2006 YAMAHA FJR1300A Complaints

I WAS WEST BOUND ON I80 ON MY YAMAHA FJR1300AE 2006 MOTORCYCLE ABOUT 10 MILES WEST OF JOLIET, IL. A WARNING LIGHT CAME ON "SHIFT SH46" AS I CONTINUED RIDING I ATTEMPTED TO SHIFT GEARS WITH THE PADDLE SHIFTER (ELECTRIC SHIFT). THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT SHIFT. I ATTEMPTED TO DOWN SHIFT USING THE FOOT OPERATED MANUAL SHIFT WITH THE SAME RESULTS. THE TRANSMISSION WAS LOCKED IN 5TH GEAR. I PULLED OFF AN EXIT RAMP AT OTTAWA, IL AND THE ENGINE STOPPED OPERATING (STALLED). I TURNED OFF THE IGNITION AND MANUALLY PUT THE TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL. AFTER A COUPLE OF MINUTES I RESTARTED THE FJR1300AE MOTORCYCLE, AND CONTINUED TO MY DESTINATION. THE SAME INSTANCE OCCURRED ON 10/01/2018 ON I80 DURING THE RETURN TRIP FROM OTTAWA, IL. THE MOTORCYCLE WAS AGAIN LOCKED IN 5TH GEAR WITH THE SAME WARNING LIGHTS. THE MOTORCYCLE STALLED IN 5TH GEAR, AND I PERFORMED THE SAME TASKS AS BEFORE RESTARTED THE FJR1300AE CONTINUING ON TO MY DESTINATION. I HAVE NOT HAD A REOCCURRENCE SINCE 10/01/2018.

BIKE LOST HEADLIGHTS (AGAIN). I'VE HAD ELECTRICAL FIXES UNDER RECALL AND THIS CONTINUES. HAD IGNITION REPLACED, GROUND FAULT WORK DONE, ENTIRE WIRING HARNESS REPLACED AND NOW IT HAS LEFT ME STRANDED AGAIN WITHOUT LIGHTS. THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION TO LOSE YOUR HEADLIGHTS. ITS A KNOWN RECURRENT PROBLEM WITH THIS BIKE. HIGH BEAM INDICATOR STAYS ON, STRANGE FLASHING TURN SIGNAL INDICATORS REMAIN ON, NO WINDSHIELD MOTOR CONTROL, NO HEADLIGHTS, NO HIGH OR LOW BEAM. YAMAHA NEEDS TO COME UP WITH PROPER FIX FOR THIS DANGEROUS SITUATION. A QUICK READ ON THE FJR1300 FORUM SHOWS THIS RECURRENT PROBLEM IS HITTING MANY.

I COMMUTE ON MY MOTORCYCLE NEARLY EVERY DAY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. THIS IS THE REASON I HAVE A MOTORCYCLE. MY WORK START TIME IS AT 5:30AM SO I COMMUTE TO WORK IN THE DARK YEAR ROUND. I ALSO TRAVEL A SECTION OF ROAD THAT TAKES ME THROUGH A 6 MILE CANYON THAT HAS NO STREET LIGHTING SO THE ROAD IS COMPLETELY DARK AND HAS MANY TURNS WHILE TRAVELING AT NEAR THE 65MPH SPEED LIMIT. TWO WEEKS AGO WHILE TRAVELING THIS SECTION I FLIPPED THE HEADLIGHT BRIGHTS SWITCH WHICH CAUSED MY HEADLIGHTS TO GO COMPLETELY OUT. FLIPPING THE SWITCH BACK TO NORMAL LIGHTS DID NOT TURN THEM BACK ON. AFTER A FEW SECONDS THE LIGHTS CAME BACK ON. THIS HAPPENED THREE TIMES DURING DOWN THE CANYON AND TWICE MORE UNTIL I GOT TO WORK. I WAS VERY LUCKY I DIDN'T CRASH OR GET INJURED. LUCKILY, A CAR WAS POSITIONED A LITTLE AHEAD OF ME WHICH ALLOWED ME TO KNOW WHERE THE ROAD WAS DUE TO THE CAR'S TAIL LIGHTS. I WAS ABLE TO RIDE HOME IN THE DAYLIGHT. I TESTED THE HEADLIGHTS AT HOME AND FOUND THAT A RELAY WAS BUZZING SO I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE CAUSE. UNFORTUNATELY, SWAPPING FOR A DIFFERENT RELAY DID NOT FIX THE ISSUE. I EVENTUALLY LOCATED A CONNECTOR WITH A SPIDER GROUNDING POLE THAT HAD A BURNT MARK. TAKING IT APART SHOWED THE CAUSED. ONE OF THE WIRES NO LONGER HAD GOOD CONTACT DUE TO AN OVERLOAD OF THE CONNECTOR. I'M ATTACHING A PICTURE. THERE'S A RECALL DUE TO ANOTHER ONE OF THESE CONNECTORS AND IT WAS COMPLETED A WHILE AGO. MY RECENT ISSUE IS NOT ADDRESSED BY NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 11V-338. MY FAULTY CONNECTOR IS S6 NOT THE S4 FROM THE RECALL. I'VE READ THAT MANY OTHERS HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH THE SAME CONNECTOR AND IF FUTURE RIDERS HAVE A SIMILAR PROBLEM AS MINE WE ARE CERTAINLY LOOKING AT A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE.

