Going 70 in the fast lane, bike dies, I don't

If the topic sounds familiar, it's because someone experienced the same problem a scant 2 weeks ago. But this morning it was time for my 07 FJR to pull a "Burleigh."

Our rush "hour" starts early and goes long here in the metro Seattle/Tacoma area. I was merging onto Highway 167 at about 4:30am this morning while rocking out to some Jimi Hendrix and immediately shot over to the fast lane. At this time of morning the highway is already full of cars, but at least they are still moving at 60-70mph. No sooner did I tuck in behind a cage when there was a sudden complete engine power loss. What an incredible feeling of powerlessness when you twist the throttle and nothing happens no matter how hard you twist.

With no way to move right, I was forced to hit the breakdown lane to the left to avoid getting run over. Because the highway was crossing a road below, my breakdown lane suddenly became rather narrow on the bridge section and I intimately knew how James felt with cars zipping by. Luckily I was able to coast far enough to get to a wider section to come to a stop.

While my mind was whirling with thoughts of avoiding cars, I was troubleshooting the problem in hopes of regaining power. All lights were still on, the kill switch was on and cycling it didn't help and pushing the starter button didn't help. At that point I resigned myself to stopping on the wider section of breakdown lane.

With the clutch lever pulled in and the bike still in gear (I even remembered to downshift into first before stopping ) I got no starter engagement. I put the bike into neutral and it fired right up. What a sweet sound to hear those 145 horses rasping through the Trooper modded mufflers! :yahoo: Remembering my experience with the sidestand switch going flakey on me about a year ago ( https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/154843-intermittent-stalling-on-the-freeway/?p=1105075 ), I cycled the sidestand. The bike went into gear and kept running. With some trepidation, I launched my rocket and merged back into the heavy traffic for a normal commute to work. Maybe normal isn't the right word because thoughts of dying bike didn't leave and I decided I no longer wanted to listen to Jimi, although I probably should have cued up "Are you experienced?".

I'm now pretty sure that my cleaning of the non-disassembable Gen II sidestand switch was not a lasting repair. I'll break out the analog meter when I get home to confirm this, but I suspect it's time to order a new switch. I'm thinking that $35 plus shipping is good insurance to ensure there's no future power loss while "running with the bulls." But before I leave the parking lot, the switch will be disconnected and the bike side connector will have a shorting jumper installed. I hope I don't forget to raise the sidestand and kill myself when I leave the parking lot.

Really glad you had completely the same outcome as the infamous "Burleigh Incident" and were able to sort out that it was the sidestand switch (probably). Thank dog both you guys found a few inches of safe zone to pull into. I'm beginning to see the real value of having a brake light strobe connected to the emergency flasher button. (If only we can remember that button while in the middle of a full pucker HOLY **** incident.)

If you want to see what the ECU is seeing, exactly, and includes not only just the switch like with an ohm meter but also the wires and connectors too, invoke diAG and read the meter display:

Diagnostic code 20 Sidestand Switch
Stand retracted = ON
Stand extended = OFF

Good read. Glad your OK.

Freaking IonBeam is the code guru!

Dam Harald, at that time of the morning them boys and girls aren't playing! Glad your OK!

"Pulling a Burleigh"!!!!

Priceless.

Glad you got through the unnerving incident okay.

Last thought:

I would supportive of paying $20 at an FJR rally...not for a damned tee-shirt, but a ionbeam led code diagnosing demonstration. I figure if 50 people thought the same, it might convince him to quit his day and night job for a day and join a few derelicts at an FJR rally.

Wasn't it thoughtful of Yamaha to make so much information available so easily? Best yet, no matter where you are you have access to the info as long as you have a little battery voltage left. It's also nice that you are seeing the info that the ECU is actually using to make decisions after all the analog to digital conversions and data sampling. Or, you can drag out a meter, get on your hands and knees in the gravel, try to figure out how to get access to the part or connector then attempt to back-probe the connector or pierce the wires. (Obligatory stage setting: In the dark, in the rain, late at night )

This *might* be considered a design defect - since the ECU is code controlled, they *could* have set it up to not allow the engine to be started with the sidestand down and the bike in gear, but to ignore the input once the machine is rolling faster than 'n' mph, where 'n' is a relatively small number.

