2007 Yamaha FJR1300

IGNITION SWITCH AND POWER TO BIKE BECAME ERRATIC WHEN TURNING KEY ON. FIRST FAILURE APPEARED TO BE CLEARED UPON REPETITIVE CYCLING OF THE IGNITION WITH KEY. FINAL OCCURRENCE RESULTED WITH BIKE FAILING TO POWER UP AT ALL ROUGHLY TWO WEEKS LATER. PER INFORMATION OBTAINED ON THE INTERNET AT FJRFORUM.COM TITLED "FJRF003: IGNITION FAILURES ON FJRS", I DISASSEMBLED IGNITION SWITCH. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE BROWN WIRE IN THE IGNITION SWITCH HAD DETACHED ITSELF FROM THE SOLDER CONNECTION WITH THE MATING RED WIRE PARTIALLY LIFTED FROM ITS SOLDER CONNECTION. SOLDER CONNECTIONS CLEANED AND RESOLDERED. BIKE APPEARS TO BE OKAY TO DATE. *TR

MY ENGINE DIED WHILE I WAS COMING TO A STOP ON MY 2007 FJR1300 MOTORCYCLE. I NOTICED THAT THERE WAS NO ELECTRICAL INDICATIONS AND THE IGNITION SWITCH DID NOT RESPOND. I GOT THE BIKE BACK TO THE DEALER IN HOUSTON AND THEY IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT THE PROBLEM WAS SWITCH FAILURE. THE FJR FORUM AT WWW.FJRFORUM.COM/FORUM/INDEX.PHP?SHOWTOPIC=103354 HAS SHOWN THAT THIS IS A RECURRING PROBLEM. THE DEALER WAS ABLE TO GET A REPLACEMENT SWITCH IN ABOUT 10 DAYS AND REPLACED IT FOR APPROXIMATELY $250. I BELIEVE THIS IS A DEFINITE SAFETY ISSUE AND SHOULD BE ADDRESSED WITH YAMAHA CORP. USA. *TR

IGNITION SWITCH FAILURE. WHILE PULLING AWAY FROM A STOP LIGHT, THE MOTORCYCLE SUFFERED A COMPLETE ELECTRICAL FAILURE. THIS CAUSED THE ENGINE AND ALL ACCESSORIES, INCLUDING ALL LIGHTS, TO FAIL, NEARLY RESULTING IN A REAR END COLLISION. MOVING THE WIRE HARNESS AT THE BACK OF THE IGNITION SWITCH CAUSES THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM TO FLICKER ON AND OFF. *TR

I WAS DRIVING THE MOTORCYCLE WHEN IT HAD A TOTAL ELECTRICAL FAILURE, THE ENGINE SHUT OFF, AND I HAD TO COAST TO A STOP IN THE MEDIAN. THERE WAS NO LIGHTS OF ANY KIND AND NO REACTION TO THE IGNITION SWITCH OR STARTER BUTTON. I WAS ABLE TO GET POWER BACK BY MOVING THE HANDLEBARS ALL THE WAY TO THE LEFT. I WENT ANOTHER 3 BLOCKS AND IT DIED AGAIN. I DID THE HANDLEBAR MOTION AGAIN AND POWER CAME BACK. IT DIED IN ANOTHER 3 BLOCKS AND I WAS ABLE TO PUSH IT HOME. I REMOVED THE IGNITION SWITCH/KEY MECHANISM AND DISASSEMBLED IT, AND THE RED WIRE HAD PULLED CLEANLY OFF THE CIRCUIT BOARD. THE DAMAGE WAS SIMILAR TO THE POST AT HTTP://WWW.FJRFORUM.COM/FORUM/INDEX.PHP?SHOWTOPIC=103354 EXCEPT IT WAS THE RED WIRE IN MY CASE INSTEAD OF THE BROWN. AS YOU CAN SEE BY SEARCHING THE FORUM, THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF THESE FAILURES. THE PAGE AT HTTP://WWW.FJRFORUM.COM/FORUM/INDEX.PHP?SHOWTOPIC=26098 LISTS SIMILAR OCCURRENCES EXPERIENCED BY FORUM MEMBERS. THERE WAS A VERY TIGHT "ZIP-TIE" NEAR THE SWITCH IN THE WIRING LOOM, AND IT IS MY OPINION THAT THIS EXERTED ENOUGH STRESS TO EVENTUALLY PULL THE WIRE OFF. I CORRECTED THE PROBLEM BY REMOVING THE ZIP TIE AND RE-SOLDERING THE WIRE TO THE CIRCUIT BOARD. AN UNEXPECTED LOSS OF POWER MIGHT BE VERY DANGEROUS IF SOMEONE IS PULLING OUT INTO TRAFFIC. IT WAS EVEN MORE DANGEROUS SINCE IT WAS AT NIGHT AND OTHER DRIVERS COULDN'T SEE ME BECAUSE I NO LONGER HAD LIGHTS. *TR

