NHTSA Complaint #10358153 — 2006 YAMAHA FJR1300A

AFTER STARTING MY MOTORCYCLE FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT DAY, MY WIFE AND I RODE IT .9 MILES WHEN THE ENGINE QUIT RUNNING. I WAS MIDWAY THROUGH A STEEP, DOWNHILL LEFT TURN WHEN I LOST POWER. I STOPPED THE BIKE USING A COMBINATION OF FRONT AND REAR BRAKES, STOPPING AT THE STOP SIGN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL. SEVERAL OF THE LIGHTS ON THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER WERE ILLUMINATED. BOTH TURN SIGNAL INDICATOR LIGHTS WERE LIT WITHOUT FLASHING. THE LCD FUEL GAUGE WAS FLASHING. THE HIGH BEAM INDICATOR LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THE BIKE'S HEADLIGHTS WERE NOT ILLUMINATED. THE HORN DID NOT WORK. THESE SYMPTOMS HAVE BEEN REPORTED BEFORE ON FJRFORUM.COM AS I WAS 150 MILES FROM HOME, I MADE A PHONE CALL TO A FRIEND AND ASKED HIM TO GO ON FJRFORUM.COM AND FIND THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM. FOLLOWING THE DESCRIPTIONS AND PHOTOS OFFERED ON THE FORUM, I WAS ABLE TO LOCATE A MELTED CONNECTOR. IT IS KNOWN AS A "GROUND SPIDER". AFTER REMOVING THE GROUND SPIDER, CLEANING IT AND REINSTALLING IT, I WAS ABLE TO GET THE BIKE RUNNING. THE BIKE RAN NORMALLY FOR 4 OR 5 MILES BEFORE THE SAME PROBLEM RETURNED. KNOWING WHAT TO LOOK FOR, I AGAIN PARTIALLY DISASSEMBLED THE BIKE TO AGAIN HAVE ACCESS TO THE GROUND SPIDER. THIS TIME, I CUT THE MELTED PLASTIC OFF THE LUGS, EXPOSING THEM AND USED UTILITY WIRE TO BIND THEM TOGETHER. THE BIKE RAN NORMALLY AFTER THAT. I WAS ABLE TO RIDE THE BIKE HOME. I WOULD LIKE YAMAHA TO CORRECT THIS DESIGN FLAW. THE PROBLEM IS WELL DOCUMENTED. SOME VERY INTELLIGENT FJR OWNERS HAVE TRIED TO MAKE THE BEST OF THIS SITUATION. YAMAHA COULD EASILY USE THE INFORMATION GENEROUSLY SHARED ON FJRFORUM.COM TO CORRECT THEIR PROBLEMATIC WIRING HARNESS. *TR