1986 FZ600 "Black Yamba" | GTAMotorcycle.com

1986 FZ600 "Black Yamba"

rye

rye

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Build is COMPLETE! Took just over a month to get the engine apart and back together, and everything ran beautifully! Been enjoying the bike already.



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Welcome to my build thread!

I’ve been posting at yamahaclub.com but I thought I would share my progress with my fellow GTAer’s as well!

Here is my 1986 FZ600, the day I picked it up.


Feliks and the 1986 Yamaha FZ600 by feliks.ca, on Flickr

I was super excited, seeing as how it’s my FIRST MOTORCYCLE EVER!!!

When I bought it, it wasn’t running. I paid $900 for it, on the sellers word that it worked, but the battery was dead. I knew I was taking a chance but everything appeared to be in good shape, so I pulled the trigger. Also, it was either buy it, or not get one at all…since I had barely talked the wife into “letting” me get this… lol So, paid the guy and loaded it up in the back of my Ram.

First thing I did was buy a battery, charge it, put it in, and try and start it. That was stupid. Because….it started right up, and I was very surprised the guy was actually good for his word. The reason this was stupid, is because I didn’t check the basics. Like spark plugs….for one. Anyway, I got on the bike because I was just way too eager to learn how to ride and pulled it down the driveway, and off I went. Took it down the street, made a nice controlled turn, and brought it back. WOOO! First ride ever was a success! I didn’t fall, spill, stall, or do anything else embarrassing. Awesome. What a rush too, just going down the street and back without peddling or walking, or driving in a cage! lol

So back to why it was stupid… After driving around town and getting to know the bike… I brought it back home, went to crappy tire and picked up some new plugs for it, since it was sputtering quite a bit. While I was putting them in, I noticed one of the original plugs was loose, and the frickin wires were in the WRONG ORDER!!! WHAT!!! So…after fixing that & putting new plugs in, I started it up, and almost jizzed in my pants. Sorry for the visual….but I’m sure you’ve all been there. Well…maybe some of you have. I was just like….OMG. Damn, when that thing fired up and I cracked the throttle open.

Anyway, pulled it out for a REAL spin this time and the feeling was literally indescribable. If you’re reading this and you ride, you know what I mean. If you’re reading this and don’t ride, what the fcuk are you waiting for?

Anyway, I got a couple good… make that AMAZING months of riding in before the snow came, rode up until December 10[SUP]th[/SUP]… before I parked it and then started winterizing it. But I didn’t stop there…

Before I parked it, I got rid of the purple pin striping and gave it an all black paintjob.


1986 Yamaha FZ600 by feliks.ca, on Flickr

While I’ve been waiting for parts… I modified the back end because the original box style is SUPER UGLY and doesn’t match the flow of the bike whatsoever. I also got an LED tail light for a Ninja off fleabay and a rear seat cowl off a GSXR for the tail piece. I’ve fiberglassed the cheap plastic so it’s solid now, and made a custom bracket that holds the tail light, license plate, and rear cowl on.


Untitled by feliks.ca, on Flickr


Untitled by feliks.ca, on Flickr


Untitled by feliks.ca, on Flickr

Now… I had a decision to make. I was burning about a liter of oil every 200kms which is quite excessive, so I made the call (after some persuasion by some very intelligent people!) that I should rip the motor apart and rebuild the top end so it’s fresh for summer, instead of waiting to fix it then!

So that’s what I’ve been doing. This is my first time ever ripping into an engine, and so far everything has been going quite well! I’ve been putting a great amount of time and care into this rebuild to make everything perfect. I haven’t run into any major problems along the way, and I’ve been able to call upon some forum members for help, so it’s been pretty awesome to have that help on call.

Bottom end is staying as is, clutch, gears, everything down there is good. I will replace the oil pan gasket while I have everything apart though.


Untitled by feliks.ca, on Flickr


Primed and painting the top end while it’s apart…


Untitled by feliks.ca, on Flickr


Untitled by feliks.ca, on Flickr


Untitled by feliks.ca, on Flickr

And re-lapped the valves…


Untitled by feliks.ca, on Flickr


Untitled by feliks.ca, on Flickr

Now… I play the waiting game with Yamaha! I need pretty much every gasket now for the top end…only one I have is the valve cover gasket…which doesn’t do me much good without the rest of the stuff!

Anyway, I’ll post some updates here as I go in case you’re interested! Thanks for looking!
 
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A litre of oil per 200 km... that is indeed quite excessive!

Best of luck on your build, and I'll be sure to keep checking in
 
Yeah every time I let off the throttle blue smoke came out of the exhaust. I'm guessing with that amount my rings and valve seals were messed up pretty good!

