1988 FZR 750 - has come a long way

[saftie]

Hi,

I bought a 1988 FZR 750 few months ago.
It turned out that it actually had a 1000cc engine in it.

There were some issue with the bike like it still had the 750 carbs installed, airbox didn't sit right and fit into the boots etc. Random parts were also thrown on, radiator and other things were leaking, the oil was the blackest I have seen in my life etc. Pretty bad shape.

I started with finding the correct carbs, replaced the boots, from airbox as well as to engine. Next, I checked the valve clearances and adjusted all shims. They were all out of spec. After new radiator, tires ans various other parts, I had her running right. And what a blast. I put 500 miles on her and no issues at all, not a single leak.
Now I could finally focus on making her pretty. I bought another 1988 fzr 1000 that was complete and came with a lot of original goodies, a ton of fairings included.
Enjoy the pics.

When I got her


Airbox just sat on top


Wiring was a complete hack job, coils thrown onto frame


Valve clearance adjustment


After all was done, including new sprockets, chain and tires


Bought the other 1988 FZR 1000 which came with all of these goodies. And yes, two original and still factory sealed side fairings


Fixing the wiring, rerouting the harness to original




Putting on first fairing parts and other things




Cleaning the tank with white vinnegar, looks like new now


Putting more parts on





Now with side fairings, which are giving me some trouble because they are a tight fit and things don't align well yet. Still need to spend some time

[willandrip]

Nice work indeed.
Just the can to sort out ?

[saftie]

Yeah, still need to clean it.
Had some good results with 000steel wool on a different build I'll give that a try.

Changed oil and filter yesterday. After 500 miles it was pretty yucky...

[willandrip]

That oil looks like it was put in when they uncrated and built it at the shop in 88.....Yuk.

After your hard work I would be temped to buy a can of cheap mineral oil and run it for an hour on the road then dump the flushing oil and filter and refill with correct spec oil and a new filter.
You don't want any old debris left in there.
Sump removal will reveal sludge build up in all the corners and crevices.

[saftie]

You should have seen the oil when I first drained it after I brought the bike home. It was completely black.
I'll run it for another 300 miles and replace again.
Had some issues getting bike into neutral easily, after oil change it appears to be better.

[willandrip]

Lube the gearchange shaft orifice in the gearbox sprocket cover.
Check that the change linkage is set at the correct angle to give the most leverage.
It needs to be parallel with the lever...not at some jaunty angle.
Gearchanges on these are often much smoother with cold oil...which is strange.

[saftie]

The linkage you are talking about is the one at the gear shifter?
If thats what you mean, I put it on with marks aligned, so this should be all good.

[willandrip]

Yes.that's the one...you get to see loads where the linkage is out of sync and would never work smoothly.
When I do thes ; I run them at 2k rpm on the rear stand and just cycle the gearchange by hand without using the clutch.
A quick dab up or down should engage the gear and a slight tap to find neutral.
If right ; they just snick in and out of gear.
You get a much better feel by hand that helps to isolate and diagnose any problems.

[saftie]

Got it, thanks.
Unless these bikes work better with a different non-factory setting, I should be good. I paid attention when putting it on. I know these little things can cause some trouble.
Maybe the oil change improved things a little, I'll keep an eye on it. Again, the original oil was deep black, yesterday's was not that great either. It may just need a good clean up with new oil

[willandrip]

Bleed the clutch too...old fluid deteriorates and new can transform the clutch action.

[saftie]

That was done when I put a new clutch MC on and rebuilt the slave.

Bike shifts fine through all gears, except that neutral...
Seems to work better to drop into neutral from second than first. Not a big deal right now, I got used to it.

[willandrip]

Yes..you do better counting gears down and when in second just a light tap finds neutral.
From first to neutral is always awkward...you put quite a bit pressure on to get out of first and it clicks straight through to second.
Its how the human ankle muscles work ergonomically.
Much more sensitive pressing down.
Those that convert to GP shift have no such troubles...loL

There used to be a dodge using a lever off another Yamaha that had a slightly longer pedal that improved the gearchange....but I forget it !
I can remember the FJ1100/1200 pedal converts to Gp shift.

[saftie]

Now I just need to figure out why the side fairing is giving me so much trouble. I need to double check the front stay. I feel like if the nose fairing was quarter of an inch forward, everything would fit nicely. To test fit it, I had to push the nose fairing forward quite a bit which bent the turns inward. And everything resulted in a lot of tension on all parts. Not the best idea.
Really nice to have a second bike to compare. If needed, I'll swap the entire front stay. Just need to figure out how and where to measure to see a difference, if there is any.

At some point, I also need to replace the subframe. The one that's currently on had the handles chopped off and appears to be a bit crooked in general. Spare bike came with a good condition one and swap is pretty straight forward.

[willandrip]

Lay both frames (birdcages) upright on the garage floor.
Place a timber straightedge at the rear so both are exactly level and at the same datum point.
Thread a long thin bar or rod through the mirror stay arm mounting holes.
Any discrepancy will be immediately evident.

[saftie]

Good idea, will do that.
I hope mine is bent (never said that before about a bike part) or something because this would resolve the fairing issue and I can finally take that off my list.