AGirl's 07 ==> altitude sickness

[tophog]

I rolled off the throttle completely, then cracked it open, and this was the response: ....one thousand one, one thousand TWO (absolutely nothing-the bike acted like it wasn't even in gear!). After the 2 sec pause (still WOT), it hit with force (as in whiplash like).

AGirl

Welcome to the club, except I can count to one thousand three or four My bike did this 20+ times over the course of a 3 day ride last month. I hear you on the dealer thing ... "I'm sorry, but we were unable to reproduce the problem ...". Until Yamaha figures out a way to simulate altitude in the shop, or Yamaha gets proactive and performs more testing using their own test bikes ...this problem will never get resolved. Sounds like a recall item to me but first need to know what's wrong.

It's not an isolated problem regardless of what Yama want to think. At a miniumum I would highly recommend you call Yamaha and report it as a safety issue if you haven't done so already so they can add another bike to their surging/altitude problem counter. Regardless if people don't take their bikes to dealerships Yamaha needs to know about the problem.

 

[Bounce]

i'll add my [SIZE=14pt]GUNNY[/SIZE] to those who suggest you burp the tank and then check for kinks in one the vent lines.

 

[co425]

I will add my two cents one more time. This problem is not limited to 07's my 06 has the same exact issues. Havent found a solution yet but I am working on it.

 

[tophog]

What's got me a little stumped is why haven't there been as many 06 complaints prior to the last couple months when the problem was primarily reported on 07 models? I don't think I found a single 06 specific thread related to altitude surging until it was mentioned as a problem reported by 07 owners within the last couple months. I know there are lots of *rough* throttle threads, *jerkiness* issues, etc. which the 07 also has Perhaps I may have overlooked the posts. Since starting the thread below I have seen several 06 owners indicate it's a problem on their bikes. I wonder if 06 owners not been concerned with the problem for the last 1.5 years? IMO this problem is not just an annoyance ...it almost makes the bike unridable at altitude and certainly dangerous depending on where you are at when it occurs. I would be curious to ride an 06 with this problem and see if it's the same deal as on my 07.

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=20661

 

[AGirl]

What's got me a little stumped is why haven't there been as many 06 complaints prior to the last couple months when the problem was primarily reported on 07 models? https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=20661

[SIZE=14pt]+1[/SIZE] ... and if I had read about any such reports during my pre-purchase investigating I quite possibly could have made a different decision, especially given my CA home is at 7,000' - - at current I would be willing to bet any amount of money that my FJR would never make it into that garage and I'd need to be towed off the hill. Strong enough statement, eh?

IMO this problem is not just an annoyance ...it almost makes the bike unridable at altitude and certainly dangerous depending on where you are at when it occurs. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=20661

another huge [SIZE=14pt]+1[/SIZE]

AGirl

 

[co425]

What's got me a little stumped is why haven't there been as many 06 complaints prior to the last couple months when the problem was primarily reported on 07 models? https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=20661

[SIZE=14pt]+1[/SIZE] ... and if I had read about any such reports during my pre-purchase investigating I quite possibly could have made a different decision, especially given my CA home is at 7,000' - - at current I would be willing to bet any amount of money that my FJR would never make it into that garage and I'd need to be towed off the hill. Strong enough statement, eh?

IMO this problem is not just an annoyance ...it almost makes the bike unridable at altitude and certainly dangerous depending on where you are at when it occurs. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=20661

another huge [SIZE=14pt]+1[/SIZE]

AGirl

I didnt have my first issue with this untill late october 06 first time at high altitude on it I did a lot of riding below 2500 to 3000 ft. to the coast of ca ect. I cranked up the idle and the problem went away for the most part. So now I just crank up the idle everytime I hit the mountains. It is a pain in the ass but it works. This shouldnt be something that has to be done when riding at elevation though hense my coming across this thread and adding my two cents. I did post on this problem way back when and alot of people thought I was talking about the off idle stumble and not an entirely new problem. Oh by the way I did a test of my intake presure sensor and it was in spec. So at this point I think it is an ecu problem. Ecu's being 600 plus a pop is going to be hard to get yamaha to divy up thousands of those. Late.