IGNITION SWITCH FAILURE AT APPROXIMATELY 21,000, 28,000, 33,000 AND 44,000 MILES. THE FAILURE HAS NOT YET OCCURRED WHILE THE MOTORCYCLE IS IN MOTION. THE IGNITION SWITCH FAILS TO ENGAGE, OR TURN ON. INSTRUMENT PANEL FLASHES ON MOMENTARILY THEN GOES DEAD. MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS AT TURNING ON/OFF EVENTUALLY RESULT IN A FUNCTIONING IGNITION. LOCAL YAMAHA DEALER CONTINUES TO ADVISE USING CONTACT CLEANER AND EVENTUALLY CONTACTING MANUFACTURER TO SEE IF THEY WILL REPLACE UNDER WARRANTY. CURRENT INDICATIONS FROM OTHER OWNERS IS THAT THE PARTS ARE NOT AVAILABLE AND THAT YAMAHA HAS YET TO ACKNOWLEDGE THIS AS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT. *TR

WHILE RIDING THE 2007 YAMAHA FJR1300 THE MOTORCYCLE SHUT OFF ABRUPTLY. IT WAS AS IF THE KEY WAS TURNED OFF, ALL LIGHTS AND INSTRUMENTS WENT DARK. I WAS ABLE TO CLEAR TRAFFIC AND GET OFF THE ROAD WITHOUT BEING HIT, COULD HAVE BEEN UGLY. THE DEALER AT FIRST CLAIMED NO KNOWLEDGE OF SIMILAR FAILURES, WHEN PRESSED THEY ADMITTED THAT YAMAHA KNOWS THAT 2006 AND 2007 FJR IGNITION SWITCHES ARE FAILING WITH REGULARITY, YAMAHA PROVIDED A REPLACEMENT IGNITION SWITCH. TEARING THE OLD SWITCH APART REVEALED THAT PART OF THE PLASTIC WAS MELTED AND THE MAIN FEED OUT OF THE SWITCH HAD UNSOLDERED ITSELF FROM ITS POST. HAVING THE ENGINE SHUT OFF UNEXPECTEDLY ON A MOTORCYCLE IN TRAFFIC CAN BE DEADLY. YAMAHA ASKED IF I HAD ANY ACCESSORIES WIRED ONTO THE BIKE WHICH COULD HAVE CAUSED ADDITIONAL LOAD ON THE SWITCH. I DO NOT, THE ONLY LOAD ON THE IGNITION SWITCH IS WHAT IS DESIGNED IN BY YAMAHA. THE DEALER KEPT THE OLD SWITCH AFTER IT WAS TAKEN APART. I WAS NOT ALLOWED TO PHOTOGRAPH THE FAILED COMPONENTS. *TR

THE TURN SIGNAL INDICATORS ARE THE SIZE OF PENCIL ERASERS AND ARE LOCATED OUT OF VIEW ON THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. THEY ARE NOT VISIBLE WITH PERIPHERAL VISION DURING NORMAL DRIVING WITH THE EYES ON THE ROAD. IN ORDER TO SEE THEM THE DRIVER MUST TAKE HIS EYES OFF THE ROAD AND TILT HIS HEAD AND HELMET DOWN. THEY ARE NOT SELF CANCELING. THEY HAVE NO AUDIBLE OR TACTICAL INDICATORS AND THE VISUAL INDICATORS ARE INSUFFICIENT. CONSEQUENTLY AFTER MAKING A TURN THE DRIVER IS UNAWARE THAT THE TURN SIGNALS ARE STILL ON AND MAY DRIVE FOR MANY MILES THIS WAY. MY SELF AND OTHER DRIVERS OF THE 06-07 FJR1300 SERIES HAVE HAD NUMEROUS INCIDENTS AND CLOSE CALLS OF VEHICLE TRAFFIC ENTERING OUR PATH BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT WE WERE ABOUT TO MAKE A TURN. *TR