FJR AE Won't start

OK, I tried to search to see if there was a similar topic, but did not find such.

For the second time in the past 5 months my 2006 AE has stranded me. Saturday I was doing some typical weekend running around. Made a stop, started the bike and went on the second stop. Caught in a Houston traffic jams for a while, but not too bad. Got to my second stop, turned bike off, noticed a better parking spot, tried to restart the bike. Would not start. :angry:

Just like the time in April. Ignition turns on, cycles normally, but when you try to start, all you get is a blinking shift light and a clicking from the instrument panel. This time I also get an ABS warning light. Could not get the thing to do anything else. :upset:

Last time I towed it in, left it for a week, and all they could come up with was that the battery was low in charge. Of course it was, I was trying to get it started. :banghead:

This time I asked that they check not just the battery charge, but the ability for the battery to function under load, the charging system, the computer for ANY codes, and whatever else could cause this. At this point I never know if I will be able to get home when I go for a ride. When this happened in April, my wife was 1000 miles away and the only was I got home was to have the tow truck driver take my & the bike to my house. This time she was only 50 miles away. I had a $40 cab ride to get home to get the truck, to then get a trailer, to then go get the bike. BTW it was in an underground parking garage which was too low for anything taller than a Tahoe to enter. :angry2:

Has anyone else had a similar problem? I really like this bike, but I'm getting to the point that I'm almost afraid to ride it becasue I don't know if I will be able to get home.

Copyman said:

OK, I tried to search to see if there was a similar topic, but did not find such.
For the second time in the past 5 months my 2006 AE has stranded me. Saturday I was doing some typical weekend running around. Made a stop, started the bike and went on the second stop. Caught in a Houston traffic jams for a while, but not too bad. Got to my second stop, turned bike off, noticed a better parking spot, tried to restart the bike. Would not start. :angry:

Just like the time in April. Ignition turns on, cycles normally, but when you try to start, all you get is a blinking shift light and a clicking from the instrument panel. This time I also get an ABS warning light. Could not get the thing to do anything else. :upset:

Last time I towed it in, left it for a week, and all they could come up with was that the battery was low in charge. Of course it was, I was trying to get it started. :banghead:

This time I asked that they check not just the battery charge, but the ability for the battery to function under load, the charging system, the computer for ANY codes, and whatever else could cause this. At this point I never know if I will be able to get home when I go for a ride. When this happened in April, my wife was 1000 miles away and the only was I got home was to have the tow truck driver take my & the bike to my house. This time she was only 50 miles away. I had a $40 cab ride to get home to get the truck, to then get a trailer, to then go get the bike. BTW it was in an underground parking garage which was too low for anything taller than a Tahoe to enter. :angry2:

Has anyone else had a similar problem? I really like this bike, but I'm getting to the point that I'm almost afraid to ride it becasue I don't know if I will be able to get home.

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Is your battery the original? my 06 had a hard time starting and I replaced the battery 6 months ago no problems since, you might want to check the battery terminal for tightness

I had a similar problem on my Bandit. I was frustrated to the point of stripping the wiring harness all the way out and ringing it out. Found no problem! Damn what a lot of work for nothing! I reinstalled it and put in a new battery. Bike is still running fine. (Sold to a co-worker after buying the FJR) You might also want to consider adding a voltage readout. Kind of nice to have for peace of mind.

BTW - Did you try to pop start it? I was able to do that with the Bandit.

Intech said:

BTW - Did you try to pop start it? I was able to do that with the Bandit.

Click to expand...

Don't believe you can do that with an AE.

Houston = Hot + 3 year old battery = You're asking to be stranded.

Sure, some of us get 4 1/2-5 years out of a battery. Some of us are also begging to be stranded, too.

Putting a voltage monitor is a great idea (search the forum for Datel) but kinda unnecessary if you're not running a bunch of voltage-hungry farkles, especially since the bike has a built-in voltage monitor. Simply enter the DIAG mode, cycle up to #9 and there's your battery voltage. Sure, you can't monitor your voltage on-the-move like you can with a Datel or similar device, but at least it IS there for a quick check.

Let's just say your battery IS marginal. It's got enough juice to crank up the bike...say 10.5 to 11.5 volts. Now you go for a ride in traffic. Your bike is using voltage to power the headlights, brake lights, turn signals, cooling fan, ECU, YCCS computer, spark plugs, fuel injectors. In other words, a typical load. Since the charging system doesn't start pumping out decent current, i.e., 14V, unless the motor's spinning 5,000rpm, you're been effectively driving around on battery voltage only for the last 15/20/30 minutes. ZERO charging has been going on, unless you are winding that puppy out red light to red light.

