FJ1100 fork conversion

[crazy steve]

Those forks look awesome! That's interesting what you did with that oil lock piece, I had nothing but trouble with those. I've read that the only way for them to function correctly is to make a by-pass in the exterior block off plate. Obviously you can't do that with those plugs. I've never tried doing this. If you're running Progressive springs with mabye a 1/4" spacer on top, you'll never come close to bottoming out, even on the crappiest roads. I'll bottom mine out once in a while with the .90 SW springs, but this is over serious bumps like bad potholes. How close are you getting to throwing them on the bike?

We'll see how the lower stop works in actual use; I'm not sure about oil flow through many small holes vs several large ones, even if the 'area' is the same. I'm going to use 15w oil, and I think I'm going to use the 'lighter' springs that came with the emulators; I may end up drilling a couple of more holes above the stop. If you want to run 'plates' instead of plugs, you could cut a slot between the two holes in the slider with a mill or die grinder and avoid all this.

As far as bottoming, you haven't seen my 'driveway'... 3/4 mile of rarely maintained dirt/gravel private road more suited to dirt bikes... and that's when it's 'good'. I've had friends refuse to come visit when the road isn't so good.

I'm close to having the forks done, with just a few minor bits to be made. The full polish on everything (calipers, mounting brackets, etc) I have yet to do and I need to re-order some supplies. I still have to figure out brake lines (going with a combo of stainless braided/hard lines), redo the headlight ears, build my W/S mount, and fab the fender mount/fork brace. It's the 'little' details that can eat up a lot of time. Like I said, I can be a real perfectionist when it comes to design (any mods should look like they're factory built, or as close as I can get) so I'm horribly slow at this sort of thing. My last bike project...



... took me about 3 years to complete. While this has some 'store-bought' custom parts on it, the majority were scratch-built. And no, I'm not altering my XS this much!
This bike could be considered the 'anti-XS'... LOL.

I'm also in the middle of installing the HD 4-piston rear caliper; this is actually fairly easy, but I have to go back and mod my already-powdercoated swingarm for the weld-on stop tab. The stock steel caliper bracket is going away. I figure it'll take more time to remove the coating/recoat it than the mod will take...

I figure all this will take me about 3 more months to get the bike completed, mostly for money reasons; I can't buy everything I need at once. Being retired, I have lots of time so making parts from relatively cheaper raw material is less expensive for me than buying new or used parts for some things.

'78E original owner

[bikerphil]

Just an update:

Needed a new front tire after about 6K miles, had some uneven wear but the alignment problem I had has been cured by having some correct axle spacers machined (thanks Steve ). I was running a Bridgestone S11 100/90, now I'm running a Shinko 712 100/90, which is a bit taller. When I put it on and rode it for the first time, I smelled rubber burning . Sure enough, the concealed fork brace under my fender was rubbing the tire. I shimmed up the fork brace and fender a little and all is fine now. She's handling better than ever before. First time the bike has ever tracked in a straight line.

[crazy steve]

Amazing isn't it, how much the 'same' size tire can vary between brands...

I'm getting closer with my swap; I'll post some pics soon.

'78E original owner

[bikerphil]

Yep, things I noticed about the Shinko is a thinner sidewall, much easier to mount and balance, and a max pressure of 33. The S11 max is 41, but both the load ratings are the same at 591. Shinko rides better so far then the S11's ever did new. Plus, the S11 fronts will dry rot before the tread wears off, at least in my climate. The rear S11's never dry rot.

Steve, good job on your Harley. One of my bud's would like one of those I bet. Probably expensive to build that.

[crazy steve]

One of my bud's would like one of those I bet. Probably expensive to build that.

Actually, no. That was one of the goals I set out when I started that build; total budget (including the initial $1K basketcase bike) wasn't to exceed $4K, which for a Harley is dirt cheap. As it sits, it came in at $3894. If I had eliminated a few chrome gee-gaws and not had the large stuff I couldn't powdercoat (not a big enough oven) done by a pro, I could have got the price down to about $3300.

I know guys that spent more than that on just chrome...

And that was kind of the point; piss off the knotheads that think writing a big check somehow makes them a 'biker'. Of course, if you figured my labor at say, $2 per hour, I could have bought a new bagger with the resulting number.

'78E original owner

[bikerphil]

Another update:

I got rid of the adjustable rebound damper circuit (set them to the closed position), and just drilled a #50 hole in the side of the damper rod. Now I'm running 5W fork oil and she is handling very well, best yet. Emulators set at 3 turns. Thanks Crazy Steve for the idea.

