Moosehead Lake, Maine. Well, the ride started off good....

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FJRMaineiac

Well-known member
FJR Supporter
Joined
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Location
Wales, ME
This past weekend, on Labor Day in fact, I decided to take a solo ride to Moosehead Lake. This would be a 6 hr (+/-) round trip and it is a ride I hadn't done in many years. I made sure the FJR was ready to go - checked the tires, made sure I had my travel tools, first aid kit, rain gear, etc. all packed. As an old Boy Scout, I try to live the Scout Motto - Be Prepared - although I will be reminded that there are some things you really can't prepare for.

So the bike is ready to go:
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(yea, I am putting off the wood pile for another day)

So I head north, up I-95, getting off in Pittsfield, heading north through Dover-Foxcroft, Monson, and Greenville. In Greenville I headed northeast to see how far north I could go before I ran out of pavement. I rode the Golden Road once before - a private gravel road owned and maintained by logging companies that had been featured in the TV show American Logger years ago. That is not a road one should normally take an FJR, but I like to push the limits of sanity sometimes. I wrote about that ride here (in case you are interested).

I got to just north of Kokadjo at the entrance to the Golden Road and found there were no other paved roads to ride. I was hoping that I could find one that looped around the north shore of Moosehead, but it doesn't exist, so I road back down to Greenville and head west toward Rockwood. Before leaving Greenwood, I stopped to take this photo:

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This is just the southern tip of Moosehead Lake and it really doesn't do it justice, but it is a nice view nonetheless.

Between Greenville and Rockwood I decided to put the GoPro to work. I used the same suction cup mount that I had used successfully a couple of weeks ago when I rode up Mt. Washington. Not sure what went wrong this time, but the suction cup didn't stick, and this is a pretty good reminder that using some sort of tether might be a good idea:




When I got to Rockwood it was about lunchtime. There was a bar and grill there, but it was a nice day, so I opted to grab a sandwich from the convenience store and head up the road a little further to find a place to eat outside. Just east of Rockwood, I found a turnout on Lake Brassua - nice view, great place to take a break.

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Everything was perfect, until I tried to leave. I got back on the bike, turned the key, and ... nothing. No dash lights, no fuel pump sound, no nothing. I have auxiliary wires connected directly to the battery to power things like a cell phone charger and that was still working, but nothing motorcycle related. I also noticed that the ignition just didn't feel right. Rather than the smooth and distinct "click", it was (for lack of a better description) a little "crunchy" when I turned it from off to on.

I fussed with it for a while. Took off a bunch of tupperware looking for burned fuses (found none), looking for loose or broken wires (found none), looking for ANYTHING that could explain the no-start. Some kind riders and drivers stopped by to check on me and one even helped with the troubleshooting, but in the final analysis I determined that I believed the ignition switch itself was the culprit, and I didn't have any tools on hand to McGyver a solution around that. Fortunately I had just enough cell phone service to call my better half, and with the help of her, my son, my father-in-law and his utility trailer, they headed north to rescue me. It wasn't all bad. It was a long wait on the side of the road, but we had a nice drive home together and made the best of it.

The next day, I trailered the FJR to the dealer where I bought it 15 years ago - Woody's Performance in Topsham, ME (great guys - I can't say enough good things about them - I have purchased 2 motorcycles there and have used them for all the service that I can't do myself). They confirmed that it was, indeed, a failed ignition switch, but there was more.... apparently some mice had decided to make a home of my FJR and there was a nest between the gas tank and engine. In addition, they had chewed through at least one of my ignition coil wires. The service manager didn't know how the thing could have been running without stumbling or rough running at all. I stated that it felt fine and I hadn't noticed anything different. It started easy, had plenty of power and felt strong on acceleration. However, when I listen to that video clip above, It doesn't sound quite right. With ear plugs in, it sounded fine, but upon closer examination, it probably wasn't.

In any case, I will get the bike back next week after the ignition switch arrives. Such an odd thing to fail - even this old Boy Scout wasn't prepared for it!

 
Alvin, Simon, and Theodore have been known to nest in air filters for youse Northern guys who park your bikes for months at a time.

Preventive maintenance may involve cat ownership.
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Photos look good, however!

 
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Nice pics, thanks for sharing with us! Too bad you were stranded but at least the ignition switch problem was identified and easily remedied. Mice...cant help with those!!

