FJRF009.2: "Intermittent Ground Wire Connection"

[bramfrank]

Simple enough to find out - one of the orphan owners can call Yamaha in Toronto and ask the question.

BTW - we have seen instances where the S6 & S7 spiders fail - just ask Harald. Fixing up the grround to S4 increases the current through the downstream spiders. Rest assured that there WILL be additional problems (though who knows how many bikes will fail?) - and once a spider fails you no longer have the option of installing Brodie's fix unless you repair the connector - messy at best..

 

[Harald]

Just a thought for you guys with failed S4 spiders that are waiting on a replacement harness; why not have the dealer cut the S4 connector off and solder or crimp all the wires together as a temporary repair until the harness comes in? For those of you with a limited riding season, this would get you on the road until the snow flies and then you can schedule the harness replacement. You might have to pay minimal labor to get the bike reassembled if it's not already done. And I suppose some dealers might not want to do this due to liability concerns.

I know that's what I would do. As a matter of fact, I did exactly that as a permanent repair when my S7 Spider failed almost 2 years ago. I've thought about having the dealer replace the harness under warranty, but I don't want to deal with rewiring all my farkles and the bike has been working just fine with my repair. So surely this repair will work for a couple months so you can keep riding.

If you cut the connectors off, they can't install the sub harness, nor could you install a Brodie harness. It would be OK if they acknowledged you're getting a whole new harness.... jes sayin'. Also, what's to prevent you from removing the spidey, cleaning it up with some crocus cloth or wire brush, give the terminals a little squeeze and a little conductive grease and be good for quite a while till your harness comes in..........

Sorry if I wasn't clear, but I was referring to the S4 being damaged and someone waiting for an ENTIRE new harness which would include a new S4 connector. I'm NOT suggesting cutting off S4 while you wait on a RECALL harness. :dribble: The recall harnesses are available and should be quickly delivered when ordered. Sounds like there's a considerable delay on getting entire harnesses though, which would suck for those with short riding seasons. :angry:

In my case (failure of S7) I had nothing to lose by cutting off that connector because Yamaha's repair would involve replacing the whole front cowling harness assembly. I would have just cleaned up the spider and reinstalled it, but in my case some of the sockets in the connector appeared to have lost strength from the overheating and there was very little tension on the spider inserts, which would have just lead to more problems down the road. :angry2:

 

[Nosecone]

I just got a call from the Chief Mechanic at the local Yamaha dealer that I had taken my '06AE to for the grounding recall sub-lead installation.

I installed Brodie's grounding harness in April 2010 so I really didn't want to have this done. He told me that the recall was a requirement placed

on Yamaha and that I did not have to have it done if I so chose. I so chose.

Interestingly, he told me that Federal recalls only require manufactures to modify a certain percentage of the units targeted.

 

[Scarman]

Took my 08 FJR in for the recall yesterday afternoon The dealer said I was the ninth FJR they worked on for the recall. So far only one of the nine needed a replacement harness. My harness was good so just needed the sub ground wire installed. Dealer called this morning and my bike was ready. I'm very pleased it was a quick fix.

 

[Woketman]

Far different story on mine. I had told the dealer over a month ago that I knew that my harness was damaged and that he should order both the sub-harness and a new harness (like Yammy says NOT to do). They claimed they did it and indeed they did. I saw the new harness sitting on the work bench today. Actually, I was surprised at how extensive it really is. Probably almost worth what they want for it.

The service guy called earlier and said that they needed to charge me cause they had to do additional work. I went on down to see for myself. According to them, the Yammy procedure has them getting the old harness out and putting the new in without removing the coolant pipe. Just by looking at it, I have a hard time seeing how that is possible, but OK. Well, the guy said that since my Audiovox CC was in the way, that they had to remove the coolant pipe and that they would need to charge me some labor. They said one hour. I agreed (I want the damn bike back!!!)