[bikerphil]

Ok, here we go again. After riding the bike this way for almost a year, I am totally satisfied with the new handling, but these clip-on's have got to go. It's just too much strain on my wrists, and I find myself riding my 79SF 95% of the time because it has "normal' bars. So here's what I've been up to. I had an extra FJ upper triple tree from the build, so I decided to modify it to accept regular 7/8" handlebars. Here's some pics....


^ This is the current clip-on setup. Yep, it looks sexy, but just too much weight on the wrists.


^ FJ upper tree and sawed off stock Standard bar clamp.


^ Bottom view.


^ Holes drilled in their proper locations.


^ Tapping the holes with an 8mm 1.25 pitch tap.


^ Work area.






^ Clamp and upper TT partially assembled.








^ Bars fully tightened in new clamp set-up.

I won't be using the bars in the above pictures as they are too low. I'll have to find some with more rise. More to come.....

[DGXSER]

Pretty nice work there Phil.


So the center section of the sawed off Standard bar clamp gets tossed correct?


The cap screws go through both clam shells that hold the bars and thread into the TT? So the bolts alone position the entire clamp, not suggesting a problem just clarifying for my pea brain.



I'd say get you a set of goldwing bars and you should be in fat city!!

[crazy steve]

Phil, I knew you'd come up with a low-buck solution...

Two suggestions: one, I'd 'fit' the lower half of the clamps to the tree for a little better 'contact'. That way you'll have less strain on the bolts; some filing/grinding should take care of that. You've probably already thought of this

Two, put a small countersunk screw on each of the lower clamps. This will hold them in place for assembly and give you far fewer parts wandering around while putting it all together. Won't take much, just something; I used a couple of 8/32s. You can see the holes here:
[IMG][/IMG]

I don't know about you, but I'm too old for clip-ons...

[bikerphil]

Steve, Yep, I'm gonna grind the new sawed off lower bar clamps to fit to the UTT like you mentioned. Yep, low buck all the way, lol. i like your set-up, wish I had some real tools.

Don, Yes the center part of the stock clamp is not used. Yes, you are correct, the bolts pass thru the new upper clamp, thru the sawed off upside down clamps, and thread right into the UTT. The handlebar can be moved just the same as a stock set-up. I rode the bike down to a bike shop today where I could check out some different handlebars. Picked up a new set for a Honda 750-900 custom for $30, I think they'll work out well.

First, I have to paint that UTT. I have to find some durable black paint that I can cure in a toaster oven.

[bikerphil]

Ok, handlebar mod is complete.


^ Modifying the sawed off stock handlebar top clamps.








^ Finished clamps to sit between upper tree and handlebar.


^ Close up of everything installed on the bike. Note the spacers on the 2 rear bolts.


^ Honda 750 900 custom bars (8" rise) and new clamp.

I had to drop the fork tubes 5/8" in the triple clamps to make room for the bars. I had to use a longer brake hose (rubber one for now) but everything else reached their new higher location. Wire looms might be a tad short but we'll see. I didn't get to ride her for a few miles (rain), but she rides nice. Everything on this mod went just as planned, what a miracle. Gonna miss those clip-on's, the bike was a hoot to ride that way. I can change it all back in probably 2 hours if I want.

[Cobia]

Nice job Phil.
You're getting dangerous with that new drill press!!
Ingenuity outperforms throwing bucks at it!!!

[MaximPhil]

Well done BikerPhil. and it still looks like an XS11
Phil

[bikerphil]

Thanks fellas. Yep, it looks more like an XS than it did a few days ago. I find that I ride slower now that I'm not sitting in the crotch rockety position.

[WMarshy]

I'm in the process of doing this but with an FJ1200 front end from 1988 onwards.
What i've done so far is, and it's not a lot, is to press out the steering stems from the FJ and XS lower yokes. The FJ one presses straight out as the yoke is aluminium and the stem is steel, but the XS one needs to be ground down first then pressed as it is welded to the yoke at the bottom. Then when the XS stem is pressed into the FJ yoke it needs a ring of strong weld on the bottom to stop it popping through the yoke when it's all tightened up.

If the lower FJ tree is aluminum and the stem is steel... how exactly do you weld them to prevent the pressed in XS stem from backing out?

I've got my FJ trees apart and it looks like there is enough room on the fork to move both lower and upper trees closer together to make up for the spacer Phill used... Anyone know what the distance is between the XS upper and lower trees? Also, which direction does the stem come out of the FJ lower? Looks like there is a c-clip but I can't get to it, the lower bearing doesn't want to move...

Might end up machining my own stem to fit...