New challenge

I've been looking for a while and finally found something to spark my interest. Not an XJ but a Yamaha non the less. Project: 2001 FZ1 with blown motor and about 23,000 miles with extras including: heated grips, sliders, Pazzo brake/clutch levers, Sargent custom seat and LED turn signals. Got it for a decent price but will need a new engine so I have a bit of work to do. Closest thing Yamaha has to a naked bike in the states these days, looking forward to the challenge...

 

Nice project, sure the motors blown?

 

Ya, there's a chunk of the block missing in the front under the header pipes. I'm not sure if it threw a rod or what. The owner was told by a local shop that the oil pump failed on him. Not sure how they diagnosed it but...

 

Actually; yeah, it is. Well, an XJ's grandkid anyway. Take a close look at the motor, you'll see the "family resemblances." It's more of a second cousin to a Maxim-X; 5-valves per cylinder liquid cooled with "button under bucket" valve adjustment, and your favorite: CV carbs! Clutch is virtually identical, shifter mousetrap the same; but it does look like they finally improved the starter clutch. (Went poking in the fiche.)

All you gotta do now is find a low-mileage wreck with a good motor; and do what any good XJ-er would do in the same holed-crankcase situation: TRANSPLANT.

Once you dig into this one a bit you'll see more and more familiar design patterns. Heck, you've still got valve clearances to check and CV carbs to keep clean and synchronized!

Evolution...

 

Beautiful bike. One I've considered for my next. Good luck with the transplant!

 

You are right it's definitely a direct descendant. Don't really look forward to shim under bucket valve checks but it only needs to be done every 26K, I guess I can live with that. I already have a mill lined up but need to take delivery of the bike first. Not sure if I'm going to keep this beast long term but I'll decide that later. Everything I've read about the FZ in the press and by actual owners seems like Yamaha really got this one right so I might need to hang onto to it for a while, we'll see...

 

One "issue" has already been fixed; somebody put a comfortable seat on it. (I've got two Sargent's seats.)

 

it aint so bad. inspection is exactly the same and they next to never need adjustment after breakin. For actual shim swapping, look on the bright side, no fussing with hold down tools or zipties. just pull the cams and be done with it. For both I think the scariest part for most guys is taking the cover off.
Once you take the plunge, are in there and operating it's easier than ya think.

 

On the transplant engine, I'm thinking about removing the AIS system since, from what I've read, it just gets in the way of spark plug changing and valve checks. There are several aftermarket kits to plug the lines and there doesn't seem to be any ill effects except for a minor increase in emissions out the tail pipe. When I get the new engine, I'll do I valve check with the engine out of the bike to save myself a little working room.

 

Wow, aside from the motor it looks like it is in good condition. Really clean. Sounds like a fun project.

 

yep a F16 kind of reminds me of the Wright flier too

 

Now that the FZ is in the garage awaiting a transplant I thought I would give a little more detail: cost including delivery $850. The engine has a hole in it the size of my fist so the motor is definitively toast. I purchased a transplant for $675 delivered with 18 thousand miles on it. The bike was laid down and you can see the road rash on the fairing front right corner, however, the damage looks minimal. The guy blow it up inside the city limits in a 40 MPH zone so I don't think it was laid down at high speed. The chain and sprockets have less than 3 thousand miles on them. Will need a new windshield and mirrors. I figure by the time I'm done I'll have a total coast of somewhere around $1700-1800. I should be able to sell off some of the old motor components and recoup a couple hundred dollars at least. Should be fun, looking forward to it!

 

So for around two grand you're gonna end up with an '01 FZ1 with 18K miles on the motor, and all those spiffy accessories.

Plus a bunch of valuable spares.

Not too shabby.

If AIS is the modern-day YICS, I'd leave it...

 

I have the AIS on my V-Star 650. AIS stands for Air Induction System, which is a fresh charge of INTAKE air that mixes with hot EXHAUST gas, to burn off any unburt hydrocarbons.

