Frank Moore has kindly allowed me to feature some pictures of his rather special FJ. He's put a terrific amount of work and attention into his 'FJZ1200' and tells below how it all came about.
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FZ1/FJ Forks and Swingarm Conversion by Frank Moore
I originally intended to modify my 86 FJ1200 using the tried and true YZF600 mods but was having trouble locating all the parts necessary to to do the conversion. One day I decided to visit my local bike salvage yard and actually bumped into a wrecked 2001 yamaha FZ1. Looking closely at the forks and swingarm I decided to attempt grafting them onto my bike.
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Front Forks - " The more things change the more they stay the same" This is very simple process as all you need to do is mill 2mm from each of the four holes in the stock triple clamps and 2mm out of each handlebar. The stock parts are 41mm and the FZ1 forks are 43mm ( photo 1&2 ) Voila`( yes its that easy) the front end just slips right in. Connect and bleed the brakes you are ready to ride ( almost ) here is the only downside to this conversion - you lose the speedo drive from the front wheel. I took care of this problem by installing an electronic unit from Trailtech with the pickup on the front left brake caliper. http://www.trailtech.net/atv.htm (photo4). One bonus of using the FZ1 front end is that the FZ1 top plate fits right onto (photo 3) the FJ allowing the use of Superbike style handlebars in any rise and bend you prefer. The stock FJ ignition switch fits right on to the FZ1 top plate even retaining the steering lock! I call this my touring setup and it takes less than an hour to swap from my stock bars to this more upright riding position.
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Swingarm and rear wheel - First I used the method Barry described in his Thunderace swingarm conversion, pressing in the bearings further into the FZ1 swingarm using a bolt, nut and flat washers to ride against the bearings. I used the stock FJ inner bushing to guide me as to how far to go ( approx 2.5mm off each side ). After pressing in the bearings I cut off the excess material with my all singing, all dancing Dremal tool. For assembly I re-used the stock FJ inner bushing, thrust washers and end caps along with the stock pivot bolt. No need to worry about centering the wheel in the swingarm as its aready done for you. Torque to spec.
Note :- This setup will not work with the stock exhaust as the meaty 5.5 inch rear wheel and swingarm are too wide and will hit the silencers. With my Supertrapp exhaust I simply rotated the S-pipe and put the mount on the outside of the passenger peg mount instead of the inside.
Mounting the swingarm was the easy part and the rest would have been even easier had I owned a later model FJ with the dogbone style shock linkage. As it was my 86 shock had an eye mount both top and bottom. My new setup was going to require a clevis stlye lower mount like the 89 and up FJ`s have . I wound up sourcing a shock and lower pivot from an 89 FJ. The dogbones I used are handmade adjustable units but as decribed elsewhere on this site its easy enough to make your own using flat plate.
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One other problem concerned the rear brake light switch which was interfering with the swingarm during its stroke. I used a hydraulic banjo bolt brake pressure switch from Four strokes only - http://www.fourstrokesonly.com/HBLPressureSwitch.html
Next we approach the drive chain. Being that the wheel is wider I sourced an offset countershaft sprocket originally for a Honda VF1000R (86-87 model ) the sprocket has an offset on both sides. I ground one side of the sprocket offset flush and fitted the sprocket onto the bike with the factory offset to the inside facing the engine. Stepping it out just the right amount.
This left just enough room to get the locking tab and nut on the shaft and it all lined up perfectly with the new rear sprocket. The FZ1 wheel comes with a 44 tooth sprocket and with my use of a 18 tooth countershaft sprocket managed to keep gearing basically the same as the stock 17/41. Remember the rule one tooth on the front = three on the rear.
There you have it; this conversion netted me an impressive 20.1 lb reduction in unsprung weight and improved handling in spite of lengthening the bikes wheelbase by 1.5 inches. By raising the rear ride height I altered rake from the stock 27.5 to 24.5 and trail from 5.5 to 3.5 inches. Handling is very precise now with great turn in and feedback from the front wheel thankfully the tendancy to stand up under braking is MIA. and I can shop for tires to my hearts content.
The brakes are very progressive especially the rear which resists locking and has better feel than any rear brake I`ve ever used. The front brakes are equally impressive with good feel and serious power. Enough to lift the rear wheel of the old girl and put me on the windscreen :-)
My favorite has to be the modern meaty 180/55-17 rear tire. It really brings the bikes proportions more in line with modern motorcycles as well as offering greater tire selection and traction for the torquey grunt of the FJ. I wanted to try and keep the bike as stock looking as possible,with modern suspension, brakes and wheels.
I believe mission accomplished.
Frank
I must say Frank, I tend to agree with you. It looks a marvellous conversion in true 'pioneering modifier' style. Thank you once again for the great write-up and sharing your experiences - Barry
