels that is original paint, I intend on buying it and hanging onto it.

Until next time,
See you on the road!

Wow, it's been a while!

So since I last wrote, I was still waiting on parts from Triumph to put the motor back together.
They finally came in. Only took 2 months!

I was able to take the sprag apart and repair it using a spring sourced from a VW 02J Output Flange Seal. I cut a small amount off the spring and Loctited it together. I then reassembled the sprag and put it back in the bottom end of the engine.

Next was installing the transmission. This part was tricky. I had to clean all of the sealing surfaces and lay down a bead of bearing locking compound to keep the transmission bearings in the case.

After, I had to make absolutely certain the transmission was in neutral before I could mount the other half of the case. Before acually placing the lower case onto the upper, a fat (well not really) bead of silicone sealant was needed. I messed it up once so I enlisted the help of a friend to do it for me. I then coated the main bearings in oil and we lowered the case onto the rest of the engine.

Next came the torque sequence. Hand tighten the bottom bolts, flip it over, hand tighten the top bolts, flip it over, torque bottom bolts, flip it over, torque top bolts. That was where I stopped. I want to give the sealant a couple days to set up in the sub-perfect temperatures.

Some time this weekend I will install the oil pan and related items.


Then put it back in the bike!


In other news: No recent acquisitions. But I am trying to aquire this:

 

 

It's a 1988 Yamaha FZR400. The seller is the 2nd owner and it has 18,000 miles on it.
The engin is out because something broke in the transmission so he sourced another engine with a good trans but bad top end, low compression apparently. He was going to have a shop mash them together to make one good motor but has no time.

Aside from a Yoshimura exhaust, polished frame and red windscreen, it's pretty original. I'll have to strip the paint off the subframe though. Maybe scotchbrite the frame in order to knock down the shinyness. All in all, I'm pretty excited to ride another 400cc bike.

Until next time,
See you on the road!