People tend to not like it because there's lots of hoses everywhere, and if you switch out your exhaust and fatten the mixture up, you get lots of popping on deceleration (because that rich unburt fuel is getting burnt)

 

An FZ1 for 2 grand and some labor...I'm jealous!

 

I have been scouring craigslist pretty regular and I'm pretty surprised myself of my good fortune. I really thought it was a scam and I'm pretty sure everybody else did too. Funny thing is, it was listed for about 4 days before I actually talked to the owner. Whats even more remarkable is the fact that he was a super nice guy and he even hauled it to my house and hand delivered the title. If I had to guess, when the engine blew up, he dumped it, scaring the crap out of himself and that was the end of his driving days. He told me himself he didn't ride much before he bought it from a co-worker. Seemed to be relieved to be rid of it. I know it's not an XJ but I will try to detail my rebuild once I begin (for those interested)...

 

I'm sure there are a few of us.

 

Yes, post it! It is a Yamaha and like it's been said, very similar to XJ's, only newer w/some nice weight saving technology. I was considering financing one for about $110/month before I found my XJ. They are really fun fast bikes, and what a nice front brake set up (all the better with all that speed). Not too bad looking either. Looks like a fun winter diversion.

 

The transplant I ordered will be here next Tuesday so I will slowly start picking the old engine clean. First thing I'm going to do is pull the rotor/stator while it's still in the bike. To help me along, I'll put it in top gear with my foot on the brake to try and bust that rotor bolt loose. Then with a rotor bolt/tool, BFH, some heat and a little luck maybe I can liberate the stator for a back-up. My plan is to scavenge as many parts I can from the old motor. Not sure what I'm going to keep but the rest of the engine will be up for sale in due time.

 

Yes! Keep us updated!

 

I want to put the front end from a Yami sport bike on my XJ750. Any body done this? The bearings for an XJ1100 and a YZ are the same but my 750 are not. Could a guy swap out the bearing cups from the two bikes so to make the swap easier???

 

Good plan; just don't go too far. I've seen too many motors parted out on eBay too far to where the pieces are useless. We know the bottom end is toast; but keep the cams/cam caps/head together or you'll turn it from valuable into scrap.

Honestly, if it were me, I'd part the whole engine except for the bottom end and KEEP it. Clutch, even transmission guts could prove valuable. If you ever cook a valve, or eventually wear out the top end, swap the whole head. (Or get the spare head ported, polished and flowed and bolt up a few extry HP.) In your shoes, the only part I'd put at the curb would be the broken case(s.)

Keep us posted.

 

Hey Ski,

That's funny you created a thread on this because I was just looking around a bit today for a R1 with a blown engine...Where did you find that?

Over the weekend a buddy and I pulled the engine out of his RX1 snowmobile he wrecked last year after hitting a deer. Apparently it is the exact engine that is in the R1 motorcycle and we were kinda throwing around the idea of finding something like you did instead of him just selling it. (I've been trying to get him on a bike for awhile)

Granted, I haven't looked too far into it yet and who knows if he would jump on it if he found something, but here's hoping.

 

I got my motor from a motorcycle recycler on ebay with a very high feedback rating. Whenever you buy a used motor it is a bit of a crap-shoot so try to get one from a reputable source if possible.

I did a few things to my transplant motor over the weekend and I was going to post some pictures but my digital camera decided to croak. I was able to lift the motor off the pallet by myself which was a big relief. The pallet was taking up a lot of space in my garage and it stunk like old motor oil so I was happy to be rid of it. If I had to guess, the motor probably weighs around a 150lbs. The plan, once I get a new camera, is to photo archive things so I have some reference of cable & wire routing etc, rather than relying on the old noggin. I will start by removing the carb rack and go through that first before I drop the old motor. I bought a Clymer manual and I found a copy of the factory service manual so between the two of them hopefully I can figure things out. Standby...