 

[co425]

What's got me a little stumped is why haven't there been as many 06 complaints prior to the last couple months when the problem was primarily reported on 07 models? https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=20661

[SIZE=14pt]+1[/SIZE] ... and if I had read about any such reports during my pre-purchase investigating I quite possibly could have made a different decision, especially given my CA home is at 7,000' - - at current I would be willing to bet any amount of money that my FJR would never make it into that garage and I'd need to be towed off the hill. Strong enough statement, eh?

IMO this problem is not just an annoyance ...it almost makes the bike unridable at altitude and certainly dangerous depending on where you are at when it occurs. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=20661

another huge [SIZE=14pt]+1[/SIZE]

AGirl

I didnt have my first issue with this untill late october 06 first time at high altitude on it I did a lot of riding below 2500 to 3000 ft. to the coast of ca ect. I cranked up the idle and the problem went away for the most part. So now I just crank up the idle everytime I hit the mountains. It is a pain in the ass but it works. This shouldnt be something that has to be done when riding at elevation though hense my coming across this thread and adding my two cents. I did post on this problem way back when and alot of people thought I was talking about the off idle stumble and not an entirely new problem. Oh by the way I did a test of my intake presure sensor and it was in spec. So at this point I think it is an ecu problem. Ecu's being 600 plus a pop is going to be hard to get yamaha to divy up thousands of those. Late.

As a side request anyone have an Ecu off of a wrecked 06 or 07 that did not have this altitude problem just to test to see if the Ecu is the issue. Especially since dealers at low altitude have no interest in getting this fixed.

 

[racer157]

What's got me a little stumped is why haven't there been as many 06 complaints prior to the last couple months when the problem was primarily reported on 07 models? https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=20661

[SIZE=14pt]+1[/SIZE] ... and if I had read about any such reports during my pre-purchase investigating I quite possibly could have made a different decision, especially given my CA home is at 7,000' - - at current I would be willing to bet any amount of money that my FJR would never make it into that garage and I'd need to be towed off the hill. Strong enough statement, eh?

IMO this problem is not just an annoyance ...it almost makes the bike unridable at altitude and certainly dangerous depending on where you are at when it occurs. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=20661

another huge [SIZE=14pt]+1[/SIZE]

AGirl

I didnt have my first issue with this untill late october 06 first time at high altitude on it I did a lot of riding below 2500 to 3000 ft. to the coast of ca ect. I cranked up the idle and the problem went away for the most part. So now I just crank up the idle everytime I hit the mountains. It is a pain in the ass but it works. This shouldnt be something that has to be done when riding at elevation though hense my coming across this thread and adding my two cents. I did post on this problem way back when and alot of people thought I was talking about the off idle stumble and not an entirely new problem. Oh by the way I did a test of my intake presure sensor and it was in spec. So at this point I think it is an ecu problem. Ecu's being 600 plus a pop is going to be hard to get yamaha to divy up thousands of those. Late.

I am located in Lake County 707-279-2965 and have 2 extra ECU's I would be happy to lend you one to try to see if it makes a difference.

 

[co425]

What's got me a little stumped is why haven't there been as many 06 complaints prior to the last couple months when the problem was primarily reported on 07 models? https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=20661

[SIZE=14pt]+1[/SIZE] ... and if I had read about any such reports during my pre-purchase investigating I quite possibly could have made a different decision, especially given my CA home is at 7,000' - - at current I would be willing to bet any amount of money that my FJR would never make it into that garage and I'd need to be towed off the hill. Strong enough statement, eh?

IMO this problem is not just an annoyance ...it almost makes the bike unridable at altitude and certainly dangerous depending on where you are at when it occurs. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=20661

another huge [SIZE=14pt]+1[/SIZE]

AGirl

I didnt have my first issue with this untill late october 06 first time at high altitude on it I did a lot of riding below 2500 to 3000 ft. to the coast of ca ect. I cranked up the idle and the problem went away for the most part. So now I just crank up the idle everytime I hit the mountains. It is a pain in the ass but it works. This shouldnt be something that has to be done when riding at elevation though hense my coming across this thread and adding my two cents. I did post on this problem way back when and alot of people thought I was talking about the off idle stumble and not an entirely new problem. Oh by the way I did a test of my intake presure sensor and it was in spec. So at this point I think it is an ecu problem. Ecu's being 600 plus a pop is going to be hard to get yamaha to divy up thousands of those. Late.

