FJRPierre
Making up for lost time...
Sounds like Jeff's Garmin on/off problems were a symptom of a larger problem. hope he gets it sorted out fast.
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CFR Check In Thread
- Thread starter BugR
- Start date
Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:
canucklehead-biker
Well-known member
Well... the wait at the bridge between Sarnia and Port Huron was predictably long, and hot... nearly 100 degrees, and almost an hour waiting to get across. As I was entering the customs lane, the lights in the dash cluster all came on (left/right signal, highbeams) and the fuel gauge started flashing... and the bike died. :dead:
Turned the key to 'off'... and the lights stayed lit up for a good 5 mins before shutting off. Hmmm... this can't be good...
Pushed the bike through the Customs line, fastest clearance in history once I got to the gate. Then pushed it into the secondary inspection holding pen and called AAA.
(As an aside, pushing that ol' fat whore (plus trailer) across the bridge was no fun. Especially not at 100+ degrees F. :crazy: )
The wrecker showed up after an hour or so, fella was also a rider and was very careful loading and tieing down. Towed me to the nearest Yamaha dealer - near Detroit. Dealer had been alerted by AAA, and they were waiting for me when I got there.
So....
The bike is in the shop, I'm holed up in the motel next door, and will have an idea where we stand in the morning. Thanks to all for the assistance! :fans:
If this DOES turn out to be the infamous spider bite, I'll really be pissed... I HAVE Brodie's harness... it arrived in the mail a couple of days after I left for CFR
It was the first thing I was gonna do when I got home :angry2:
Thanks again to FJRGuy, Bust and all for the help and encouragement. Gotta love this place
Griff
Turned the key to 'off'... and the lights stayed lit up for a good 5 mins before shutting off. Hmmm... this can't be good...
Pushed the bike through the Customs line, fastest clearance in history once I got to the gate. Then pushed it into the secondary inspection holding pen and called AAA.
(As an aside, pushing that ol' fat whore (plus trailer) across the bridge was no fun. Especially not at 100+ degrees F. :crazy: )
The wrecker showed up after an hour or so, fella was also a rider and was very careful loading and tieing down. Towed me to the nearest Yamaha dealer - near Detroit. Dealer had been alerted by AAA, and they were waiting for me when I got there.
So....
The bike is in the shop, I'm holed up in the motel next door, and will have an idea where we stand in the morning. Thanks to all for the assistance! :fans:
If this DOES turn out to be the infamous spider bite, I'll really be pissed... I HAVE Brodie's harness... it arrived in the mail a couple of days after I left for CFR
It was the first thing I was gonna do when I got home :angry2: Thanks again to FJRGuy, Bust and all for the help and encouragement. Gotta love this place
Griff
FastJoyRide
Well-known member
Syl and I crossed at Sarnia too but the lines weren't too brutal that day - just to the top of the bridge so we were able to shut off the bike and just coast down almost all of the way. The last piece of line-up is flat/slightly uphill. We were parallel to a couple on a newish Wing towing a big trailer who were in another line. Their battery presumably took a dump and they ended up pushing it the last 110 yards (4 yards at a time). I was wondering what they'd do next and was surprised when several customs officers came over and gave them a bump start!
Sorry to hear about the grief Jeff - hope it's something simple and you'll be on your way...
Sorry to hear about the grief Jeff - hope it's something simple and you'll be on your way...
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huron52
Well-known member
Hey Griff
Check your PM's
Call me if I can help!
EDIT:
Just talk to Griff and is waiting for the shop to check out the problem. He's going to post up sometime today... with updates
Check your PM's
Call me if I can help!
EDIT:
Just talk to Griff and is waiting for the shop to check out the problem. He's going to post up sometime today... with updates
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canucklehead-biker
Well-known member
Ok... time for an update.
The good news... the bike is running and I'll be in the road tomorrow. :yahoo:
The bad news: it WAS the now infamous S4 'spider bite'. The repair is only temporary and I'll have to replace the entire wiring harness when I get it back to Calgary. :angry:
The other good news: this Forum rocks! :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:
When the bike died on the bridge, and I'd cleared customs, I called Jeff (FJRGuy) in Calgary to get a local contact from the assistance list (didn't want to dig out my laptop in the Customs garage). Got a quick reply, and he notified Barry (Bustanut) in Owassso MI who called me on the bridge to offer whatever assistance he could. Bary then notified Wayne (Extreme Marine) in Chesterfield MI... who as it turns out is right around the corner from the dealer (Macomb Powersports) where I took the bike last night.
Got a call last night from Wayne (Extreme Marine) and he showed up at the dealership today to check on things and give me transport to the hotel. First class all the way! Heading over to his place shortly for a BBQ and to de-stress after a trying couple of days.
Got a call this morning from Tom (Huron52) also offering assistance.
It is great to know that wherever we go on this continent, there are friends and help available. :clapping:
Spent the day at Macomb Powersports, and their tech was pretty thorough in doing the troubleshooting. Eventually found another connector that was iffy (in addition to S4) and fixed that up. The S4 was replaced with a temporary (but pretty robust) splice of the various wires that will get me back to Calgary where I can disect the thing completely and make a permanent repair. They charged me a couple of hours labour even though their tech spent the entire day tracking it down (and yelling at Yamaha Tech support, who apparently went into denial mode on the phone)... so kudos to them for helping me out.
