My bike totally dies on interstate

[bhkfjr]

It's a picture perfect morning and I leave before dawn for a 400 mi. ride to test out my first attempt to fix my "hot starting problem." (new spark plugs) I'm also testing my homemade windshield spacers (6 washers and a longer bolt) on my V-Stream. The bike is runing strong and the V-Stream is really slicing the wind. The difference on the windshield is really, really amazing - totally different riding experience- all good. I'm about 300 mi into the ride, cruising along at 80 mph when it happens......

The bike stumbles once - like you suddenly close the throttle and whack it back open(which is what I thought I must have done). That is until a mile later it does it again. Then it does 3 times in succession and now I'm riding a coughing, bucking, very sick FJR. A rest stop is just ahead and I pull in and shut her down. I don't know what's going on, don't remember seeing any codes come up. After sitting there thinking for a few minutes, I decide to duoble check for diag.codes and turn the key on. NOTHING HAPPENS. No sweep, no sound, totally and completely dead. I turn the key off.on.off,on, and finally the gauges start to sweep and then stop half way and we're dead again. A few seconds later they return to bottom but bike is still dead. It's been 10 min. and we're still lifeless so I decide to check the fuses.

While I'm taking off panel A, a fellow rider on an Ultra Classic comes over to see if I need help. I tell him I've lost all power and he says " could be a fuse" and I said "thats where I' m looking now". I'm poking around forward of the battery trying to see if I can get to the main fuse ( I can't) when the other rider asks what happens when you turn the key? I say nothing happens and I lean over to demonstrate by turning the key on. Gauges cycle and bike fires right up!

Harley rider says when bike fired up he saw the positive battery terminal spark at the connector and sure enough it was loose. Turned the bike off, tightened the connector, re-started the bike, no problem. Ran fine the last 100 mi home. I,ve since started it 6 times, ran around the block a few times--all good! Could this be all it was- a loose connection at the battery ? I must have jiggled it trying to get to the main fuse and it contacted enough to start the bike. If the Harley rider hadn't seen the terminal spark it could have been a real interesting last 100 mi. home.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Sounds like a very plausible explanation. Especially as it was observed.

I honestly don't remember if many '07 bikes had a recall on the ignition switch, but the first iteration of ignition switches acted like that when a contact went bad, or a wire got loose with use. I got stranded and my bike acted similarly until I found a "sweet spot" for the key to turn the bike on, I duct taped it in place and rode home. If you haven't checked to see if the ignition recall involves your bike, I would check with a Yamaha dealer just for the heck of it.

Another possibility, I guess, is the grounding points in the wiring harness, or "spider". The biggest culprit is the one under the tank by the frame rail on the upper left side. Some corrode causing intermittent loss of power.

There are multiple threads on these topics in case they are new to you, and links in the FAQ sections of the forum.

I hope this may help.

 

[jazsr]

... had a nearly identical goin' down the road,sputter,cough,maybe die while still movin' ...wha? did Ibump kill switch..?restart...keep riding...good for rest of day.Happens again the following weekend.Turns out my negative battery terminal connector was a wee bit loose.See,I had placed a couple ring connectors on the battery after some mods to support new bike gadgets and time and vibration created an intermittent situation there-my fault .A dab o locktite has rendered everything back to normal.Sounds like you found the problem,but as Shiny pointed out,always keep ignition sw/ground spiders in the back of your mind on this bike,I don't trust the design yamaha came up with there.

 

[SkooterG]

Most definitely your entire problem was the loose battery connection. Those connections are CRITICAL.

 

[C&C]

I was headed towards the ignition switch until you discovered the loose battery cable (which was sure acting as a unintended switch). I think you'll be fine.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Most definitely your entire problem was the loose battery connection. Those connections are CRITICAL.

I like a guy who has deep convictions and prescient knowledge. Not THAT much of course...

But I agree it is likely. Same happened to me on a 1982 GS project bike years ago.

 

[lnewlf]

I'm skeptical...You sure it was a Harley?!

 

[FJR-RemingtonRider]

Heck, simplistic explanation....No self respecting FJR is gonna let a Harley see it down.

I am sure the bike's pride factor was just a bit woosey; but soon tightened up after the Harley came around.

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. :yahoo:

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Have seen this happen to other bikes that I've rode with. When the cable get's loose, it just shuts down.

 

[dcarver]

You're a lucky dawg, easy peasy fix..

 

[bramfrank]

That's really interesting.

The stator should be self-exciting and, at highway speeds should be putting out enough power to run the whole bike - so it ought not be shutting down, unless there are a pair of wires, one from the stator and the other the 'rest of the bike' that meet up at the battery, so that if the cabling came undone you'd lose both the battery and the stator excitation coil.

Still, if it quacks like a duck and it sparks like a duck, then I suppose that tightening it up so it doesn't spark will tame the duck.

 

[dcarver]

I think science is in order here..

loosen the connection back up, then go for a ride? :lol:

 

[TILAM]

Sounds like a very plausible explanation. Especially as it was observed.
I honestly don't remember if many '07 bikes had a recall on the ignition switch, but the first iteration of ignition switches acted like that when a contact went bad, or a wire got loose with use. I got stranded and my bike acted similarly until I found a "sweet spot" for the key to turn the bike on, I duct taped it in place and rode home. If you haven't checked to see if the ignition recall involves your bike, I would check with a Yamaha dealer just for the heck of it.

