Quote from: red on February 28, 2026, 01:10:12 PMWarp84,
Fuel meter issues can be caused by dirty, flaky grounds. You want shiny metal secured to shiny metal, at all grounding points. Dull metal is corroded metal. You might even consider running a dedicated ground wire to the sender unit, and another to the (several) ground connections near the fuel gauge on the instrument panel. This wire would aid, but not replace the stock OEM wiring.
That aside, see if you can snake a wire down into the tank, and physically lift the sender's float gently higher. A borescope is a good tool to use, while doing this. You can get an illuminated borescope that plugs into any phone or laptop from sellers like Amazon, for cheap. Tape the end of the borescope to a bendable wire to guide the end inside the tank.
You will be amazed at all the stuff you will find inside your walls and car doors. 
HTH.
.

I'll do a double check of the grounds, like you suggest. We do have a borescope on hand actually. A reasonably nice one. I'll make a point of shoving that into the tank and seeing what mysteries await.

Warp84,
Fuel meter issues can be caused by dirty, flaky grounds. You want shiny metal secured to shiny metal, at all grounding points. Dull metal is corroded metal. You might even consider running a dedicated ground wire to the sender unit, and another to the (several) ground connections near the fuel gauge on the instrument panel. This wire would aid, but not replace the stock OEM wiring.
That aside, see if you can snake a wire down into the tank, and physically lift the sender's float gently higher. A borescope is a good tool to use, while doing this. You can get an illuminated borescope that plugs into any phone or laptop from sellers like Amazon, for cheap. Tape the end of the borescope to a bendable wire to guide the end inside the tank.
You will be amazed at all the stuff you will find inside your walls and car doors. 
HTH.
.

I'm just a touch South of Erie PA, looking for the fuel meter that goes inside the tank on my 84 Fj1100. OEM part code is 36Y-85752-03-00

Even with the tank filled to the brim with Ethanol free fuel, the needle never gets above half on the gauge. Hopefully there's a way to fix the meter. But having a spare never hurts either.

Welcome on board!

Budget old school method - diesel fuel mix with trans fluid to soak piston/rings prior moving crank, especially bike was sitting long time untouched. Always works......

Enjoy your restoration

Quote from: Gearbox Paul on February 28, 2026, 07:12:44 AMAfter being away for a few months, I went back to the bike, fixed a number of issues, added missing bits and pieces, and put it back together.  I think it looks pretty good.  Still chasing a couple of minor electrical gremlins.  Applied for collector status here in British Columbia, Canada which will allow me to license and insure the bike for a very low price.  Can't wait to get that FJ on the road. 

Very nice example of 1100.
Clean and unmolested.

Looks great!

After being away for a few months, I went back to the bike, fixed a number of issues, added missing bits and pieces, and put it back together.  I think it looks pretty good.  Still chasing a couple of minor electrical gremlins.  Applied for collector status here in British Columbia, Canada which will allow me to license and insure the bike for a very low price.  Can't wait to get that FJ on the road. 

I know you said you have stock intake/air filter, is your exhaust stock too or is it more free flowing aftermarket?

Seems like you have it tuned really close, if it were me I'd put the fuel mixture screws between 2.25 and 2.5 and fill it up with fresh gas and dump half a bottle of seafoam in there and go for a ride and see how it behaves through the rpm range and see how it is when you stop at stop lights and stop signs, what does the idle do then after it's warmed up, what does it do when you ask for some throttle off idle or ask for more throttle at 3k rpm in 2nd gear...make some mental notes and adjust from there.

If your intake and exhaust are stock I don't think you should need to shim your slide needles the stock position should be ok. If putting some miles on it doesn't allow you to dial it in I would probably try the other emulsion tubes and slides you have from the later FJ's maybe that helps smooth things out.

Are the rubber diaphragms in your carbs OEM or aftermarket? Did you inspect them for any pin holes or tears? Do your slides all go up and down at the same rate or are any of them a bit "sticky" and slow to lift or return?

Quote from: 86FJNJ on February 27, 2026, 02:25:01 PMhave you ridden it like this or is all the tuning based on the bike in the garage?  I rehabbed my FJ from PO who let it sit 15 years, I was only able to get it about 90-95% dialed in on the center stand the rest came from riding it and then coming back and making minor adjustments. I can honestly say it took me like 300 miles of riding before I found the sweet spot for my set up. Have you tired fuel mixture screws in between 2.25 and 2.5? Are you using adjustable slide needs or are they the ones with the little plastic donut on them? I'm curious how your slide needles are set.

Also if tuning while idling be sure to put a big fan on that engine to help cool it and even then don't let it idle too long as even a big fan wont cool that engine the way air flow would cool it at even a low speed of 15mph.

We did one test ride when it had the 37.5 jets after the carb stack was put back together with undamaged carb bodies. That ride is when we uncovered the oil pickup screen gasket was cut, when oil started pouring out from the bolt hole just above the exhaust collector, after passing 55mph. That ride had the RPM ticking up and down the 1k rpm, several times a second, instead of the current slow fluctuation it has.

Like you said, it's nearly impossible to get a perfect tune on the centerstand, Since it's running so much better I'm prepping to check a few more things and set out on a test ride in a day or two. Wanted to make sure I dotted my I's and crossed the T's so I don't have another incident like on the first test ride.

-edit- The Slides for both kinds that I have are the fixed type with no clip for adjusting it.