I am located in Lake County 707-279-2965 and have 2 extra ECU's I would be happy to lend you one to try to see if it makes a difference.

Very cool. I will give you a call monday unless I get a chance while I am at work. I work untill monday morning this week unfortunatly. How did you come across so many extras I have been watching for one on ebay for a while?

 

[MrWizard]

i'll add my [SIZE=14pt]GUNNY[/SIZE] to those who suggest you burp the tank and then check for kinks in one the vent lines.

+1 Agirl, have you tried burping your ride yet? Or better yet, try popping the gas tank filler cap before the elevation gain and see if it makes any difference.

The slow vs fast elevation change reaction seems to point in this direction.

I've never experienced this problem with my '06. Don't be discouraged, this is fixable. The exercise of process by elimination begins.

Good luck,

Rob

 

[AGirl]

i'll add my [SIZE=14pt]GUNNY[/SIZE] to those who suggest you burp the tank and then check for kinks in one the vent lines.

+1 Agirl, have you tried burping your ride yet? Or better yet, try popping the gas tank filler cap before the elevation gain and see if it makes any difference.

The slow vs fast elevation change reaction seems to point in this direction.

I've never experienced this problem with my '06. Don't be discouraged, this is fixable. The exercise of process by elimination begins.

Good luck,

Rob

Thanks, Rob, for the encouragement. I need it at this point as I'm quite frustrated. After only 16k+ miles (since Feb) this bike is making a strong challenge as my most favorite bike, however, avoiding mountains or riding them slowly doesn't quite make a #1.

To address the burping question... no, I have not done that. I'll be parking the FJR late next week until early Sept as I'll be heading for AK on a different bike. I've made the decision to not leave the FJR in the hands of anyone (mechanics) while I'm gone. Hopefully by my Sept return someone else will have discovered the problem and I can quickly implement the necessary resolution then. Many thanks to whoever extended the kindness of the loaner ECU, and for all the support I've received from others. :thumbsup:

AGirl

 

[AGirl]

Well, over 3 months have passed since my original posting and I was hoping this altitude issue would be resolved by the time I returned from AK (in the next few wks). Based on the very quick perusing of the board it doesn't appear this hope is a near a reality. :sadsmiley: For the record, I'm trying to decide whether to wait for Yamaha to figure this junk out or if patience can be someone else's virtue and get rid of the bike.

AGirl

 

[ELP_JC]

For the record, I'm trying to decide whether to wait for Yamaha to figure this junk out or if patience can be someone else's virtue and get rid of the bike.

Most of us '07 owners are on the same boat girl. I'm still patiently waiting, but haven't experienced your unridable hesitation. That's plain dangerous. I've only taken my bike to Couldcroft, NM once. Will do it for the second time now that I did a full TB synch, switched to premium fuel, set the CO settings back to stock (+7/+5 didn't work last time), plus will use more aggressive throttle since the start of the climb, as suggested, in hopes of bringing the severe surging to a safe level. Otherwise, will probably have to cancel a trip I have planned for mid September to NW New Mexico, SW Colorado, and SE Utah. I only ride for the twisties, so not riding the mountains is a trip breaker for me. I did a northern NM and south Colorado tour last September on my BMW, and it was incredible, but in a stupid move, decided to just have one 'reliable' bike, so sold the other 2 and am now stuck with the FJR. Am not asking for perfection; just a bike that's not (even more) dangerous to ride. It's a great machine otherwise; that's why I'm being so patient, just like you.

Anyway, the reason for my post was to inquire if somebody took Racer157's offer and tried an '06 ECU on his/her '07????

Take care.

JC

 

[otubrab]

Agirl,

This might be a little duplication. You've probably already read in the "2007 Altitude Surging Problem.." thread started by TopHog, but if you haven't you might read post #78 in that thread where I describe my Pike's Peak ride earlier this year. Sounds like the same problem you're having.

This is very preliminary information, but through the interactions between bike owners, service reps, and Yamaha factory techs, Yamaha believes they might have found at least one problem. I was informed of this only after agreeing not to pass the particulars on.