 

I finally got a new digital camera so now I can begin to post my progress... Not much done the last few weeks but have been gathering supplies: new battery, mirrors, spark plugs, oil filter, 36mm impact socket to remove front sprocket to name a few things and have a shopping list of others I'll need to complete the job. One thing I plan to do on the new motor before it's installed is a valve check.



Here is the new transplant:



I'll start by removing the carbs off the old motor first...

 

Woo that's exciting!

 

Hey, looks like your in for some fun, by the way, how much did you have to give for the motor transplant? I only ask since I may have to go looking for one myself, not sure yet. grunt007, 81'XJ750 SecaR, Mi.

 

$506 for the motor and $175 for freight delivery from Georgia to New Mexico.

 

Wow that motor hardly looks used at all-very clean. Looks like your still way below blue book on this build as well. Good job. I will ask the motorcylce gods to not throw any monkeys in your way. Can't wait to see it back on the road again. Your going to have to shoot some video w/audio when you finally fire it up. Do you know how long the new motor was waiting to be adopted? If it has been very long I would do a quick change of all the fluids after a very short period once it's revived.

 

Actually the motor does have some road rash on the side covers but I kind of expected that when I bought it. I intended on taking some of the side covers off the old motor since they are in better shape. Regarding the sitting adoption time, I have no idea. The crankcase is still full of oil but the water jacket is dry with some sediment in it. Looks like previous owner neglected to change anti-freeze on a regular basis. I was planning on doing a fluid dump after a short run time...

 

Finally got a couple hours to play...

Ready, set... carbs pulled





Another surprise... I know some don't like K & N filters but I do and it just adds to the fact that a previous owner put some money into this thing.



Was there any skeptics about the hole in the engine?







Parts...



Getting closer to pulling the motor...

 

Oh that's just a crankcase vent! :lol:

 

Got around to checking the valves on the donor engine and they were all within spec. However, the intakes were close to the low-side of good at .13-.15mm and all the exhaust valves were right in the middle at around .23mm. Decided to leave as is for now as none of them were to tight...

 

That is one SERIOUS camchain. Looks almost automotive.

 

Actually bigfitz the picture makes it look more stout than it is.

 

I had some time off between Christmas & New Years so I got a chance to get a bit more work done.

Old engine out...



New engine in...



With 20$ stock slip-on ...



Still need to get the carbs cleaned/remounted, new fork seals, brake fluid flushed and new front brake pads installed. Getting closer...

 

So jealous.....

 

Sick!!! Looks fast

How big is the engine?

 

sweet. Nice work.

 

2001 Yamaha FZ1
998cc
142bhp
458 lbs dry
Top speed 158mph
0-60 2.98 sec.
0-100 6.48 sec.
KBB $3300

Hell of a bike ya got there Ski, like I said, I'm jealous

 

I have seen them go for as low as $2200 which seems a bit low I know but it kind of depends on the local market I guess. Thanks for the comments!

 

Yeah, that's a killer deal

 

It's Alive!

Fired her up and took a short ride down the block and back... First impression: mucho torque, smooth, quite down low, great brakes, suspension feels good. Total cost so far, right at around $1850.

Bills-of-material:

original purchase price: $850
donor motor: $675
battery: $56
new windshield: $12
windshield screws: $7
fuel filter: $15
front brake pads: $17
OEM fork seals/dust seals: $36
new mirrors: $28
bar end slider: $25
fairing inner panel: $30
3/8" X 4" nipples (fork spring pre-load spacer): $6
fork bushings: $10
crankcase gaskets (3X): $15
127.5 main jets (4X) $14
Radio shack washers for shimming needle: $2
vacuum caps for plugging carb coolant: $2
Maxim racing shock fluid: $12
Rotella T oil change: $12
SuperTech oil filter: $3
Autolite spark plugs: $2
stock muffler: $20
misc supplies: $20-40

Details of work performed...