So now, you have been sucking a marginal battery down even lower than it was when you started your ride. You get where you're going, the bike and electrical system is nice and hot, the battery now only has 9.5 to 10.5 volts to attempt to spin over a hot motor.....and you start calling for help.

A fairly simple test would be to put the battery on a trickle charger overnight, make sure through the DIAG system you have 12+ volts the next morning, go for a 15-20 mile ride, and when you get where your going, re-enter the DIAG system to check your battery voltage. Assuming the charging system is doing its job, and your battery hasn't aged to the point it just doesn't accept a charge well, you should still be around 12+ volts.

If not, I'd be shopping for a new battery first. LOTS cheaper than having a shop diagnose a charging system irregularity.

You can read LOTS of voltage-related problems here on the forum. The problems, IMHO, are twofold.....one, the stock battery is a weak-sauce 12 amp hour unit, because its size is limited by the battery placement, and two, the charging system doesn't kick in full voltage until 5000rpm. Shit, that's 80mph in top gear! :dribble: :dribble: "But officer, I was only charging my battery!"

The best solution to the problem is good battery maintenance, i.e., trickle charger with quick disconnects, and take it out for a good long run on the highway.

Hot weather and traffic-only driving is gonna kill a marginal battery fast.

I find that it's good practice to connect to my Techmate Optimate each time I bring the FJR back to the garage after a run. Because of my area and the congestion, I make many short trips at low speeds. :angry: Since being let down once, this solution has worked for me.

By the way, I was using a Battery Tender Junior for winter storage but unfortunately discovered that it was only 'topping off' the battery and not really "conditioning " it. After replacing the battery, at great inconvenience, I felt that I could justify purchasing the Optimate battery conditioner. My Battery Conditioner

So far so good. :clapping:

I had a similiar total stoppage issue with my 06 AE. It was a total grounding problem caused by a connector of ganged ground point had melted and failed. This ground failure has been dicused on this forum. check out under tech/mechanical problems.

IMHO, gen II fjr's have a major flaw in their main wiring harness and how they create ground points.

I also had the same problems with my 07ae, it was a bad connector from rectifer to battery.

Pat C said:

I also had the same problems with my 07ae, it was a bad connector from rectifer to battery my 07ae.

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FIFY

Copyman said:

OK, I tried to search to see if there was a similar topic, but did not find such.
For the second time in the past 5 months my 2006 AE has stranded me. Saturday I was doing some typical weekend running around. Made a stop, started the bike and went on the second stop. Caught in a Houston traffic jams for a while, but not too bad. Got to my second stop, turned bike off, noticed a better parking spot, tried to restart the bike. Would not start. :angry:

Just like the time in April. Ignition turns on, cycles normally, but when you try to start, all you get is a blinking shift light and a clicking from the instrument panel. This time I also get an ABS warning light. Could not get the thing to do anything else. :upset:

Last time I towed it in, left it for a week, and all they could come up with was that the battery was low in charge. Of course it was, I was trying to get it started. :banghead:

This time I asked that they check not just the battery charge, but the ability for the battery to function under load, the charging system, the computer for ANY codes, and whatever else could cause this. At this point I never know if I will be able to get home when I go for a ride. When this happened in April, my wife was 1000 miles away and the only was I got home was to have the tow truck driver take my & the bike to my house. This time she was only 50 miles away. I had a $40 cab ride to get home to get the truck, to then get a trailer, to then go get the bike. BTW it was in an underground parking garage which was too low for anything taller than a Tahoe to enter. :angry2:

Has anyone else had a similar problem? I really like this bike, but I'm getting to the point that I'm almost afraid to ride it becasue I don't know if I will be able to get home.

Click to expand...

I've been traveling this week and did not have time to keep up to date on this. The verdict from the Yamma dealer is that the rectifier/regulator went bad and took the battery with it. Parts have been ordered and it should be running again sometime next week. I'm on the road again for the next 3 weeks and will barely have time to pick it up. May not get a chance to ride for almost a month. I may just leave it there and let them see if this really fixes the problem.

Thx to all for the replies. I was sure I was not the only one to have this occur.