 

[okmac]

Come Come people , a little patience. Lets not throw away a fantastic bike because of a problem that is being addressed. I ride an 07 bike and knowing about the problem I rode thru RMNP on the way to WFO. I stopped at a couple of turn outs for pictures and never had a problem with the bike. I also wacked the throttle wide open , in 5th gear , a few times . I had only one hickup when I was almost to the top of Rabbit Ear Pass. I did stop and restart. Those of you who have been over Rabbit ear pass know it decends quite quickly. I had no problem in the decent.

On the way home I went over the Medicine Bow mtns. to Laramie , Wyo. I again opened the throttle wide open now and then in 5th gear . I also stopped at the top for a break . I never even felt a problem.

For me this works.

When changing a lot of altitued, stop once or twice.

Wack the throttle wide open every once in a while in 5th gear.

Just my 02.

Mac

PS. I love my FJR and no one is going to get it away from me.

 

[rfulcher]

The below is a good example of how to work with and around a problem instead of getting stuck with "ain't it awful." Mine has surged --once-- and it was miserable. However on my bike, an 07 with 8,000 miles it is not that hard to use the workaround described below. In fact I basically followed this procedure by accident and did not know the problem existed except for the one time. I ususally don't stop on the way up however, this might not be necessary?

Next time I am up in the hills I will try to make the problem happen by sedately climbing and then see if I can make the problem go away with okmac's procedure

If a couple of guys with the bad climbing to altitude surge could test the procedure and prove it works it migh be worth promoting to a sticky.

Come Come people , a little patience. Lets not throw away a fantastic bike because of a problem that is being addressed. I ride an 07 bike and knowing about the problem I rode thru RMNP on the way to WFO. I stopped at a couple of turn outs for pictures and never had a problem with the bike. I also wacked the throttle wide open , in 5th gear , a few times . I had only one hickup when I was almost to the top of Rabbit Ear Pass. I did stop and restart. Those of you who have been over Rabbit ear pass know it decends quite quickly. I had no problem in the decent.
On the way home I went over the Medicine Bow mtns. to Laramie , Wyo. I again opened the throttle wide open now and then in 5th gear . I also stopped at the top for a break . I never even felt a problem.

For me this works.

When changing a lot of altitued, stop once or twice.

Wack the throttle wide open every once in a while in 5th gear.

Just my 02.

Mac

PS. I love my FJR and no one is going to get it away from me.

 

[AGirl]

I am posting this for the record and to let others who own an FJR or are considering an FJR know the facts regarding my personal experience involving the altitude issue of my 2007 FJR, especially since not a day goes by that I don't receive an email from someone asking about the bike, why I chose the FJR, my experiences since purchase, etc.

I was one of the first (if not the very first) to report the altitude surging problem, doing so in April to D&H Cycle in Cullman, AL. They evaluated the bike at that time and officially filed the problem with Yamaha. Since then and as the problem continued, D&H made two additional reports on my bike concerning the altitude issue. So, there are 3 confirmed & dated reports in the Yamaha system regarding my FJR (the 3 reports were verified by a Regional Tech Advisor to D&H today...assuring us they were not “lost”.).

One might conclude that someone who reported the problem first (waiting the longest) or even with the highest miles (most suffering) and would be advised about a fix first (I have 25k+ miles). Heck, if for no other reason than customer relations (support those who are out flying your flag). One might also think given D&H Cycle has sold more FJRs than anyone else that they would have a strong connection with Yamaha. However, none of this has been relevant.... owners in various states (including those in flat land states, with 1/8 of my mileage, and no previous report on file) have received replacement ECUs in their bikes and I have not even been notified regarding a replacement being available.

I called D&H today, who confirmed they have no information regarding a replacement ECU (“We know you've been waiting, we'd call you in the middle of the night if we knew something!”). They then spoke with a Regional Tech Advisor in Atlanta who said “no fix is available, no one has received a replacement ECU.” Since this is completely untrue, there is obviously a MUCH bigger problem at Yamaha than altitude sick FJRs. I was advised to call Yamaha Customer Service... this being 19,000 miles, 6 months, and 3 official in-the-system reports later. Even at the lowest level customer service standards this is absurd. I'm on the side of the road in drizzling rain in New Hampshire and I'm supposed to call a generic number at Yamaha?? Seriously? (BTW, fifteen minutes later I was told I “could get a return call, but it could take up to 48 hours”).

