Topic: my FZR 1000 project - cosmetic work now

[tsflstb]

This has been on Craiglist for a while.  It's a '94 Yamaha FZR1000.  I went to see it a few weeks ago.  It's all there, but the fairings are rough, the tank is beat and it wouldn't start when I tried it.  The guy charged the battery and said he got it started after I saw it, but the clutch is stuck.  I figure the plates are just frozen together.  The carbs were overflowing gas when I tried starting it also - stuck floats? 

It breaks every rule I have for used bikes...lives under a carport 20' from the beach...owned by a bunch of glassy eyed kids that don't know a valve shim from their elbow.  They bought it after a lowside, rode it up and down the street a few times and parked it.  The frame and forks look straight and I think it just needs some tlc.  I've beat them down to $650.  It has a clean title. 

I blame DME for posting all those pics of his streetfighter.  I've always liked the beefy frame, inverted forks and six piston brakes on the later YZFs.  I'd plan on trashing the fairings anyway.  It would make a nice cheap commuter/trackday bike if I could get it sorted out.  Part of me wants to wait on a good running example, but I'm looking at $2000 for a running rashed up sportbike in this area.

[dusterdude]

they might be good bikes,but that ass end is hideous.

[ofreen]

It seems odd that clutch plates are stuck that hard.  I'd go back and hear it run, and see if the clutch frees up after the engine is warmed up.  Otherwise, if the chassis is straight (check the wheels) and engine is sound (how many miles on it?), I'd think it is worth $650 for what you want to do to it.

[tsflstb]

That rear end is some kind of race fairing the guy slapped on there.  It would either get cut down or thrown on ebay.

I definately will want to hear it run to listen for big problems.  I know these bikes are a pain to work on compared to our CB's though.  Getting to the carbs looks like an ordeal.

Worst case, I could probably turn around and sell for what I paid if it's too much work.

[ekim98]

For that kind of money you could probably part it out and get you money back, only if you can hear it run I'd say go for it, if you have the spare cash.

[Terry in Australia]

The FZR ("Fizzer") 1000 was a great bike, stacks of power, good handling, superb brakes, and a weird 5 valve per cylinder combustion chamber, with a "power valve" arrangement in the exhaust system, which allowed greater flow at a particular throttle opening, from memory. The cylinders were canted well forward, which allowed for straight inlet tracts, and it was one of the best engines, of the era.

I reckon a "streetfighter" with renthal bars and a nice Ducati 916 tailpiece to replace that big hynk of fibreglass would look great, and the Yoshi (?) pipe that's on it now is worth more than the asking price, so you can't go wrong! Cheers, Terry.

[HITMAN]

Not a bad deal, I'd have trouble passing it up. 

Perhaps trade to front faring off for a tail kit, back side of that bike is ugly-big.  Another idea would be getting an extended swing arm and have some dragstrip fun with it, been looking for a bike to do that myself.

[olds-cool]

I would go for it.  If nothing else, I'm sure you can get what you pay for it by parting it out.

[tsflstb]

Went this morning to take another look.  It is rough, but it did start and idle.  Sounds mean.  I was hemming and hawing about all the work it needs trying to knock another $50 off the price.  Then I peeked under the tank and saw these...



They have a "Sudco" sticker on them - I'm assuming they're not stock?



I forked over the cash and left before I lost my poker face.  It's got no pressure on the clutch...fluid, but no pressure.  I'll dig into that soon and see how it gets down the road.

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, so you got a Fizzer with a couple of thousand bucks worth of race parts for 650 bucks? (and you haven't looked under the cam covers yet) I think God just kissed you on the asss mate!

[tsflstb]

Yeah, I cashed in all my used bike karma on this one.

The kids I bought it from mentioned offhand the PO told them it had "racing carbs".  I assumed they meant a jet kit or something, not actual racing carbs.  I feel like I'm writing one of those "I never thought it would happen to me" letters to Playboy.

This bike has a deep growl and some serious compression.  There may be more surprises in the head.  I am holding my breath until I get the clutch working and test out the tranny.  I've heard 2nd gear is a weakness on these beasts.  Even so, I think I got my money's worth.