Engine swap: pretty straight forward. A little time consuming to disconnect and reconnect everything but overall not to bad.

Front end: Did a lot of research for the suspension. Ended up cutting 1 inch off the softer progressive side of the front springs (increases stiffness about 20%) for less dive under braking. Used super lite (3W) fork oil which tends to work better with stock valving for the fork cartridges. Had a bit of a time bending and shaping the spring after cutting to length. Had to get some Mapp gas to get the spring hot enough (propane didn't work). New fork/dust seals while in there.





Front brakes: about 20% left on the pads so will wait to change when front tire needs to be swapped (2-3 thousand miles).

Carbs: Did a bunch of research on the Mikuni's on FZ1OA.com as well. Pulled all the jets and carefully cleaned. The FZ1 tends to be lean down low and up into the mid-range. To correct this, I preset the pilot mixtures out about a half turn more than stock (richer). In addition, I shimmed the jet needle with a thin washer to richen the mid-range transition from the pilots. Over at FZ1OA.com, the standard was to add two shims but I compromised and did one. The FZ1 tends to run very rich on the top-end and given that I'm at about 5000 foot elevation, I decided to swap the main jets for something closer to where they should be for my elevation. I'm running a K&N air filter so I compromised on the main jets as well. The floats are set for too much fuel from the factory which also contributes to the rich condition at WOT so I adjusted them to a little lower fuel level. Replaced float valve o-rings which tend to get brittle with age and ethanol. With all this, it should be better than original but might need some fine tuning, we'll see...



Carbs cont: Another thing that is very popular over at FZ1OA.com is to bypass the coolant lines to the carbs. Ya you heard correctly, Yamaha runs coolant through the carbs which can cause a type of vapor lock at high temps and elevation. I don't need no stinking vapor lock!



Cables: all lubed.

Whats left: flush the brake fluid (front & rear), swap the shock dog bones on the rear (to better match the modified springs up front), foot brake light switch isn't working. Finish cleaning and lubing the drive chain. Install accessory power port. Swap instrument lights for LED's. And last but not least, drive...









Overall, not too bad for $1850! Thanks to XJbikes for the inspiration that began a couple years ago with my XJ750... to be continued!

 

How come you went with the stock can?
Great work
Al

 

There were a couple reasons: 1) to save my ears and 2) cost was $20 for a used excellent condition one. My thinking was to put as little into it as necessary until I was sure what I had overall. Also, I figure if I have to sell the thing, I would like to maximize my profit. I have a suspicion though that I may hang on to it for a while.

 

Very nicely done!

 

Managed to put down some decent miles (360) on the new machine this weekend. Everything is pretty much done on it with the exception of wanting a sport touring windshield and installing an accessory power port for my GPS. One of the best features is the fuel mileage; I got 45.7 MPG yesterday on a spirited drive through the Manzano Mtns. It looks like I can get somewhere around 220-250 miles on a tank full of gas. That gives me more options on the road knowing that I don't have to fill up all the time. On my Maxim, about the best I could get was around 175 miles for the type of driving I do. What the FZ1 does better: handling, increased fuel mileage, reduced riding fatigue with better seat and suspension, superior brakes, better lights, way more power and a higher grin factor. I know it looks like a sport bike but surprisingly the FZ1 has a sit up posture with just a slight amount of forward body lean towards the handlebar (unlike a full on sport bike). What this does is it gives me less lower back fatigue from my spine being slightly off vertical and my kidneys take less of a beating too. My Maxim is set up to handle more luggage and has a few options for feet placement on long drives plus a shaft drive which is pretty maintenance free. I still can't believe how little this new machine cost me with the work I did myself and knowing that these machines can do 100-200 thousand miles before overhaul. The donor engine seems to be very strong. My original plan was to fix it up and make some coin but now it'll be hard for me to let this one go. If I decide to get rid of one, sorry to say it might be the old Maxim, but I ain't in no rush. I'm taking quite a liking to the FZ1!