While I was there, the service manager mentioned that Yammy allows them 2.9 hours labor for the main harness replacement (I believe that was what he said). The guy that was actually working on my FJR yelled back "I already got 6 hours into this!" Sheeeeeshhhh!!!! These guys are really nice guys, but I am concerned about how bright they are. Oh well, they are the only game in town ;-(

 

[olsonm3915]

While I was there, the service manager mentioned that Yammy allows them 2.9 hours labor for the main harness replacement (I believe that was what he said). The guy that was actually working on my FJR yelled back "I already got 6 hours into this!" Sheeeeeshhhh!!!! These guys are really nice guys, but I am concerned about how bright they are.

If this is his first complete FJR harness replacement, I'm not surprised at all that it is taking him longer than three hours to do it. Imagine how long it would take you to remove the tank and the plastics, and disconnecting and reconnecting all the connectors, plus routing the harness and securing it, then putting it all back together, if you had never done it before. Add in a little more time to check and make sure everything works, too.

 

[road runner]

The warranty flat rates suck! That's why a lot of dealers don't like doing it.

 

[SkooterG]

The warranty flat rates suck! That's why a lot of dealers don't like doing it.

+1

Replacing the main wiring harness is a big deal will take a hell of a lot longer than 2.9 hours if done properly.

 

[majicmaker]

I saw the new harness sitting on the work bench today. Actually, I was surprised at how extensive it really is. Probably almost worth what they want for it.

OK, If they are now available it's time to turn mine in. My SM told me Yamaha is Charging them $300 for the Full Harness.

 

[Woketman]

Well, I am not sure that means that they are available in quantity. Remember: I asked the dealer to order both the sub-harness AND the harness at the same time initially (Yammy says they are NOT allowed to do this). The dealer did it anyway. I believe he really just never bothered to read the instructions for the recall (these guys are not altogether!) and therefore did not realize that he was not supposed to order both. So he likely made the order before there was a run on them. I got lucky! Let's hope that said luck continues!

 

[majicmaker]

Well, I am not sure that means that they are available in quantity. Remember: I asked the dealer to order both the sub-harness AND the harness at the same time initially (Yammy says they are NOT allowed to do this). The dealer did it anyway. I believe he really just never bothered to read the instructions for the recall (these guys are not altogether!) and therefore did not realize that he was not supposed to order both. So he likely made the order before there was a run on them. I got lucky! Let's hope that said luck continues!

Whoa! Thanks for the Heads Up! I'll put off dropping the bike off until they are available in quantity.

 

[fjrgary]

Took my bike in this mornng for the fix. Since my plugs have over 20K on them I asked what the charge would be to install new ones while the tank was off. The service manager said that since the plugs would be easy to get to there would be no charge. I did have to pay a little extra for the NGK Iridium plugs, $10 each, but still thought it was a good deal.

The dealership is in Sublimity, Oregon and they have a large inventory of Yamaha and Kawasaki motorcycles. They had three new FJR's and a couple of new C14's.

I also took my 2006 FJR to Power Motorsports in Sublimity and was happy with their service. Even happier when they told me everything checked out fine. They installed the fix and i'm back riding. Although getting the recall notice one week before my Laguna Seca trip added alot of stress to the ride.

 

[motorcycle-ed]

My bike is down. Rode it a week ago and it cut off three times and skipped numerous times. Lucky I got it home. I checked and sure enough the ground spider is cooked, the one at the front left of the engine. My dealer has ordered the harness but I doubt I can get it done for eom.

 

[dbx]

My bike is down. Rode it a week ago and it cut off three times and skipped numerous times. Lucky I got it home. I checked and sure enough the ground spider is cooked, the one at the front left of the engine. My dealer has ordered the harness but I doubt I can get it done for eom.

Since the dealer apparently expects to replace the entire harness at some point, is there any downside to you doing your own repair while you wait for the harness to arrive? It sounds like you know where the problem is and several S4 fixes have been documented here on the forum. If it were my bike, I'd do an appropriate repair, get back on the road, then take it in for the formal repair when the harness arrives.

 

[majicmaker]

My bike is down. Rode it a week ago and it cut off three times and skipped numerous times. Lucky I got it home. I checked and sure enough the ground spider is cooked, the one at the front left of the engine. My dealer has ordered the harness but I doubt I can get it done for eom.

