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I've been TRYING to get this beast back up and running for the last few weeks. I had to park it last summer due to my knees getting too bad. I wasn't PLANNING on parking it, so I didn't "winterize" it at all.
Thankfully, two total knee replacements later, I'm able to ride again. But the bike, not so much!
The first battle (and very much an expected one!) was the carbs. I tore them apart and ultrasonically cleaned up. When they went back together, I still had a leak that APPEARED to a stuck needle and seat. I was getting very tired of fighting (real) stuck needles and seats over the years, so I ordered four new viton tipped replacement. While I had it apart, I also broke down and installed four new slide diaphragms. Well worth the $20/each price tag!
Of course, while bench testing the new parts and verifying the actual bowl fuel level, I found that the REAL leak was actually coming from the fuel Tees. That turned out to be a very easy fix: Very carefully cut off the rubber from the outside of the outermost "o-ring" and then polish up the aluminum under it (steel wool worked like a charm). Some 10mmx6mm o-rings fit bother the T and the carb bodys perfectly. When I take the carbs off, I'll try to find some washers that will fit over the aluminum part of the T but clear the carb body. That would make it a bit easier to install the Tees. But you CAN install them without them.
And that DID fix all the leaks from my carbs (for now, a new one seems to pop up about every 6 months...) and the needle and seats were sealing perfectly and the fuel level was right where it needed to be on all four carbs.
Before I could ride it, I also had to take the rear brake caliper and master cylinder apart and give those parts the full ultrasonic cleaning. I was surprised to find the plunger in the master cylinder looks to be a hard anodized aluminum. When it went in, it was BLACK and it wouldn't wipe off at all. After cleaning everything up and putting it all back together, the rear brake was working fine and did not appear to have any leaks. (PS: priming a completely dry master cylinder SUCKS! Put the system together and connect a hand vacuum pump to the bleeder nipple to pull the fluid through will save a GREAT deal of time)
With all that done and the bike back together today, it was time for it's second test ride in three weeks. The bike ran MUCH better, but still not perfectly. There is a hesitation off the line up until around 3000 rpm. It seems to only do it while taking off, because I can accelerate away in 2nd/3rd/etc gear from 2000 rpm with no problems.
Stranger: it pretty much is DONE at 7500 rpm. It pulls hard up to about 7000 rpm, then it starts tapering off quickly and is pretty much out of juice at 7500 rpm. I'm not sure if this is a carb issue, an ignition issue (I do have accel coils and 8.8mm wires and caps on it and I have rebuild the vacuum advance module a couple of years ago and it still moves very smoothly) or if the tach is simply way out of calibration. Any ideas on this problem would be appreciated.
All these issues I can live with on the short term. But the final problem (that I know about!) is that it is leaking oil from between the head and cylinder block right above the cam tensioner. At first, I KNEW it was leaking at the self adjusting tensioner as I have fought battles in the past getting that to seal properly (the mating surfaces are not EXACTLY the same on the automatic ones vs the stock ones). But that thing was completely dry. The oil was DEFINITELY coming out between the block and head.
I am assuming this is going to call for pulling the head and replacing the head gasket. Does anyone have any suggestions on what gasket to use? I sure don't want to do this twice!
Any suggestions on tuning the carbs while I have them off for the oil leak would also be appreciated.
There are times when I think I spend more hours working on this bike than I do riding it! The Yamaha FZ-09 and FZ-10 are looking VERY good right now...
Thankfully, two total knee replacements later, I'm able to ride again. But the bike, not so much!
The first battle (and very much an expected one!) was the carbs. I tore them apart and ultrasonically cleaned up. When they went back together, I still had a leak that APPEARED to a stuck needle and seat. I was getting very tired of fighting (real) stuck needles and seats over the years, so I ordered four new viton tipped replacement. While I had it apart, I also broke down and installed four new slide diaphragms. Well worth the $20/each price tag!
Of course, while bench testing the new parts and verifying the actual bowl fuel level, I found that the REAL leak was actually coming from the fuel Tees. That turned out to be a very easy fix: Very carefully cut off the rubber from the outside of the outermost "o-ring" and then polish up the aluminum under it (steel wool worked like a charm). Some 10mmx6mm o-rings fit bother the T and the carb bodys perfectly. When I take the carbs off, I'll try to find some washers that will fit over the aluminum part of the T but clear the carb body. That would make it a bit easier to install the Tees. But you CAN install them without them.
And that DID fix all the leaks from my carbs (for now, a new one seems to pop up about every 6 months...) and the needle and seats were sealing perfectly and the fuel level was right where it needed to be on all four carbs.
Before I could ride it, I also had to take the rear brake caliper and master cylinder apart and give those parts the full ultrasonic cleaning. I was surprised to find the plunger in the master cylinder looks to be a hard anodized aluminum. When it went in, it was BLACK and it wouldn't wipe off at all. After cleaning everything up and putting it all back together, the rear brake was working fine and did not appear to have any leaks. (PS: priming a completely dry master cylinder SUCKS! Put the system together and connect a hand vacuum pump to the bleeder nipple to pull the fluid through will save a GREAT deal of time)
With all that done and the bike back together today, it was time for it's second test ride in three weeks. The bike ran MUCH better, but still not perfectly. There is a hesitation off the line up until around 3000 rpm. It seems to only do it while taking off, because I can accelerate away in 2nd/3rd/etc gear from 2000 rpm with no problems.
Stranger: it pretty much is DONE at 7500 rpm. It pulls hard up to about 7000 rpm, then it starts tapering off quickly and is pretty much out of juice at 7500 rpm. I'm not sure if this is a carb issue, an ignition issue (I do have accel coils and 8.8mm wires and caps on it and I have rebuild the vacuum advance module a couple of years ago and it still moves very smoothly) or if the tach is simply way out of calibration. Any ideas on this problem would be appreciated.
All these issues I can live with on the short term. But the final problem (that I know about!) is that it is leaking oil from between the head and cylinder block right above the cam tensioner. At first, I KNEW it was leaking at the self adjusting tensioner as I have fought battles in the past getting that to seal properly (the mating surfaces are not EXACTLY the same on the automatic ones vs the stock ones). But that thing was completely dry. The oil was DEFINITELY coming out between the block and head.
I am assuming this is going to call for pulling the head and replacing the head gasket. Does anyone have any suggestions on what gasket to use? I sure don't want to do this twice!
Any suggestions on tuning the carbs while I have them off for the oil leak would also be appreciated.
There are times when I think I spend more hours working on this bike than I do riding it! The Yamaha FZ-09 and FZ-10 are looking VERY good right now...
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