Another possibility, I guess, is the grounding points in the wiring harness, or "spider". The biggest culprit is the one under the tank by the frame rail on the upper left side. Some corrode causing intermittent loss of power.

There are multiple threads on these topics in case they are new to you, and links in the FAQ sections of the forum.

I hope this may help.

I think all 07' as well as 08's and some 09's were subject to recall.

My experience wasn't like that when my ignition switch started to fail. OK while riding but nothing when turning the key. Wiggling etc eventually made contact. If you haven't had it done, do it. It will let you down eventually. Pretty much a given.

 

[bhkfjr]

UPDATE;

It indeed was the battery. Rode all day today with no issues! Thanks to all who replied.

By the way, the Harley rider who helped me out, was actually a young, polite, clean-cut gentleman who grew up riding metric and just recently switched over to a loaded Ultra-Classic. Says he's having a lot of fun just sitting back and "cruisin". Nice kid, nice bike.

 

[RsvlFeej]

The stator should be self-exciting and, at highway speeds should be putting out enough power to run the whole bike - so it ought not be shutting down,
Still, if it quacks like a duck and it sparks like a duck, then I suppose that tightening it up so it doesn't spark will tame the duck.

Yep to the second part. I've had the negative terminal loosen up on me twice (last time was >3 years ago) and the bike has the exact symptoms described - buck and die, buck and die, die. Bike will not run w/o the battery hooked up.

 

[04Smitty]

Had this happen to me the other day as well. First time it happened, I thought I had done something stupid & popped the clutch or something. When it did it 3 times the next morning on the way out of the neighborhood, I figured it wasn't just a bad driver. After search the forum that evening & finding this thread, I took a shot at the battery cables. They were not noticeably loose; couldn't move them too much by hand. Using a phillips head screwdriver, the connections felt tight. However, took a ratchet to the bolts, and there was plenty of tightening to be done. No problems since.

Thanks Forum! Now bike in the shop for 24k mile check-up & looking forward to miles of spring riding!

 

[diablo456]

Ok, dead thread resurrection here. Short version: I'm posting because my 2008 FJR AE caught nearly identical symptoms this week as posted early in this thread, and the problem was the same as identified here - loose positive battery connection.

Slightly longer version: yesterday, bike (2008 AE, 2600 miles, bought new by me in March of this year) starts bucking/acting funny/stalling on throttle roll on (its an AE). She shuts down once going over a bump; I quickly restart from the road. Today, heading back to work, its getting flakier and flakier. Bucks, low idles, stalls on rolloff. As I'm pulling into my work parking lot, it goes completey dead. Nada. I push it into a parking spot, and am thinking ignition switch (#1 idea, though my dealers claims the recall was done) or spider (I had examined it just 2 weeks ago, looked fine.). Well the bike is dead, won't do a thing with multiple switching on/off, etc. I pull the toolkit, remove the battery cover to check fuses when lo-and-behold, the positive terminal is very loose. I tighten this down, and viola, she springs back to life. Rode back home and done about 20 miles, she's back to her normal self. No bucking, smooth starts, stable idle.

Moral: the FJR needs a battery connection like we need oxygen. She don't run without. Check your terminals, they do get loose.

 

[phroenips]

Ok, dead thread resurrection here. Short version: I'm posting because my 2008 FJR AE caught nearly identical symptoms this week as posted early in this thread, and the problem was the same as identified here - loose positive battery connection.

Slightly longer version: yesterday, bike (2008 AE, 2600 miles, bought new by me in March of this year) starts bucking/acting funny/stalling on throttle roll on (its an AE). She shuts down once going over a bump; I quickly restart from the road. Today, heading back to work, its getting flakier and flakier. Bucks, low idles, stalls on rolloff. As I'm pulling into my work parking lot, it goes completey dead. Nada. I push it into a parking spot, and am thinking ignition switch (#1 idea, though my dealers claims the recall was done) or spider (I had examined it just 2 weeks ago, looked fine.). Well the bike is dead, won't do a thing with multiple switching on/off, etc. I pull the toolkit, remove the battery cover to check fuses when lo-and-behold, the positive terminal is very loose. I tighten this down, and viola, she springs back to life. Rode back home and done about 20 miles, she's back to her normal self. No bucking, smooth starts, stable idle.

Moral: the FJR needs a battery connection like we need oxygen. She don't run without. Check your terminals, they do get loose.

Side note: you said you inspected the spiders a couple weeks ago...have you gotten the recall done?

 

[Blind Squirrel]

What we have here is an FJR epidemic! How many dozens or hundreds of FJR riders have been stranded on the side of the road?!? This makes the BMW final drive issue look puny in comparison.

 

[phroenips]

What we have here is an FJR epidemic! How many dozens or hundreds of FJR riders have been stranded on the side of the road?!? This makes the BMW final drive issue look puny in comparison.

...except Yamaha has issued a fix (albiet, maybe not as robust as our own Brodie's or Roadrunner's solutions). BMW doesn't even acknowledge there's a problem.

EDIT: Nevermind...not enough coffee. Thought you were talking about the grounding spider. Not those damn loosening battery terminals