But nope - and as a result a sidestand switch failure can lead to disaster.

Anyone want to push for a recall?

It was a good thing that I did a little troubleshooting before the ride home. Luckily I already knew where the disconnect was for the sidestand switch and the fact that it's easily accessible without removing any plastic. Here we see the blue, 2 wire connector:



I hooked up my Analog meter and initially the switch was open with the sidestand up, which is not a good thing and would have prevented me from putting the bike in gear AND keep the engine running. Moving the sidestand up and down had no effect! It wasn't until I reached behind the sidestand pivot and wiggled the switch plunger around that I finally got some continuity. The photo caught it at a few ohms, but it was bouncing all over. This is why analog meters are so good for troubleshooting intermittent problems - you can easily see variations in the readings.

So a bypass was in order and was quickly accomplished by cutting the harness on the switch and splicing the 2 wires together:



This could be a permanent fix, but does defeat the safety feature of not allowing you to ride off with the sidestand down. It's not likely I'll do this, so I'll be running like this until I order a new switch from www.ronayers.com for about $35 plus shipping.

This does have me wondering whether this was James Burleigh's problem?

Glad the outcome was a good one Harald!

Good job keeping a clear head and recognizing the problem. 167 or any of the freeways around these parts are no fun anytime, especially with a dead bike at o'dark thirty.

--G

escapefjrtist said:

Glad the outcome was a good one Harald!
Good job keeping a clear head and recognizing the problem. 167 or any of the freeways around these parts are no fun anytime, especially with a dead bike at o'dark thirty.

--G

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+1 that part of the highway is pretty ugly. Glad you had a simple fix and could keep going.

I'll have to keep an eye out for you on the 167, I live just up the hill from the 212th exit.

Is that a Simpson analog meter???

That's scary.

I've occasionally wondered about my cruise control chain connection to the throttle. It's connected with a simple cotter pin. It's worked flawlessly for many years. But?

If I'm cruising along at 75 mph or so and the chain breaks loose, the throttle will snap shut. Will I stay aboard?

When I'm in cruise I'm often lounging about on the seat, got one hand and maybe just one or two fingers of that hand lightly touching the the left grip. I'm not in any position to respond to an abrupt interruption in power.

The cruise control makes the grip vibration tolerable for me -- I'm rarely gripping when I'm in cruise. I use the cruise a lot.

thanks for that picture, it's saved in my brain for future use.

Constant Mesh said:

That's scary.
I've occasionally wondered about my cruise control chain connection...If I'm cruising along at 75 mph or so and the chain breaks loose, the throttle will snap shut. Will I stay aboard?...

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No, it will shoot you right over the handlebars and through the windshield. Don't ever use the front brake either, it causes the same thing.



Now worry that the cotter pin/chain thing breaks and jams the throttle wide open and releasing the throttle grip or trying to turn the throttle grip doesn't work.

Can't jam it wide open if it's only 10% open when it breaks.

audiowize said:

I'll have to keep an eye out for you on the 167, I live just up the hill from the 212th exit.
Is that a Simpson analog meter???

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I'm cruising by your exit in the carpool lane Monday to Thursday at about 5am. I've seen an occasional FJR in the mornings, but most fools don't get up that early. :crazy: I purposely ride that early to avoid the horrendous traffic that is slowly happening earlier and earlier every year.

Good eye on the meter. Despite owning and having access to nice calibrated digital meters, you can't beat a Simpson 260 for some testing!

Harald said:

.....What an incredible feeling of powerlessness when you twist the throttle and nothing happens no matter how hard you twist. ...Maybe normal isn't the right word because thoughts of dying bike didn't leave....

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I just came across this thread. Man, it's deja vu all over again.... Even after a couple months I still have feelings of trepidation when I blast out into deep end of freeway traffic and just hope to god the bike doesn't die in the middle of

.
Scary **** you experienced--especially at that time when it's dark and folks are sleepy and flying.

Sure glad you had a positive outcome, Harald! (Maybe we chumps who've had our bikes die in the middle of the freeway can get a special symbol to put in our signature block like those ones with the tire treads running over the deer, though I'm not sure what this one would look like. )