[750goes]

that is going to be one wild ride when you get it going   --- looks kind of nasty too with those carbs....let us know what else you find...........and good luck with it....

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah, second gear is a problem on most modern sports bikes, and check the steering head bearings too, these beasts spent a lot of time with the front wheel in the air, and when it came crashing down the steering head bearings copped it.

To lower the weight, some bike manufacturers (Yamaha included) went back to ball races from tapered rollers, and the balls punched big dents into the races, making them as notchy as hell. I don't remember whether yours has balls or rollers, but check 'em out mate before you go wild on that monster! Cheers, Terry.  

[DCopp]

boy, that one carb inlet looks way smaller than the other three...

[SClay115]

I had one, no fairings, but the tank was the same paint scheme as that one. 2nd, and sometimes 3rd gear would pop out, but only occasionally. But when 3rd gear grabbed, hold the heck on, they are quick machines. And believe me when I tell you, the 5 spd box will leave you wanting another gear when you're in 5th with the throttle against the stop. Mine also had shorter links in the rear, lifting the back end up a bit, curing the slow steering problem they FZR's possessed from the factory. It actually handled quite well, had Michelin Pilot 2ct's on there. Fun bike, very fun bike, but most I've seen, as mentioned in the above posts, have seen signs of neglect...which is a big bummer. Have fun with it!

Steve

[Superbiker_uk]

Nice find. Should be great with the performance parts although these bikes go like stink anyway. I bought mine in 1996 for £3500 

Always wanted one of these and dreamt of owning one when I was a poor student in 1990 When I found this one I fell in love with it and have never looked back. Spent a small fortune on it keeping it all in good order. It has almost 45k miles on it now but you wouldn't know to look at it. They eat tires, chains and sprockets and get handfisted with the clutch and you willl be shelling out on new plates in no time at all I put new rear suspension on mine as well as fit Racetech fork emulators (although yours has cartridge USD forks already). Check the servo and check for free cable movement on the Exup valve. Should be able to turn the valve (or servo) slowly by hand with the ignition off and when you turn on the ignition here a nice whirr sound as it resets. If it's stuck you will notice it anything above 6000 rpm. Also as mentioned by Terry - if the steering is notchy get yourself a roller bearing  set up. Well worth the investment.

Enjoy the bike and keep us all posted on how you get on with it. If I can help with any info just PM me.

Safe riding and wheelying

[DME]

I blame DME for posting all those pics of his streetfighter.... 

Sorry man, I didn´t know it would get you into trouble 

Congrats on the deal, looks like a good project!

There are a few things to look out for on these bikes:

 - valve clearences:
high mileage engines tend to suffer from severe valve seat wear. Difficult cold starting is the main symptom. Check your clearences! Gets expensive to replace valves and seat when there is 20 of them....

- brake discs:
front discs have a tendency to warp when used hard. Ducati 320 mm discs fit straight on as well as R1 brake calipers. Mine has both....

- EXUP valve: take it apart, clean and lube it regularly with copper antiseize to keep it from sticking.

- clutch basket: the weak point if you get abusive. Replace it with a basket from a ThunderAce and problem solved.

- oil consumtion: they tend to burn a lot of oil due to ring/bore wear. A liter per 1000 km is not unusual.... 


My engine had all kinds of problems: burned valves, fried clutch, drank oil like crazy - had to fill up oil and check gas if you know what I mean....
Bike was cheap enough though so I replaced it with a NOS -93 engine that I found cheaply.

The good thing about these bikes is that they are relatively cheap to work on and parts are in abundance.
They are too old to attract the sportsrider - and too new to be considered classics..... yet.

They are powerful enough to have fun on though -  after slight airbox mods and jetting to suit, it put out 137 hp on the rear hoop on MCXpress dyno.

Have fun with it!

Cheers
Dan

[DME]

Oh, and I almost forgot: these bikes do NOT have an oil pressure light, it´s an oil level light.
So don´t crap yourself if it suddenly flickers under hard acceleration, just top up your oil....