~G

 
Mice (and perhaps chipmunks) are a peculiar problem and this isn't the first time I have had issues. My motorcycle is parked outdoors during the summer (under cover of one of those "temporary" garage / tent type things. I also live in the woods, and this has been a particularly heavy year for acorn production. Oak trees go through cycles and in the years where there is a 'bumper crop' of acorns, critters busy themselves with finding places to store them for when the need them later. Apparently my motorcycle has been particularly attractive for some reason because I have emptied bushels of acorns some years and none during others. What is more strange to me is that they don't seem to find homes in my other vehicles (trucks / cars) also parked outside. During the summer, the motorcycle is my daily driver, so my truck sits more, but for some reason they still like to nest in the motorcycle.

I will have to be more diligent in setting traps or other home remedies. Cats might be a solution for some, but I am allergic to them so that won't work.

 
One day, I will ride New England.

Until then, I'll live vicariously through ya'll.

Sorry about your switch problem. Was worried it was worse.

 
Yes Mice and squirrels, and chipmunks quite the nuisances. Used to have an affen pinscher, he took care of all of that. They are a one person dog though, really smart and full of energy. Hope your bike runs better when you get it back!

 
Pretty views... that area is high on my bucket list!</p>

One time I took my bike in for service, and the technician found a bird's nest in the exhaust fan area... birdie still intact... and a bit crispy.

 
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Where did you get the black ‘04? They only came in a blueish silver up here.
My '04 was originally the same "Cerulean Silver" as all others sold in '04, but I had it painted black several years ago after an "unscheduled get-off". Long story, but but short version is that I came upon a small rural bridge that had been replaced, but not yet re-paved and the gravel had spread out approaching the bridge on the pavement leading up to it. This bridge was right after a blind rise and left hand turn, and by the time my brain registered the gravel on the pavement, it was too late. Fortunately, I wasn't going that fast to cause any severe damage to me or the motorcycle (I rode it home), but the Tupperware was thoroughly scratched. I had to replace some pieces and repaired others. I took the opportunity to change it to the color I wanted and my paint guy did a fantastic job on it.

 
Yes Mice and squirrels, and chipmunks quite the nuisances. Used to have an affen pinscher, he took care of all of that. They are a one person dog though, really smart and full of energy. Hope your bike runs better when you get it back!
A friend of mine suggested this solution and it has worked great. Caught 3 so far. Much better than any single use trap.

mousetrap8 by Robert Michaud, on Flickr

 
Yup, and there are different ways to handle it from there. The "humane" method - leave the bucket empty so the mice survive when they fall in and then you can "relocate" them to a new home. Most people, however, put water or anti-freeze (just a few inches) in the bottom and they drown. The anti-freeze "pickles" them and keeps them from smelling if you can't get to the trap frequently. However, I wouldn't want to use anti-freeze where dogs or cats might get at it, so I have opted for water. Very effective.

My only problem now is that I think I have a squirrel or chipmunk in the area that is clever or nimble enough to lick the peanut butter off without falling in (or is able to jump out if he does) because I am coming home from work to find the ramps have been knocked off and the peanut butter is gone.

I may have to break out the Have a Heart trap to see what the bigger critter is. Stay tuned.

 
My riding bud keeps his Blackbird in a wood shed-one day, starting off on a ride, following him, I was blasted with flaming mice...they had a nest in his exhaust can...

 
My riding bud keeps his Blackbird in a wood shed-one day, starting off on a ride, following him, I was blasted with flaming mice...they had a nest in his exhaust can...
Yea, I had a similar issue once. Mice can be pretty determined and I park my bike outdoors under a car port during the summer as it is my daily driver. Still, those little buggers find time to climb up into all sorts of places and make them selves at home. One day at work, one of the ladies down stairs came to get me, all in a tizzy (as we say up here) because there were baby mice falling out of my motorcycle. Somehow, they had built a nest in there, had their babies, and when they got old enough to squirm out, they did. The ladies wouldn't stand for killing the baby mice, so I actually had to find someone to take them. Believe it or not, I have a friend who is a really wildlife lover that took them, nursed them to health and released them back into the woods.

 
Peanut butter. Of course. At "oh dark thirty" I was about ask about the rubber bands around the middle of the can. Silly me (blind in one eye and can't see out of the other). ;)

 
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