Friend on the road having bike problems - gen2

Hey folks - a friend of mine is on the road and is experiencing some bike problems. Bike wouldn't start this morning, so he thought the battery was dead and replaced that. Started heading home from Dallas to Colorado and started having some more problems. Said it started out at first with the FI and ABS and gauges lights flashing, then the gauges started bouncing around around progressively worse till they would totally cut off then bounce back up. Bike started cutting out off and on, and he limped it into the nearest town. Any thoughts based on the issues present? I'm thinking spider bite since it's a Gen2, but haven't started digging yet.

Sounds more like an ignition switch than a spider bite.

Has ignition switch recall been done?

Somewhere on this forum is info about bypassing ignition

switch. IIRC it involves jumping the brown wire.

SLK50 said:

Sounds more like an ignition switch than a spider bite. Has ignition switch recall been done?

Somewhere on this forum is info about bypassing ignition

switch. IIRC it involves jumping the brown wire.

Click to expand...

Or maybe loose battery connections.

El Toro Joe said:

SLK50 said:

Sounds more like an ignition switch than a spider bite.

Has ignition switch recall been done?

Somewhere on this forum is info about bypassing ignition

switch. IIRC it involves jumping the brown wire.

Click to expand...

Or maybe loose battery connections.

Click to expand...

He thought it was the battery being dead at first and replaced that. He's confident those connections are good as he just put in the new battery earlier.

He's going to fiddle with the ignition switch in the morning and see if turning the key repeatedly or moving the wires going in affects things.

Is the bike charging the battery. Sounds like he's losing power to the battery.

That's likely the S4 spider problem. Something very similar happened to my '07. The reason that the engine is cutting in and out

is that the ground for the fuel pump goes through the S4.

By all means, check the ignition switch and battery connections. Look for oddities with lights, high beam indicator, turn signals etc. - further indications of a spider issue. Have the S4 and ignition switch recalls been done? Check the voltage on the battery terminals while running. If not close to 14, there might be a regulator or stator problem (assuming connections are tight). I guess it wouldn't hurt to check the starter relay (and connections to it) while doing the other electrical checks.

Sounds like the contenders are the S4 plug and ignition switch.

The gauges sweeping is a good indication of lost power. If the trip odometer and clock reset the problem is low voltage, perhaps the charging circuit. If the odo & clock don't reset but the gauges sweep it is an indication that ignition power was interrupted which is likely to be the ignition switch.

The fuel pump and ABS ECU do share the same ground scheme, I just don't know if they share the same spider connector.

Edit: Cross post with Ross, we share similar information.

Thanks guys. It's looking like it's a ground spider. He tried to get to Amarillo today and it made it about 20 miles and went apeshit and died. Also smelled the tell tale burning plastic smell. Getting it towed to a Yamaha shop in Amarillo tomorrow.

If it's the s4 under the tank, is there any reason one simply couldn't cut out the connector and bypass it to get home?

Justin said:

Thanks guys. It's looking like it's a ground spider. He tried to get to Amarillo today and it made it about 20 miles and went apeshit and died. Also smelled the tell tale burning plastic smell. Getting it towed to a Yamaha shop in Amarillo tomorrow.
If it's the s4 under the tank, is there any reason one simply couldn't cut out the connector and bypass it to get home?

Click to expand...

No reason not to. Cut the ends off and solder the wires together. Been done many times.

If the problem is with S4, make sure that the Yamaha service department documents it. It won't do your friend any good for an on-road emergency but might get him a complete new harness on Yamaha's nickel once he makes it home. When the recall was new, an undamaged S4 would get the prescribed fix but a damaged harness would get replaced.

Regarding soldering the ends together, its a good emergency repair but Yamaha wasn't overly generous with the length of wire in this location so it can be tricky.

The problem will probably turn out to be a slagged spider, but it bothers me about the sweeping gauges. FWIW, the ignition switch fails when the electric power contact carrier which is made of plastic melts

and could be a plastic stinker too.

Hope the dealer is open on a Monday. I've gotten stuck a couple times waiting for a Tues in a motel. Imagine if car dealers closed Mondays

Most deales are closed Sundays and Mondays

easy things first...I would bypass the switch- expose the 2 fat wires under the switch [brown and red I think], and wire nutt them together..if that's not it switches are cheap... Then do the spider.... beats sitting in a motel

not to forget to unhook the batt if you work on the switch..might blow the main fuse...[which most auto stores should have-NAPA does]

2007-02-20 2006 Ignition switch failure


published by dcarver on Fri, 03/04/2011 - 05:04

Forums:

KrZy8
...Two confirmed failures now
Posted 20 February 2007 - 07:44 PM

On a Death Valley group ride last weekend, my 2006 'A' suddenly experienced a total loss of electrical power. The failure was instant and total. No early warning signs. Had I been passing a series of cars or... it would have been nasty. Just instant and total failure.

Two hours of troubleshooting alongside the road revealed that the 'hot' wire (red) had pulled out from, separated from, the ignition switch module assembly.

This red wire still had the solder joint / switch contact intact. I haven't torn the ignition switch apart yet, but I can imagine a phenolic board held this contact point captive. On the bottom side, the wire approaches from the loom and is soldered onto, or into, a landing pad that's mechanically secured to the phenolic circuit board. The topside of this pad is in fact a contact point for the ignition switch wiper.

Long of short, the whole assembly was *easily* pulled from the switch assembly, with minimal force. It was very apparent the failure was an open, not a short. Simply hot wiring the red to the brown got power back. The two remaining wires, an interlock, required the ignition switch be placed to the run position for the bike to fire.

The cause and what you should look for? The wire loom exiting the switch was ty-wrapped in two places. The wire was 'banjo' string tight. I postulate the harness was ty-wrapped to tight from the factory, causing the red B+ wire to be under constant tension. After so much time and vibration, tension won and the circuit opened.

I would suggest that 2006 owners take a quick peek at the loom exiting the switch bottom and ensure it's not really tight. Sorry I don't have good pix, but it's really easy to see, you don't have to remove any plastic for this inspection.

Here is the best pix I have..

Well, it appears when he said he was sure the battery connections were tight, that he actually wasn't sure..

Back on the road. Razzing will follow.

Justin said:

Well, it appears when he said he was sure the battery connections were tight, that he actually wasn't sure..

Back on the road. Razzing will follow.

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No frikkin way. Really?