With no previous experience with Yamaha (first time Yamaha buyer), this has caused great concern for the FJR continuing to be my lead (mileage) bike. (I don't care to repeat this experience with any other issue the bike may have). If this is the way Yamaha does business, I'll take mine elsewhere.

AGirl

 

[twowheelnut]

It is more than just curious that they (Yamaha) know of, but don't admit to knowing of the issue. Sorry to hear of your ongoing saga and given your rather well known persona in the MC community, I would think you would have heard something by now. :dntknw:

 

[madmike2]

Especially since there have been posts by Huck Fonda and Warchild that Yamaha HAS INDEED found a solution and there are replacement ECU's available. I think you should check with your local Yamaha dealer and see about a warranty replacement ECU.

Clicky here!

 

[painman]

TopHog:

What's got me a little stumped is why haven't there been as many 06 complaints prior to the last couple months when the problem was primarily reported on 07 models?

Painman:

I as an owner of an 06 with the surging issue can only speak for myself. My personal feeling to the answer to this question is that as I have mentioned in several posts is that the 06's with the surging issue don't have a problem as severe or a frequency as most 07's but nontheless is there. Therefore I think most 06 owners haven't stepped forward who have had only a "few" situations when the bike surged/stalled and really the 06 with the issue is probably alot more rideable than the 07.

TopHog:

I don't think I found a single 06 specific thread related to altitude surging until it was mentioned as a problem reported by 07 owners within the last couple months. I know there are lots of *rough* throttle threads, *jerkiness* issues, etc. which the 07 also has Perhaps I may have overlooked the posts.

Painman:

I'll be darned if I can use the search to find old threads but I complained about this issue at least a year ago and folks kept thinking I guess that it was the jerky/low speed issue that you mentioned. I really felt that those on the board didn't really hear as to what I was talking about. There kept being confusion about the posts I made with the problem being the slow speed throttle issues. I complained to my dealer in June of 2006 that my bike demonstrated the surge but they said there was no report or bulletin and tested the bike (not at altitude), but said there was no issue and since the bike had only done the surge a couple of times I just let it go at the time and had not brought it up again until about six months ago when I reported it myself to Yamaha and my dealer again when it started to appear as a problem on the 07 bikes.

TopHog:

Since starting the thread below I have seen several 06 owners indicate it's a problem on their bikes. I wonder if 06 owners not been concerned with the problem for the last 1.5 years?

Painman:

I was and am sure others were but the numbers were not as many as the 07's and as mentioned above again the problem probably not as severe or as frequent as the 07's.

TopHog:

IMO this problem is not just an annoyance ...it almost makes the bike unridable at altitude and certainly dangerous depending on where you are at when it occurs. I would be curious to ride an 06 with this problem and see if it's the same deal as on my 07.

Painman:

I'm sure you would find the problem again not as severe as your 07 if you rode an 06 with the problem and I wholeheartedly agree it is a safety issue. My experience has been on my 06 that the issue usually always rears up at right around 2200 ft. elev., always going down hill and at the point of just starting to apply throttle with a sense of running out of fuel, applying more throttle, with no luck and then after a period of about 4 to 5 seconds doing this the power starts to return. If you happen to have the throttle in a position that is too far open after the episode of lag, the bike really wants to take off and or buck. My case is probably a little different in that I now only have around 9000 mi. on the odometer and have only had the bike at elevation about six to eight times as mentioned with surging usually but not every single time right around 2200 ft. elev. I think the reason other 06 owners with this problem hasn't stepped forward until now for probably the same reasons I mentioned or just haven't felt the issue severe enough to really go to batt for. There were some other 06 owners who spoke up but for some reason, probably because there weren't enough of us, we were sort of pushed aside or wrote off as some anamoly or that another problem existed and that only the 07's had the problem. Sorry to say but thanks to you 07 owners we as owners of the 06 can now hopefully get some help and get a fix as well. A special thanks to folks like you TopHog and Truwrecks for getting this problem in the open and out to Yamaha so we can all move on to greater things. And like WC said in another post it is this type of effort here on the board that can not only help us but later riders of the FJR so we can continue to help develop a fine machine that makes our lives a little better so we can all enjoy. And AGirl, I think the best is just to contact your dealer if you can't arrange a swap with another dealer as it looks like the new ECU's are suppose to come in about a week out as mentioned before. Hope this is of help. PM. <><

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=20661