SH__23 and she is dead in the water

yamatour · Mar 8, 2014

I was doing a pre JAX check today, and she went south on me after 100 or so miles.

Stopped Running in traffic, Montgomery County finest, covered me, lit flares, came back 30 min later and pushed me into a safer lane where he could cover me with his patrol car until the tow truck appeared and took me home)

What I see with switch on (12.4V on Datel)

Flashing Fuel display (no, it not OOF)

Bright beam indicator on, no lights on

Hazard indicators on steady lights not illuminated

Shift indicator on (does not respond to switch)

Horn does not work

Windshield does not move

Grip have no heat

Shift indicator on

SH__23 code

Everything on the handle bars is dead.

All the stuff I have running on the E-B switched relay box; aux lites, seat, vest, aux tank pump, work.

Side stand switch?

Thanks in advance

jf

2008AE

RossKean · Mar 8, 2014

Spider bite!

escapefjrtist · Mar 8, 2014

...sure sounds like it. :-(

--G

SLK50 · Mar 8, 2014

Definitely a spider bite.

You're going to have to locate and inspect several of them.

They need to be clean and free of corrosion, assuming they haven't melted yet.

I would be especially suspect of the one located behind the left front turnsignal.

About five or six of the spiders are accessible without to much trouble but

the last two or three require the nose removed.

Start with those furthest away and work your way toward the battery till

you find the problem.

OR

There has been a recall issued for this.

Take it to a dealer and let them handle it.

Queensland Ken · Mar 8, 2014

Spider 4.

Same as my mates but his bike wasn't an auto clutch.

Could be a crook S4 terminal block or the wiring to the neutral attachment point.

Grip warmers are off the S4 terminal, so that's it.

SLK50 · Mar 8, 2014

As Ken's diagram illustrates, the "dreaded S4 spider" is a usual suspect because

a problem there will take out S6,7 & 8 causing the symptoms experienced by the OP.

Fortunately it is fairly easy to get to and service: clean thoroughly, twice, and

re-assemble with dielectric grease.

RossKean · Mar 9, 2014

The S4 spider was specifically the subject of a Yamaha safety recall.

if it wasn't done(dealer can check records), get them to perform the service. It won't cost you anything and if, in their judgement, the main wiring harness is damaged, they will replace the lot.

1)Find a dealer who knows WTF they are doing

2)The S4 recall can be performed in less than an hour by someone who knows what they are doing. On the other hand, a harness replacement, if needed, is going to keep you off the road for some time - especially if parts need to be ordered.

Good Luck

SLK50 · Mar 9, 2014

Yamatour? Hello? Is this thing on?

yamatour · Mar 10, 2014

Ok, thanks for the data guys.

I checked my records and did have that recall done in '11. So I will take it up to the shop and let them see just what fried. Thanks for the wiring layout on the Gnd Spyders, will take that with when I go up to the shop.

Ride safe,

jf

Harald · Mar 12, 2014

Sure sounds like a spider bite to me also. There hasn't been very many spider failures since the recall, but it you do have any spider failure, please report back. I started a thread to track failures of spiders other than the infamous S4 here:

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=139511

and it should probably include any S4 failures after the recall harness installation.

Eric L · Mar 12, 2014

I think the most important thing here is that you've never ridden with me. Nearly neighbors.

yamatour · Mar 13, 2014

Ok, I spoke with the Tech today: Burned spyder #4.

I addressed this when I lived in Texas, July 2011 the dealer installed a sub-wire kit installed as per the recall. part # 90891-30074-00.

The Tech here in MD had components available from a salvaged harness (from crashed bike) to repair mine. Damaged was cut out and replacement soldered (this is a guy who repaired water-cooled IBM main frames) into place.

Remainder of the spyders inspected good. All indications are that no other components are at fault i.e., ECU, side stand switch. All lights, start functions test good on the lift.

He will test ride when the wx improves.

I really trust the work that he does, but, as he said..."your confidence" in the bike may be shaken by this experience.

He didn't think a new harness was called for, in his experience (from one grey beard to another) if it burns in ok on start up of all systems, it is ok to go.

