Feej always runs perfect. Until recently.

[DiggerDr.]

Upon arriving home one day last week I took a shortcut through the yard because a visitor was blocking the approach to my garage door. At the driveway/yard transition I hit an unseen rut. Due to the fact the yard is sloped there and my leg was about 12 inches too short to catch it, down we went at about 5 mph. Got her upright. Let sit for about 10 minutes to allow oil to settle, fired her up and parked.  Mirror folded back, frame slider full of grass and dirt, and scuffed right side case is all. Or so I thought. Later I took it for a short ride to check it out. Seemed fine. Rode to work Mon, Tues, and Wednesday. 80 miles one way. 5 miles county roads,18 miles of interstate and the balance is 2 lane highway. Ran decent, occasional low speed sluggish operation. Rode today. Still not quite right. Filled the tank at lunch. Leaving the station she hiccuped and almost died. Did not want to idle. Kept the speed around 1500 and got back to shop. After work I decided to avoid the interstate. Started and ran fine at high idle, so I took off. At one point approaching a stoplight she died. Got her going again. Getting worse at low rpm. Turn signals on both sides flashing faster than normal...Odd. Should have pulled over right then. But, it's Friday, I want to get home.

15 miles from home she died in a 90 degree corner. No warning. Coasted into a church parking light and realized that even though my key was on, I had no dash gauges. Pulled the battery cover and AH HA! Battery hold down broken. Evidently when I dropped it the main power feed had pulled out of battery terminal. Evidently it has been lightly touching the terminal. Put it back in, tightened the crap out of it and rode home. Then I removed the fork terminal someone had put on and installed a ring terminal.

Feej is happy again and back to her old reliable self. At highway speed the charging system kept everything going. Its a wonder the charging system was not damaged. I should have checked it better but I was concerned with cosmetics. Should have learned that lesson when I was single.

 

[RossKean]

Was starting to sound like a "spider" bite.  Keep an eye on the dash lights (hi beam and signal indicators) for anomalies.

Hope it is all sorted!

 

[DiggerDr.]

RossKean, that is one of the thoughts going through my mind at the time. That's why I noticed the turn signals flashing fast. They are not the easiest to see with a bright sun shining on them. They are not really dim, just could be brighter.

 

[RossKean]

When I had a spider bite (S6) on my '07, the most obvious oddities were that BOTH turn signal indicators were on but dimmer than usual even though neither the signal lights nor the hazards were activated.  The indicator for the high beam was also lit.  Can't remember what else - (maybe glovebox and windshield?) but it ran OK.

 

[DiggerDr.]

Although I don't have these issues I believe it would be a good idea to check them out. My comment about the turn signals was because they are smaller and not as easily seen as my other bikes. Thanks for the input!

 

[rbentnail]

In the 2 months or so leading up to my S4 spider failure I had several weird electrical things happen.  I thought at first that I needed a new battery or maybe I have a switch sticking or a connector requiring cleaning or... or ... or ...  The problem was never consistent and I very quickly felt like I was chasing my tail around & around & around until the S4 was fine one moment and burned the next.  My spider bite story with pics here:

pg 1 -> https://www.dropbox.com/s/lp9tr6zyoplge99/Ground Spider Thread FJRFORUM pg 1.pdf?dl=0

pg 2 -> https://www.dropbox.com/s/ev1xqxcgppri362/Ground Spider Thread pg 2.pdf?dl=0

Note the first post where I mention the battery suspicions.  I took no action at first waiting for something definitive to occur.  It did.  

 

[DiggerDr.]

I actually just went through that thread after doing a "spider bite" search. Very good article. (Stole your pics by the way) I actually had a power wire pulled from battery that caused my issue, but with the assistance of the information I have discovered (Thank you!) I am going over the whole system as a proactive measure. The idea of losing headlights without warning is disturbing.

 

[dcarver]

The idea of losing headlights without warning is disturbing.

Hard lesson to learn. I had main and aux lights on same circuit. Poof, out went ALL lights. 

 

[DiggerDr.]

Good reason to have them separate. Even using the light circuit with a relay would cause them to go out simultaneously. While I have not installed auxiliary lights yet, they will be separate. Thanks for bringing that up.

 

[RossKean]

Good reason to have them separate. Even using the light circuit with a relay would cause them to go out simultaneously. While I have not installed auxiliary lights yet, they will be separate. Thanks for bringing that up.

Mine are a separate circuit and normally run at their minimum power (day and night) but are triggered to go to 100% brightness with high beam.  I guess I would lose that functionality if I lost headlights but they can still be controlled with a separate control knob.

 

[DiggerDr.]

That sounds like a good arrangement. One question. At minimum power is there enough light available to see well enough to continue on? Or at least give you enough time to crank up the power? I think I have settled on the Clearwaters. And the high beam setup would be great. First part of my commute is in the dark. Lot of wildlife. I want the Clearwaters to spot deer etc. Hate to hit one, they don't carry insurance.

 

[RossKean]

I have Clearwater Ericas mounted with mirror mounts - no shortage of light and would only take a second or two to turn them up anyway.  On full, these will turn night into day.

I also have fork-mounted Glendas with amber lenses running at about half power all the time.  (Don't think they still sell the Glendas - now have a Glendina with a little more power.)

My bike was bought used and came equipped with these lights.  They are among the best available and the price reflects that.  I don't think I would fork out that much money myself but then again, I don't do a lot of riding after sundown if I can help it.  Lots of good options out there worth investigating.