At least with the snow on the ground it's not as hard to have the engine apart. If it was sunny and 20 out right now, I'd be pretty ****** off! lol
 
rye said:
At least with the snow on the ground it's not as hard to have the engine apart. If it was sunny and 20 out right now, I'd be pretty ****** off! lol
Click to expand...

Smart. Move fast, spring isn't too far out now. I still have a laundry list of things I need to do to my bike still, before it's ready for another go. Waiting on parts in the mail is killer.
 
Tell me about it! I ordered from the Yamaha dealer thinking they would get it the fastest... boy was I wrong! I could have ordered the parts from the internet myself and got them this slow....and probably cheaper!
 
I guess it depends on stock and availability, I ordered a set of fork seals and dust seals for my FZ rebuild and was told it could take 10 days, the dealer calls me back in 3 and says to come and pickup the parts I ordered....Sometimes if the parts are not locally housed they then have to come out from Japan's warehouse, that is when we have to wait....

going to follow along on this build, as I am in the middel of dong my own as well...

make sure you do a valve adjustment now that you have lapped your valves.....

and you should not cure paint in an oven that you will use to cook meals in, not a very good thing to do....could be hazerdous to your health....
 
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Lots of things are hazardous to your health.... lol The inside of the oven IS paint so I can't see why it would hurt. If you cooked your food while the paint was curing then yes, I can see how that'd be a problem.... but there's no smell or any residual paint fumes so I think I'm safe..... Hell, Motorcycling is hazardous to your health!! lol

Valve adjustment for sure, or at least measurement to see how they are...if they need adjusting then it will be done. I lapped the valves by hand so it's not like I took off a bunch of material.

And you're right...the base gasket had to come from Japan so I'm waiting on that!
 
Got my parts in from Yamaha yesterday....was short one rubber grommet so I can't put the head back on yet, but I still have to install the valve springs anyway so that's not a big deal, should be in tomorrow so I can get that and maybe have this thing together by the weekend!

Hard to believe some rubber and metal cut to shape cost $300!



Got my new valve seals in place...just used some needle nosed pliers to get the old ones out. The tool was $50...that's crazy. Needle nose pliers worked just as good. Just had to be careful not to hit the aluminum with them.



Got the pistons cleaned up, lubed and ready for the cylinder housing to go on.

 
How did the cylinder walls look? Any reason to suspect piston to cylinder clearance or cylinders out-of-round - or just light hone for new piston rings?

1 litre of oil every 200 km is really, really excessive and I'd want to know where it's going ... although it could simply be that the oil control rings were shot.
 
The ring end gaps were all out of spec, and I suspect the valve stem seals were shot as well. I ended up using new cylinders, pistons, and a head from another donor engine that just had the top end rebuilt last year, so I stole all the good parts I could from that motor. It was probably burning a liter every 500 kms or so, but that's still quite a bit. I remember I was topping up about every hundred km's, and it took about 250 mls each time.

The end gap on these rings were well within spec, but I got the cylinders honed because the engine had been sitting for a few months and I just wanted to be sure everything was going to seat and there was no surface rust or anything. Also re-lapped the valves and put new valve seals on the new head just to be safe, after checking for warp...which was much better than my old engine (which was slightly out, but still within spec).

Got the pistons and cylinders on today, and am working on the retainers for the valves..which are turning out to be a *****.

 
Sounds like you are on track for getting the oil consumption issue licked. For the valve retainers and those infernal keepers, you saw the pic of the tool needed in my thread, right?
 
Yeah, but spending $50 on a tool to use once ...or twice.....is hard to justify for me! I've got by this far using what I've got....but damn they are a pain! Lots of good info in your thread and tips that I'm going to steal, our engines are pretty similar.

I'm leaving it until tomorrow anyway, have a bunch of (real) work to finish up that I didn't get done yet! :D
 
The correct tool is cheaper than a dropped valve because you damaged it while trying to improvise, but didn't notice ...
 
Yeah that's true but parts and tools are adding up! Want to come on over for some beers and bbq and bring yours to let me use for 20 minutes? :D
 
Well, for $0 I made one! Worked just the same....maybe a little more finicky but it did the trick!














One down...7 to go!
 
With all of the retainers finally in place...only gave a bit of trouble, and a bit of swearing.... haha, I got the head surfaces cleaned up with a solid block and some fine grit sandpaper, and got to work. Following my Yamaha factory manual and haynes manual to make sure I didn't miss anything... I got the head on and torqued down to specification. The stripped bolt hole I had fixed gave me no trouble and I was able to get it torqued perfectly.

Now it's time to get the cams on and check to see if I need any valve adjustment before final assembly!



 
Another late night, and now the only thing left to do is a valve measurement and adjustment if needed, and then it's back in the bike she goes!


 
Turns out I had the cam's on a full 180 degress wrong! So ...after fixing that....NOW it's time to measure and adjust valve clearance.

 
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