I have pictures of the offending S4 connector, both on the bike and now in my hand, which I will post up later tonight in a separate thread. Will also do a complete write-up for the Transport Canada safety weenies (re: Bramfrank's thread) ... I have an AE, and I don't want to think what a total electrical shutdown at speed would have been like with an electronically-controlled clutch :dribble:
I'll be back on the road heading west tomorrow morning. Thanks again to everyone who helped out on this, you've been GREAT :wub: :yahoo: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:
Griff
The good news... the bike is running and I'll be in the road tomorrow. :yahoo:
The bad news: it WAS the now infamous S4 'spider bite'. The repair is only temporary and I'll have to replace the entire wiring harness when I get it back to Calgary. :angry:
The other good news: this Forum rocks! :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:
When the bike died on the bridge, and I'd cleared customs, I called Jeff (FJRGuy) in Calgary to get a local contact from the assistance list (didn't want to dig out my laptop in the Customs garage). Got a quick reply, and he notified Barry (Bustanut) in Owassso MI who called me on the bridge to offer whatever assistance he could. Bary then notified Wayne (Extreme Marine) in Chesterfield MI... who as it turns out is right around the corner from the dealer (Macomb Powersports) where I took the bike last night.
Got a call last night from Wayne (Extreme Marine) and he showed up at the dealership today to check on things and give me transport to the hotel. First class all the way! Heading over to his place shortly for a BBQ and to de-stress after a trying couple of days.
Got a call this morning from Tom (Huron52) also offering assistance.
It is great to know that wherever we go on this continent, there are friends and help available. :clapping:
Spent the day at Macomb Powersports, and their tech was pretty thorough in doing the troubleshooting. Eventually found another connector that was iffy (in addition to S4) and fixed that up. The S4 was replaced with a temporary (but pretty robust) splice of the various wires that will get me back to Calgary where I can disect the thing completely and make a permanent repair. They charged me a couple of hours labour even though their tech spent the entire day tracking it down (and yelling at Yamaha Tech support, who apparently went into denial mode on the phone)... so kudos to them for helping me out.
I have pictures of the offending S4 connector, both on the bike and now in my hand, which I will post up later tonight in a separate thread. Will also do a complete write-up for the Transport Canada safety weenies (re: Bramfrank's thread) ... I have an AE, and I don't want to think what a total electrical shutdown at speed would have been like with an electronically-controlled clutch :dribble:
I'll be back on the road heading west tomorrow morning. Thanks again to everyone who helped out on this, you've been GREAT :wub: :yahoo: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:
Griff
Geezer
Parsimonious Curmudgeon
Woo Hoo! Glad you are rolling again.
bramfrank
BramFrank
Glad to hear you are rolling again - sorry to hear it was what we all knew it would be.
Save your bill and you will likely be able to get the "if you read it on the internet it can't be true" Yamaha to own up to their obligations. There is no expiry for warranty claims for latent defects.
When you go into the harness, remember: No solder.
Save your bill and you will likely be able to get the "if you read it on the internet it can't be true" Yamaha to own up to their obligations. There is no expiry for warranty claims for latent defects.
When you go into the harness, remember: No solder.
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I've had my head up my a** and didn't want to read these, since I couldn't even make an appearance
I've been so busy I haven't logged-in to the forum for a long time now, until I started looking for route advice in Nova Scotia.
But I'm glad I did. I wouldn't want to be a snob after the nice comments. Honestly though, I think Chris must have been over-generous in acknowledging my efforts. I just checked out 'a few' spots in a couple of areas. Stumbling across that place was a fluke.
Glad it was a good rally - as for me... next time!
I've been so busy I haven't logged-in to the forum for a long time now, until I started looking for route advice in Nova Scotia.
But I'm glad I did. I wouldn't want to be a snob after the nice comments. Honestly though, I think Chris must have been over-generous in acknowledging my efforts. I just checked out 'a few' spots in a couple of areas. Stumbling across that place was a fluke.
Glad it was a good rally - as for me... next time!
Bustanut joker
Well-known member
This is good news Griff.. Drink all Wayne's beer for me.
:jester:
:jester:
yamafitter
Reigning NERDS Granite Lane Gold Medalist
I've actually had good experiences dealing with the service group at Yamaha Canada but you have to remember that the service manager there is also a club member to the club I belong to (Oshawa Competition Motorcycle Club).
I had sheared the woodriff key on the flyshaft of my 03 WR450F when it backfired on a start. The problem was well documented on the ThumperTalk forum but Yamaha USA were in full denial mode.
I happened to be wearing my heartrate monitor that day and when I took the bike into my dealer I also took the laptop and showed them the datalog from the monitor. Let's just say I was redlining pushing that pig out of the woods.
My dealer is also a member of our club and inbetween Yamaha Canada and the dealer (Asselstine Country) I had the new crank, flywheel and the new '04 starter clutch mechanism (which was the design flaw in the '03 bike) installed under warranty.