Post up when you find out when the harness arrives. I'm still waiting for the word that they are in the parts pipeline.

 

[motorcycle-ed]

My bike is down. Rode it a week ago and it cut off three times and skipped numerous times. Lucky I got it home. I checked and sure enough the ground spider is cooked, the one at the front left of the engine. My dealer has ordered the harness but I doubt I can get it done for eom.

Since the dealer apparently expects to replace the entire harness at some point, is there any downside to you doing your own repair while you wait for the harness to arrive? It sounds like you know where the problem is and several S4 fixes have been documented here on the forum. If it were my bike, I'd do an appropriate repair, get back on the road, then take it in for the formal repair when the harness arrives.

I will take it down later today and see what I can do with it. I already looked at the spider from the tank area and it is burned and melted. I did not pull all the side plastic off so I could pull the harness loose for a better inspection. If the wires are not melted I will try to fix it. Will post when I hear about the harness.

Ed

 

[beacher]

WHOOPEE!! After 2 weeks without the bike, I got her back yesterday, and she hasn't been that clean since I rolled her out of the showroom door! I was in there on Weds. morning, and it was almost embarrassing to see her without her tupperware, so I DO know that they replaced all the wiring (except to the headlights, is what they told me). Also had them flush and change out the brake fluid while they were doing it.

A little news for those that need the complete harness, and it doesn't sound good; I talked to a rep, 2 levels up from the lady handling recalls at the 1-800 number, and apparently, last week, all of Japan was on "vacation" for a week, and they only expected 2 complete harnesses in before the end of this month. . . Keep your fingers crossed.

Now, a question. . .Since I've got one of Brodie's harnesses, but "luckily" hadn't installed it, I should go ahead and do this, right? Is there any need to add Roadrunner's harness, if I do this? And, since I really don't have a place to work on my bike, anybody in the Sea-Tac area (I live in Tacoma), who has already installed Brodie's harness, up for making a new friend, going out for lunch and being staked to either a case of beer or a bottle, in exchange for a helping hand?

 

[doctorJ]

I did mine today too and all they did was add the extra ground wiring. I've also got the Roadrunner wires on but nothing was said about it.

doctorj

 

[escapefjrtist]

Now, a question. . .Since I've got one of Brodie's harnesses, but "luckily" hadn't installed it, I should go ahead and do this, right? Is there any need to add Roadrunner's harness, if I do this? And, since I really don't have a place to work on my bike, anybody in the Sea-Tac area (I live in Tacoma), who has already installed Brodie's harness, up for making a new friend, going out for lunch and being staked to either a case of beer or a bottle, in exchange for a helping hand?

I have it on good authority that Tech Day at AuburnFJR's place will be coming up soon. They'll be a few of us there that have installed both grounding solutions, so you'll be able to get all the help you need...probably more than you ever wanted! So, if you can hold off a month, problem solved. If you want to install sooner, give me a shout and we'll make arrangements!

--G

 

[Woketman]

Well, I finally have my baby back. I visited her when she was in ICU, all the tupperware off. That was hard to see her that naked....

She is running good, but I have a lot of re-wiring to do. As expected, they had to just cut all of my wires for all of my farkles (Audiovox cruise, Jensen radio, super bright brake lights, horns, radar detector, etc...). I put most of that in over a year ago. I am going to have a tough time getting it all right again ;-(

But what REALLY pisses me off is this: I start to take some tupper ware off to start the re-wiring, and I note that many fasteners are not in the correct place or just GONE!!! The two fasteners that hold the aft part of the horizontal black insets on the dash are chrome. They used to be black! A quick look finds no black ones where chrome should be, so does that mean there are 2 chrome missing somewhere I have not yet seen? The 2 that hold the tank plastic trim piece on are just NOT THERE! Did not bother to replace them! AAAAAHHHHH!!! Then I go to undo the long bolt and nut that hold down the aft end of the gas tank and find that it is NOT EVEN TORQUED HAND TIGHT!!!! I can easily spin off the nut with my finger!!!

So what else did the monkey with the wrench leave un-torqued or not there??? I feel sick...... At least she seems to be running well...