FJR repeatedly dies while riding at highway speeds

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There's a fuel filter on these things? :dribble:

edit: Hey, erik....glad yer going through this now so when it happens to me I can just call ya up and settle the problem with no work on my part and no thinking on my part what-so-ever. Hope you find the problem soon. Hate being with out a skoot.
There sure is... you can see it here:

https://www.halllakeland.com/rex/fjr/pump.htm
That's a fuel screen...not a filter. I ought to check mine. Hey, erik....was this skoot of yours bought and rode down here? I may doing the same thing to my fuel "pump".

 
My 03 had the same symptoms about 6 months ago. Driving along fat, dumb and happy the thing would just die. Sometimes ot would restart itself, sometimes I had to pull to the side. As it was due for the second valve check (about 55k miles) I put it in the shop and explained the problem. He checked all the kill devices and could find nothing wrong. Did find about a dozen corroded connectors within the blocks. he replaced those, cleaned and lubed all, said give a shot. Happened agian the very next day, 7 or 8 times in succesion. After reviewing in my mind the scenarios of restarting, the fact that the dash never went dead, all together pointed at a kill mechanism. I reasoned that it was not the clutch switch, as pulling the clutch in did not allow it to start. Sometimes only pulling to the side and finding neutral would work. The next day my brother and I made up a jumper wire, and bypassed the kickstand switch totally. Unplugged it just under the tank and put the jumper wire in to complete the circuit.

That was about 3 thousand miles ago, I guess one of these days I will clean the switch and try that out. But for now, I just make sure the kickstand is up just like I did before the idoiot switch came into being and all is well.

 
When my 05 died pulling onto a road out of a driveway it turned out to be the ignition switch contacts.

After I sprayed some Pro Gold into the ignition switch weep hole it hasn't acted up since.

 
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My 03 had the same symptoms about 6 months ago.
I'm happy to hear this. I keep getting the feeling that it is a malfunction of a kill switch somewhere. Either the handle bar manual kill switch, tip-over cut-off switch, or the sidestand kill switch. My clean-up job of the kill switches will hopefully resolve the problem. I also pulled the tip-over cut-off switch wire contacts and cleaned them up, but that is one switch that you can't disasseble to clean up.

I wonder if I should stop where I am and ride the crap out of the bike, seeing if the issue resolved. With so many interventions... how am I going to know which part failed?

-Worldbound4now

 
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...I wonder if I should stop where I am and ride the crap out of the bike, seeing if the issue resolved. With so many interventions... how am I going to know which part failed?

-Worldbound4now

If you haven't tested it after doing some of this stuff, you really need to check it out before doing anything further! Certainly wouldn't hurt to do the sidestand maintenance but then I would take it out for a good long test ride but try to stay fairly close to home in case of a complete failure. Bring a voltmeter, some basic tools and a wire with alligator clips to jump around a failed switch (if necesary). Also, bring a cell phone...

Ross

 
take it out for a good long test ride but try to stay fairly close to home in case of a complete failure. Bring a voltmeter, some basic tools and a wire with alligator clips to jump around a failed switch (if necesary). Also, bring a cell phone...

Ross
I just renewed my AAA with motorcycle coverage earlier this week... better stay within the 100 mile towing limits :)

 
It only dies at high speeds only? Never at low speeds? Weird.... This may be an off-the-wall idea but is your fuel tank vent clean? If there isn't proper ventilation to the fuel tank it may vaporlock itself during increased fuel consumption at higher speeds. Something may be intermittently plugging it up reducing the amount of fuel getting to the cylinders. Again... A way off-the-wall thought. Similar symptoms occur on our grass rigs at the fire department if the vents are not opened on the fuel cells.

 
So, after committing a large amount of the last few days to work, I was finally able to flog the beast around some local roads. I purposefully ran some smooth and some rough roads with great speed variability as well as some highway droning. The issue seems to have resolved. To recap, I seem to have resolved the kill phenomenon by cleaning and re-lubing the contacts of the side stand and handlebar kill switches as well as the electrical connector of the tip over cut-off switch. I checked many other items on the bike and performed some other maintenance that was needed, but was not the source of the problem. Thank you all for your suggestions and I hope this thread is found useful in the future.

-worldbound4now

 
Wonder what the problem was? I'd bet on the kill switch...
If I were to hedge any bets, I'd lean harder towards failure of the side stand kill switch. It is the most susceptible to dirt, moisture, and other debris. The grease inside of the switch had also developed a waxy, firm texture with a brown appearance. The switch operated much more freely after cleaning and re-lubing with dielectric grease.

The handlebar kill switch had a little bit of staining on it, but the general condition was pretty good.

The world may never know.....

worldbound4now

 
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