ABS Light came on.

[Richouse]

Here is an odd question for you guys...

Out on a 3 day ride through the smokes this weekend. Good ride. Anyway was a pretty leisure ride over all, was able to keep it below 85 for the whole trip except once. This one time was on a long straight 4 lane with no cars at the time and pretty boring so I decided to blow the cob webs out. Going about 65 or so I downshifted and rolled on the gas (not all of it but close). Shifted into 5th around 100 and pulled it up to about 120 indicated and noticed the red ABS light was on. It stayed on until I cut off the bike. Upon starting it was off and stayed off the rest of the time.

The only other time it came on was once on a on ramp I punched it in 2nd gear to get up some speed. I just figured the front lifted up just enough to get a speed diff to trip the ABS light. well I know it didn't lift up in 4th gear at 65mph. So why would it come on just going fast???

 

[BkrK12]

As a guess, it's possible you spun the rear wheel just enough to turn on the light. It's one of the things that can set off the ABS sensor. Even hitting a little bump under hard acceleration might cause a momentary loss of rear traction - might not have even been noticeable.

Dan

 

[Harald]

I'm not certain, but I think that there has to be a speed difference "while the brakes are applied." I've never had the ABS light come on when the front wheel was up in the air or when I've spun the rear tire.

I do know one thing that will cause the ABS light to come on and that's a sticky rear brake pedal (or your boot continually pushing on the pedal). Apparantly, if the ABS system sees the brake light on for an extended period it'll squawk. This is a very commom problem with the FJR. It's easy to test and fairly easy to fix.

While the bike is parked with the ignition on, use your hand to very gently apply the rear brake with the goal of getting it to hang up partly applied (Push down on the pedal until the brake light is on and then very slowly release it). If you cup your hand around the tail-light you can see if the brake light sticks on. If it sticks, you'll need to pull the pedal off to clean and lube the pivot (which requires removing various arms/brackets). I average about 14k every year and ride a lot in the rain, so this is an annual maintenance item for me.

 

[Richouse]

I'm not certain, but I think that there has to be a speed difference "while the brakes are applied." I've never had the ABS light come on when the front wheel was up in the air or when I've spun the rear tire.

I have had the ABS light come on when the bike is on the center stand and in gear. Rear spins while the front does not. I just assumed this is normal, is it not???

 

[ionbeam]

I have had the ABS light come on when the bike is on the center stand and in gear. Rear spins while the front does not. I just assumed this is normal, is it not???

Yes, that is normal. It will also set ABS Error Code 25; this is a 'silent' code that requires the Test Coupler to reveal the stored error code.