This past weekend, on Labor Day in fact, I decided to take a solo ride to Moosehead Lake. This would be a 6 hr (+/-) round trip and it is a ride I hadn't done in many years. I made sure the FJR was ready to go - checked the tires, made sure I had my travel tools, first aid kit, rain gear, etc. all packed. As an old Boy Scout, I try to live the Scout Motto - Be Prepared - although I will be reminded that there are some things you really can't prepare for.
So the bike is ready to go:
(yea, I am putting off the wood pile for another day)
So I head north, up I-95, getting off in Pittsfield, heading north through Dover-Foxcroft, Monson, and Greenville. In Greenville I headed northeast to see how far north I could go before I ran out of pavement. I rode the Golden Road once before - a private gravel road owned and maintained by logging companies that had been featured in the TV show American Logger years ago. That is not a road one should normally take an FJR, but I like to push the limits of sanity sometimes. I wrote about that ride here (in case you are interested).
I got to just north of Kokadjo at the entrance to the Golden Road and found there were no other paved roads to ride. I was hoping that I could find one that looped around the north shore of Moosehead, but it doesn't exist, so I road back down to Greenville and head west toward Rockwood. Before leaving Greenwood, I stopped to take this photo:
This is just the southern tip of Moosehead Lake and it really doesn't do it justice, but it is a nice view nonetheless.
Between Greenville and Rockwood I decided to put the GoPro to work. I used the same suction cup mount that I had used successfully a couple of weeks ago when I rode up Mt. Washington. Not sure what went wrong this time, but the suction cup didn't stick, and this is a pretty good reminder that using some sort of tether might be a good idea:
When I got to Rockwood it was about lunchtime. There was a bar and grill there, but it was a nice day, so I opted to grab a sandwich from the convenience store and head up the road a little further to find a place to eat outside. Just east of Rockwood, I found a turnout on Lake Brassua - nice view, great place to take a break.
Everything was perfect, until I tried to leave. I got back on the bike, turned the key, and ... nothing. No dash lights, no fuel pump sound, no nothing. I have auxiliary wires connected directly to the battery to power things like a cell phone charger and that was still working, but nothing motorcycle related. I also noticed that the ignition just didn't feel right. Rather than the smooth and distinct "click", it was (for lack of a better description) a little "crunchy" when I turned it from off to on.
I fussed with it for a while. Took off a bunch of tupperware looking for burned fuses (found none), looking for loose or broken wires (found none), looking for ANYTHING that could explain the no-start. Some kind riders and drivers stopped by to check on me and one even helped with the troubleshooting, but in the final analysis I determined that I believed the ignition switch itself was the culprit, and I didn't have any tools on hand to McGyver a solution around that. Fortunately I had just enough cell phone service to call my better half, and with the help of her, my son, my father-in-law and his utility trailer, they headed north to rescue me. It wasn't all bad. It was a long wait on the side of the road, but we had a nice drive home together and made the best of it.
The next day, I trailered the FJR to the dealer where I bought it 15 years ago - Woody's Performance in Topsham, ME (great guys - I can't say enough good things about them - I have purchased 2 motorcycles there and have used them for all the service that I can't do myself). They confirmed that it was, indeed, a failed ignition switch, but there was more.... apparently some mice had decided to make a home of my FJR and there was a nest between the gas tank and engine. In addition, they had chewed through at least one of my ignition coil wires. The service manager didn't know how the thing could have been running without stumbling or rough running at all. I stated that it felt fine and I hadn't noticed anything different. It started easy, had plenty of power and felt strong on acceleration. However, when I listen to that video clip above, It doesn't sound quite right. With ear plugs in, it sounded fine, but upon closer examination, it probably wasn't.
In any case, I will get the bike back next week after the ignition switch arrives. Such an odd thing to fail - even this old Boy Scout wasn't prepared for it!
So the bike is ready to go:
(yea, I am putting off the wood pile for another day)
So I head north, up I-95, getting off in Pittsfield, heading north through Dover-Foxcroft, Monson, and Greenville. In Greenville I headed northeast to see how far north I could go before I ran out of pavement. I rode the Golden Road once before - a private gravel road owned and maintained by logging companies that had been featured in the TV show American Logger years ago. That is not a road one should normally take an FJR, but I like to push the limits of sanity sometimes. I wrote about that ride here (in case you are interested).
I got to just north of Kokadjo at the entrance to the Golden Road and found there were no other paved roads to ride. I was hoping that I could find one that looped around the north shore of Moosehead, but it doesn't exist, so I road back down to Greenville and head west toward Rockwood. Before leaving Greenwood, I stopped to take this photo:
This is just the southern tip of Moosehead Lake and it really doesn't do it justice, but it is a nice view nonetheless.
Between Greenville and Rockwood I decided to put the GoPro to work. I used the same suction cup mount that I had used successfully a couple of weeks ago when I rode up Mt. Washington. Not sure what went wrong this time, but the suction cup didn't stick, and this is a pretty good reminder that using some sort of tether might be a good idea:
When I got to Rockwood it was about lunchtime. There was a bar and grill there, but it was a nice day, so I opted to grab a sandwich from the convenience store and head up the road a little further to find a place to eat outside. Just east of Rockwood, I found a turnout on Lake Brassua - nice view, great place to take a break.
Everything was perfect, until I tried to leave. I got back on the bike, turned the key, and ... nothing. No dash lights, no fuel pump sound, no nothing. I have auxiliary wires connected directly to the battery to power things like a cell phone charger and that was still working, but nothing motorcycle related. I also noticed that the ignition just didn't feel right. Rather than the smooth and distinct "click", it was (for lack of a better description) a little "crunchy" when I turned it from off to on.
I fussed with it for a while. Took off a bunch of tupperware looking for burned fuses (found none), looking for loose or broken wires (found none), looking for ANYTHING that could explain the no-start. Some kind riders and drivers stopped by to check on me and one even helped with the troubleshooting, but in the final analysis I determined that I believed the ignition switch itself was the culprit, and I didn't have any tools on hand to McGyver a solution around that. Fortunately I had just enough cell phone service to call my better half, and with the help of her, my son, my father-in-law and his utility trailer, they headed north to rescue me. It wasn't all bad. It was a long wait on the side of the road, but we had a nice drive home together and made the best of it.
The next day, I trailered the FJR to the dealer where I bought it 15 years ago - Woody's Performance in Topsham, ME (great guys - I can't say enough good things about them - I have purchased 2 motorcycles there and have used them for all the service that I can't do myself). They confirmed that it was, indeed, a failed ignition switch, but there was more.... apparently some mice had decided to make a home of my FJR and there was a nest between the gas tank and engine. In addition, they had chewed through at least one of my ignition coil wires. The service manager didn't know how the thing could have been running without stumbling or rough running at all. I stated that it felt fine and I hadn't noticed anything different. It started easy, had plenty of power and felt strong on acceleration. However, when I listen to that video clip above, It doesn't sound quite right. With ear plugs in, it sounded fine, but upon closer examination, it probably wasn't.
In any case, I will get the bike back next week after the ignition switch arrives. Such an odd thing to fail - even this old Boy Scout wasn't prepared for it!