Cheers
Dan

[tsflstb]

Thanks for all the tips.  I'll get a service manual ordered soon.  Haven't seen a free copy online anywhere.

One quick and probably stupid question as this is the first really modern bike I've messed with.  Is there no fuel petcock on the tank or is mine just not there or not working? 

I have a 90 degree elbow thing coming from the tank with a couple of wires (for the fuel light?) and no vaccuum hose or anything.  There is a 1/4" line from a fitting on the rear of the tank to the crankcase.  There's also a toggle switch that looks like it's supposed to be a "reserve" switch - is the petcock electric?   

Right now I can't remove it without draining it every time.  That doesn't seem right.

[DME]

Thanks for all the tips.  I'll get a service manual ordered soon.  Haven't seen a free copy online anywhere.

One quick and probably stupid question as this is the first really modern bike I've messed with.  Is there no fuel petcock on the tank or is mine just not there or not working? 

I have a 90 degree elbow thing coming from the tank with a couple of wires (for the fuel light?) and no vaccuum hose or anything.  There is a 1/4" line from a fitting on the rear of the tank to the crankcase.  There's also a toggle switch that looks like it's supposed to be a "reserve" switch - is the petcock electric?   

Right now I can't remove it without draining it every time.  That doesn't seem right.

The cables coming out of the the tank is for the electric reserve switch.
The switch itself is/was situated on the left side fairing  beside the tank.
The electric reserve does not open or close the tap - it works by shutting down the fuelpump when the fuel level clears the sending unit in the tank.

On my -89 tank there is a shutoff valve on the petcock.
It is just a small white plastic knob that you have to turn with a pair of pliars.
To reach it you´ll need to raise the rear part of the tank.
It´s on the left side of the petcock (opposing side of the fuelhose).

Cheers
Dan

[Superbiker_uk]

No fuel petcock on the FZR. Yes you have an 'electric' reserve switch. When the you first switch on you normally get a a tcking / clicking noise as the fuel pumps operates - this stops (after about 5 seconds) once the pump has drawn through enough fuel to fill the float bowls. The two wires are a fuel level sender unit linked to the reserve system. The pipe coming from the back of my tank is a breather pipe and on my bike is vented to atmosphere. Due to emissions regs in California the FZR1000 was fitted with an envaporation control system. Not sure if this is also on your bike. Instead of the breather pipe venting to atmosphere is goes via a canister where fuel vapours can be stored and vented back to the combustion chambers when the engine is running. You shouldn't need to drain the tank to remove it. The fuel tap has a square section 'knob' that can be turned with pliers. It should have an arrow on it and the off position is horizontal. Just need to turn the tap prior to diconnecting the hose.

Hope some of this helps.

Edit: posed at same time as DME - Good morning to you!

[DME]

And a good morning to you too, Superbiker_UK 

[tsflstb]

Thanks gentlemen and good morning from the US.  I must have missed that little knob.  My wife should be glad when I don't smell of gasoline every night.  Then again it might be more pleasant than normal.

Still doing a lot of poking and prodding, tracing wires and hoses and getting a feel for how this bike is laid out. 

I'm pretty impressed with how it's put together.  Carb access is actually the best of any bike I've owned.  The spark plugs are tucked up in there a bit though.  My adventure for tonight is to find access and remove them.

[DME]

And how are things in the EXUP world?
Did you find the shutoff valve for the tank or are the missus still complaining about the gas smell??

Let us know!

Cheers
Dan

[tsflstb]

Thanks for asking.  Wish I had more to report.  I did find the shutoff valve, but unfortunately there are more gas leaks. 

I've got fuel pouring out both carb overflows (thought it was a stuck float - but they look ok  ) and leaking float bowl gaskets.  It sounds good when running but my fuel mileage leaves something to be desired.

I am lucky to have garage space, but unfortunately it's directly below my youngest daughter's room.  Need to sort out the fuel issues before I blow up my family with the fumes.

FCR carb parts are insane...$15 for a single float bowl gasket.  I just spent a chunk of change on my 400F wheels, so I'll let that blow over before I attack these problems.