HEADLIGHTS FAILED WITHOUT WARNING. POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING AS THIS OCCURRED WHILE UNDERWAY AT NIGHT. THE DEFECT OCCURRED IN WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE S6 SPIDER - A SPIDER BEING A GROUND WIRE COLLECTOR CIRCUIT ON THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE HAS ALREADY BEEN RECALLED FOR OTHER SPIDER FAILURES, BUT THE SPIDER AFFECTED BY THIS PROBLEM WAS NOT AMONG THE ONES DEALT WITH. *TR

HAD THE RECALL DONE ON THIS BIKE PER THE RECALL LETTER. ON OCT 18 2012 LOST ALL LIGHTS...WHEN I WAS ABLE TO GET BIKE HOME FOUND A GROUND CONNECTOR HAD MELTED. THE FIX BY YAMAHA DO NOT (THE BIKE NEEDS A NEW WIRE HARNESS NOT A JUMPER. *TR

RIDING IN WESTERN VIRGINIA, ON A WARM SATURDAY AFTERNOON, I NOTICED MY TURN SIGNAL INDICATOR LIGHTS WERE BOTH ON, AND FLASHED WEIRDLY WHEN I USED THEM. I ALSO LOST THE ELECTRIC ADJUSTABLE WINDSHIELD, AND DISCOVERED WHEN I STOPPED THAT I HAD NO HEADLIGHTS. THIS WAS PAINFUL BECAUSE THE RIDE I WAS ON INVOLVED A LOT OF NIGHT TIME RIDING. LUCKILY THIS HAPPENED DURING THE DAY AND I WAS ABLE TO USE MY AUXILIARY LIGHTS THAT NIGHT. UPON DIS-ASSEMBLY, A GROUND SPIDER (S6) UNDER THE NOSE OF THE BIKE, NOT COVERED OR INSPECTED BY THE CURRENT RECALL WAS BURNED TO A CRISP. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN REALLY BAD HAD I LOST MY LIGHTS AT SPEED, AT NIGHT ON A TWISTY MOUNTAIN ROAD. *TR

THE MOTORCYCLE'S ENGINE QUIT SUDDENLY WITHOUT WARNING. FROM THE ON-LINE FJR FORUM AND MY PERSONAL INSPECTIONS OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS IN MY BIKE, I HAVE DETERMINED THAT THIS WAS CAUSED BY THE WELL KNOWN YAMAHA FJR 1300 ELECTRICAL GROUNDING ISSUE. A RECALL BY YAMAHA IS NEEDED. THIS HAS BEEN A KNOWN FJR ISSUE FOR THREE YEARS.

AUG. 3RD 2010 WHILE DRIVING NORTH ON CA 101 AT ABOUT 4:00 PM IN HEAVY RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC , THE ENGINE STOPPED DEAD. IT WOULD NOT RESTART. IT WAS TOWED TO THE NEAREST YAMAHA SHOP WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED AND REPAIRED. THE PROBLEM WAS FOUND TO BE A BAD GROUND CONNECTION(SPYDER). THE CONNECTOR WAS REMOVED AND THE WIRES WERE SOLDERED TOGETHER AT THE YAMAHA DEALERSHIP . I HAVE THE CONNECTOR AND GAVE IT TO MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP . THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND WERE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY FACTOR ( DRIVING IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC AT SPEED AND TO HAVE THE ENGINE JUST STOP ). *TR

TOTAL LOSS OF POWER AND CONTROL WITH FAILURE OF THE MOTORCYCLE GROUNDING HARNESS SYSTEM. *TR

MY MOTORCYCLE STOPPED RUNNING TWICE WHILE RIDING DOWN A LOCAL HIGHWAY. THE ENGINE BRIEFLY SHUT OFF FOR A FEW SECONDS BEFORE STARTING BACK UP AND RUNNING NORMALLY. WHEN IT DID SO A NUMBER OF LIGHTS CAME ON THE DASH WHILE THE ENGINE WAS OFF, INCLUDING HIGH-BEAM INDICATOR, EMERGENCY FLASHERS, AND THE SPEEDO AND TACH STOPPED WORKING. LATER THE SAME DAY I STOPPED TO FUEL UP AND THE BIKE WOULD NOT START, AND ALL THE SAME DASH LIGHTS WERE ON (EVEN THOUGH THE EMERGENCY FLASHERS WERE NOT FLASHING AND HIGH-BEAMS WERE NOT ON. THE MOTORCYCLE WAS TOWED HOME. I LATER REPAIRED IT. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS A MELTED GROUND CIRCUIT CONNECTOR, CAUSED BY AN OVERLOAD ON THE CIRCUIT. I REPAIRED IT BY RUNNING AN ADDITIONAL GROUND WIRE TO THE FRAME TO OFFLOAD PART OF THE CURRENT. *TR