My bike was actually used by Yamaha Canada as the testbed for the fix which was causing problems for almost all owners of the '03 WR450F. The fix worked perfectly and the only problem I had after that was the loose nut hanging on to the handlebars. :crazy:
I had sheared the woodriff key on the flyshaft of my 03 WR450F when it backfired on a start. The problem was well documented on the ThumperTalk forum but Yamaha USA were in full denial mode.
I happened to be wearing my heartrate monitor that day and when I took the bike into my dealer I also took the laptop and showed them the datalog from the monitor. Let's just say I was redlining pushing that pig out of the woods.
My dealer is also a member of our club and inbetween Yamaha Canada and the dealer (Asselstine Country) I had the new crank, flywheel and the new '04 starter clutch mechanism (which was the design flaw in the '03 bike) installed under warranty.
My bike was actually used by Yamaha Canada as the testbed for the fix which was causing problems for almost all owners of the '03 WR450F. The fix worked perfectly and the only problem I had after that was the loose nut hanging on to the handlebars. :crazy:
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
Griff - glad to hear you're up and running again. Barry and Wayne were the first 2 people I thought of when I read where you had broken down. Damn good guys.
Hopefully you drank all Wayne's beer.
Hopefully you drank all Wayne's beer.
canucklehead-biker
Well-known member
I'm about 100 miles from the SD border in the lovely little burg of Blue Earth, MN. Repair seems to be holding up, but I opted to get off the road before dark just in case.
Early start tomorrow and I'll be back in Calgary before dark.
**EDIT** Actually, just checked the mileage on that, it's 2000 km (around 1200 miles) ... so NOT before dark. Depending on how my confidence is in riding this thing at night with the spiders only temp repaired, I may have to finish Saturday morning).
Never drank any of Wayne's beer... had a few nice, cold soft drinks, since I was on 2 wheels to get home to the hotel.
Early start tomorrow and I'll be back in Calgary before dark.
**EDIT** Actually, just checked the mileage on that, it's 2000 km (around 1200 miles) ... so NOT before dark. Depending on how my confidence is in riding this thing at night with the spiders only temp repaired, I may have to finish Saturday morning).
Never drank any of Wayne's beer... had a few nice, cold soft drinks, since I was on 2 wheels to get home to the hotel.
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FJRGuy
FJR Rally Addict! :D
LoL - Thought you were being a bit optomistic about making it home today!
Safe trip! You don't need any more 'adventures' on this one!
canucklehead-biker
Well-known member
Stopped for the night in Great Falls... although I feel like I could ride another few hours, no point in pushing the envelope.
Clocked 1662 kms today... 1332 yesterday.... total for the trip so far: +/- 12,000 (the trip odometers reset when the spider bit, so not entirely sure... was 9000 and something when I stopped on Monday. I really oughta keep better records.
Anyway... short day tomorrow to get back to Calgary... and then we can close this check-in thread
Griff
Clocked 1662 kms today... 1332 yesterday.... total for the trip so far: +/- 12,000 (the trip odometers reset when the spider bit, so not entirely sure... was 9000 and something when I stopped on Monday. I really oughta keep better records.
Anyway... short day tomorrow to get back to Calgary... and then we can close this check-in thread
Griff
canucklehead-biker
Well-known member
Late start from Great Falls, meandered my way home Mother Nature got in her final licks from Lethbridge to Calgary... but at least it washed the bugs off the windscreen.
Rolled into the barn at 5-ish, +/- 13,000 km.... now for the maintenance/rewiring/etc
I think I'm the last one... so we can close the thread
Griff
Rolled into the barn at 5-ish, +/- 13,000 km.... now for the maintenance/rewiring/etc
I think I'm the last one... so we can close the thread
Griff
MEM
Well-known member
canucklehead-biker
Well-known member
BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
Glad yer home, Griff.
So, outta curiosity - did those cable-ties hold your saddle bag on the whole way home??
canucklehead-biker
Well-known member
Yep... even after I dumped the bike on the left side at a campground in PA.
Cracked a weld on the trailer tongue, but the bag stayed put. Very robust things, those zip-ties... must be Milspec or sumthin.. Glad you had 'em... the ones I had would have needed a dozen chained together to do the same job. Merci beaucoup!
BugR
Well-known member
Ok that's a wrap, CFR 2010 is in the bag.
I count
One footpeg, parking lot drop: MEM
One PA, in french for FJRguy (makes up for the 4 points Alberta gave me last year for being 32 km over on an empty road)
One roadside stranding, Spider failure: Canucklehead
AND everyone home safe, Outstanding!
Oh and my van's rear suspension did survive being loaded with 14 cases of beer, the barbq, the tents, tables etc......
Thanks guys
Chris & Diana
I count
One footpeg, parking lot drop: MEM
One PA, in french for FJRguy (makes up for the 4 points Alberta gave me last year for being 32 km over on an empty road)
One roadside stranding, Spider failure: Canucklehead
AND everyone home safe, Outstanding!
Oh and my van's rear suspension did survive being loaded with 14 cases of beer, the barbq, the tents, tables etc......
Thanks guys
Chris & Diana
