Yamaha FJR1300 loss of power problems

Filed Dec 31, 2020 · Transmission · 7,300 miles · TX

I rode to lunch with some friends on saturday, march 25, 2017. After lunch, we got back on the bikes to go home. We came to a red light, it turned green and we pulled away. I'm riding with cruisers and was the second bike. Pulling away was nothing dramatic or "spirited". The bike made a funny bang, lost power, and started knocking. Got it pulled over to a safe place in about 100 yards. It would run, but the lack of power and knocking continued. I had it towed to the shop and went by to visit with them april 4, 2017. The manager came out and asked me to join him in the shop. They had disassembled the engine that morning and had it on a bench. He showed me the inside. It looked like a grenade went off in there. There was shrapnel everywhere. There was a hole in the wall separating the transmission from the crank-chamber, the crank shaft was chewed up, one con-rod was broken, and the underside of the piston was chewed up. They suspect that one of the gears disintegrated, drove through the side of the case, and broke the con-rod before bouncing around and chewing up everything else. Yamaha has asked him for photos and a parts list. He sent them photos. When they saw the extend of the damage, they sent a crate motor to replace the whole thing.

Filed Apr 3, 2016 · Electrical, Engine · 18,500 miles · AL

I was riding at about 30mph on a highway and the engine suddenly died. I had to coast over to the shoulder to stop. The gauges stayed on, the kill switch was in the run position, but the engine would not start (starter would not engage) until I turned the ignition key off then back on. Then it started back up as usual, and I rode on to work. These are the same symptoms described in the recalls # 09v‑002 and 11v‑338 which were performed on my bike in 2011 (modification numbers from yamaha 990051 and 990061) but apparently the bike is not fixed and appears to be dangerous to ride since it lost engine power without warning at speed. Per the recall instructions, the wire sublead was replaced but the wire harness assembly was not replaced. Perhaps the main wire harness is defective and needs to be replaced?

Filed May 29, 2013 · Electrical · 53,198 miles · PA

I was pulling up to a stop light and lost all power. Diagnosis showed a failed ignition switch. Online investigation indicates yamaha was forced by the federal safety agency to recall 2006-09 fjr 1300 models for this switch failure, and there are a huge number of 2001-05 owners complaining of the same failure. This could, and probably has, LED to injury or death if failure occurs at a higher speed. I was 500 miles away from home at the time, and incurred cost exceeding $500 to get home with the motorcycle.

Filed Dec 21, 2011 · Electrical, Engine · 18,000 miles · WA

Engine intermittently cuts-out. Cut-out lasts for a second or less and may repeat itself several times before operating properly again. May cut-out several times in 10 mile daily commute. When engine is cutting-out, it is a complete loss of engine power. Very unsafe situation when traveling on freeway in traffic. Ignition switch and wiring harness recall work has been completed and problem has not been resolved.

Filed Jun 1, 2011 · Electrical · TX

Ignition switch on my 2004 yamaha fjr1300 failed without notice while riding at 60 MPH. The motorcycle immediately lost all power and had to be towed.

Filed Oct 13, 2010 · Electrical · 38,600 miles · IA

The vehicle, a 2007 yamaha fjr1300 motorcycle, instantly lost all power, the engine quit and electrical systems went dead, leaving me with no way to signal my need to move off of the roadway immediately. Within the five minutes prior to this, the engine sputtered twice, momentarily. The problem was diagnosed as a corroded electrical connection under the front left of the fuel tank and was replaced. The problem was diagnosed with help from posts on fjrforum.com containing numerous reports of similar occurrences.

Filed Jul 17, 2008 · Electrical · 7,336 miles · FL

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.

Filed Apr 9, 2008 · Acceleration · 100 miles · CA

Riding up hill severe loss of power and power surges. Several times always riding uphill I have had severe power losses and power surges. Caused me to miss turn and slow down to a stop. I shut down bike and restarted. Turned around and went downhill and the bike operated fine. Have not had any repairs or modifications to bike. This occurred on the first ride on this bike uphill and several times after. Have only ridden 600 miles on this bike.

Filed Jul 10, 2007 · Engine · 800 miles · CA

Altitude above 1500 feet, bike surges and feels as though it would stall. Took to dealership who adjust throttle. Next ride between 1500 and 7000 feet bike continued to surged and loss power going around an incline curve. Had to pull over and shut down the engine. Serious safety issue.

Filed Jul 6, 2007 · Fuel system · 640 miles · WA · crash

1) throttle fainls to respond properly when ascending to a higher altitude more than 1500ft higher than the starting point. 2) this has occurred on several occasions. The throttle will fail to respond when adding more throttle. The bike will begin to loss power until the throttle has been turned to add approximately 20% more, then it will accelerate abruptly. I have run off the road on a slow uphill corner while trying to keep up with the flow of traffic. I ended up being able to stop before I crashed into a snow bank. I have experienced this failure almost everytime I ride my motorcycle into the mountains. The motorcycle will only begin to respond correctly after shutting the power off for about one minute. 3) adventure motorsports has diagnosed the issue, and tried to make adjustments to correct the issue. This has not helped. 46 other owner have report this issue to me as well, the last 6 digits of their VIN's are 000385 to 003350 so far.