I am inclined to take the bike and ride it on ever increasing radii until/if she fails me, then do a Walter White on it and go for something else.

I appreciate your thoughts.

jf

ionbeam · Mar 13, 2014

There are a couple of harness hacks that you can do to take a lot of the electrical load off of S4. There were a couple of guys here in the Forum that use to make harnesses to work around this very problem. Take a look at what has been done to actually fix the problem. You got a repair, not a fix, the underlying problem of too much current through S4 still exists. You may want to ping Art in a PM and see what he has to say -- Art is road runner with a space.

Fred W · Mar 13, 2014

+1 - This spider issue is not an insurmountable problem. Just hack out the stupid spiders (which nobody seems to know the reason for ever including in the first place) and crimp and solder on some appropriate ground connections. Or use one of the 2 harnesses that folks have made to do that (Brody and road runner).

I'd just hate to see anyone lose faith in their otherwise trusty FJR over such a relatively trivial issue. Not to say it is trivial when you are stranded by it, just that it is trivial to fix.

HotRodZilla · Mar 13, 2014

I coulda swore someone just had a Road Runner harness for sale. Don't know if it ever went.

Queensland Ken · Mar 13, 2014

You can also make up your own harness, did it on my mates bike.

Just soldered pigtails to the bridging pieces and then onto a 4mm wire back to the battery.

Mind you it wasn't as nice as Brody's.

Brodie · Mar 15, 2014

Hi Jim.

I got your PM you sent me. I do not have one built right now, I stopped selling them 2 years ago. I figured that Yamaha addressed the problem - case closed!

As I understand you had the official Yamaha recall performed on your bike back in July 2011as a preventive measure. A few days ago your bike experenced the failure that this recall harness (part # 90891-30074-00) was designed to prevent.

Is this true?

If so, then this is the first I have heard of a failure of the official fix. Did you take it back to a Yamaha dealer service department for them to inspect the failure? If so, did they contact Yamaha Corporate to have the failure documented, and wait for their direct instructions how to proceed with the repair? This service tech that salvaged components from another crashed bike's harness, is he a Yamaha certified mechanic performing work authorized by his service department?

In other word, did you give Yamaha a chance to inspect their failed recall?

This is an important question. It affects every bike that underwent that recall. It demonstrates that Yamaha did not address the failure adequately and there are scores of bikes out there that will fail, potentially putting their owners in jeopardy.

I think Yamaha needs to tend to this properly.

What say you, Gentlemen of the Forum?

Brodie

yamafitter · Mar 15, 2014

Brodie makes an excellent point in that if the safety recall did not properly address the issue then this needs to be revisited by Yamaha. One of the issues may be that if the inspection was not thorough enough to catch a faulty spider during the recall then just adding the S4 jumper may not have been enough. Mind you that is only speculation on my part but there needs to be a proper investigation to find the root cause.

My local dealer had a FJR that fried a few spiders and needed a new harness. I am of the opinion that the flat rate that Yamaha gave the dealers for a full harness replacement under the recall was not very generous ( 2 hours to replace).

ionbeam · Mar 15, 2014

Certainly give Yamaha a chance to make it right. But -- I strongly, highly and firmly recommend to also file a report with the NTSB so they are aware of the failure. You have no way of knowing how many complaints have been filed about 2 time losers, yours probably won't be the first one. There has been a very small number of repeat failures reported on the Forum.

Why do this? The NTSB started getting reports of grounding problems by people notifying them. The Maryland based NTSB guy responsible for motorcycles (and other vehicles) is also a biker and started scanning the motorcycle boards and saw enough activity to investigate. He came up to NH where BkrK12 and I walked him through Bkr's FJR grounding system and demonstrated the FJR electrical system failures when a spider goes bad. Shortly after he returned home and filed his report Yamaha issued a Safety Notification and in less than 30 days Yamaha issued a grounding harness recall. In order for these things to get action YOU have to take action. This is totally separate from your interaction with Yamaha.

SH__23 and she is dead in the water

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