Wire Fire

[Zeb]

Was riding my 08 FJR down the highway and all of a sudden there was smoke and a small fire I could see down through the "steering column hole" on my front left side.  Immediately pulled over and turned off the engine and the fire went out.  Drove it cautiously back home (1 hour) with no other problem.  

When I got home I could see a couple of wires had caught on fire.  Took it to the Yama dealer to look at it and they said there was some corrosion on some of the connections that might have caused the fire.  They estimated it needs a new wiring harness and headlight harness...$1700 worth of parts and labor.  

I love this FJR but want to get into adv riding, and I don't want to put that much money into fixing the FJR at this point.  Trying to re-wire an FJR myself seems daunting (I am a novice in working on anything mechanical).  

Hate to say it but I am thinking about selling it for cheap or parting it out...

Thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Ignacio]

Thoughts?

Did you read FJRF009.2 pinned in this very section you posted this?  Ground Spider.  There's a (presumably still) active Yamaha safety campaign on it.

 

[RossKean]

Sounds like the S4 ground to me.  If so, the repairs should be on Yamaha.  Was the recall performed on this bike?

 

[Zeb]

I didn't know there was a recall.  The Yamaha dealer wouldn't be aware of it?

 

[Zeb]

I'm not the original owner and I vaguely remember there was a recall on 08's (2nd gen) and the original owner said the recall was done.  I assume this is the recall that is being referenced.  

 

[infrared]

I didn't know there was a recall.  The Yamaha dealer wouldn't be aware of it?

Zeb,

You can call Yamaha Corporate directly, give them the VIN number, and they will check to see if all recalls are done on that bike.  They may step up for the repairs, but that issue can go either way, so give them a chance to be nice.    B)   1 (800) 962-7926, and the robot will lead the way.

As for a DIY solution, check eBay and the FJR classifieds here and elsewhere for the wiring harness that you need.  If a wrecked bike did not burn, it will have good wiring for you.  The right Part Number item for your bike will be a Plug-and-Play repair operation.  The Ground Spiders are a known problem, but it should not be too difficult to replace wiring that only goes to ground.  I would doubt that your problem is limited just to a Ground Spider, but hang tough there, and you may get some good luck.

While you go digging, you can clean up corrosion in any and all of the Ground Spiders, at that time.  When everything is clean and bright, you can preserve the good ground conductivity by using silver-conductive grease.  Use it very sparingly, and only in the female blade connectors.  I do not recommend silver-bearing grease on wires carrying voltages (it can migrate, if you use too much), but it is good for the ground connections.

HTH.

.

 

[HotRodZilla]

I'm not the original owner and I vaguely remember there was a recall on 08's (2nd gen) and the original owner said the recall was done.  I assume this is the recall that is being referenced.  

I want to say the "Ground Spider" Recall was for '06 to '10 or something like that. The GenIII bikes use a different system. Even if the recall was done, a couple people have reported further failure. I'm betting Yamaha will realize this is their issue and correct it. Cannot speak for the dealer. The person you talked to may have no idea. 

 

[infrared]

I didn't know there was a recall.  The Yamaha dealer wouldn't be aware of it?

Zeb,

Further notes:

If you do obtain a good wire harness, you may be able to cut and butt-splice only the good wiring needed from the used harness, into your bike, replacing the burned wiring one-by-one.  You will need to check as much of the bike's wiring as you can, looking (and smelling) for burned places.

I suspect that some accessory got wired into your electrical system by the PO in a very poor manner, which caused this adventure.  Check out FUSE Taps, which any auto parts store will have in stock.  Match the Fuse Taps you buy with the stock fuses in the bike now; there are at least two different sizes in Fuse Taps.  These are clean and righteous gadgets, to add new electrical stuff to the bike.  If you spot any slap-dash added wiring, remove it and then start from a Fuse Tap instead.

https://www.fjrowners.com/forums/1269703-post1.html

.

 

[Intech]

I have a good wiring harness from a wrecked 08 that could be made available. I have for another bike, but that doesn't seem to be happening.

 

[Bounce]

Infrared was ahead of me on R&R your connectors. I'd recommend dielectric grease on the cleaned contacts because it won't be an issue if it migrates any at all. It's also cheaper.