Something To Check ...

Long story short, my V-Strom (NOT my VFR!) died on me about a month ago and left me stranded 150 miles from home. Luckily I was with a friend who live only 40 miles away and had a trailer. He rode home, got his trailer, and came back for me. He was also kind enough to bring my bike the remaining 115 miles to Nashville a week later. It behaved exactly as if it ran out of gas; coughed a couple of times and died.

When I got it home I found out that the problem was intermittent. It would run fine for a while, and then it would dump again. Took me running it in the basement several times over a period of a week before I could reproduce the problem, but I finally did. I have an extended warranty but didn't want to take it to the shop only to hear, "We couldn't reproduce the problem" so I made sure it was broke when I sent it over.

They kept it about 10 days. The tech that worked on it is very, very good and finally tracked the problem down. There is a wiring harness beneath the airbox. Not the lid of the airbox, but beneath the box itself. Inside that harness is the wire that goes from the stator pickup wire to the ECU, and right next to that wire is a ground wire. On the bottom of the airbox is a clip holding a vacuum hose. That clip was positioned wrong and over time sawed its way into the wiring harness. When things vibrated just right it would ground the wire from the stator to the ECU, effectively shutting down the ECU. No spark, no fuel injection, no nothing but a dead bike.

When working on your bike take time to look for crimps in wiring harnesses and things that might cut into them. This one took over 22,000 miles and 2 years to show up but when it did the bike was stone cold dead. Luckily I had an extended warranty that covered it, so all I'm out is the aggravation and the $100 I paid my friend for bringing my bike to Nashville.

 

I agree! He's serviced my bike since the day I got it, and the only time I've had any problems was the one time he was on vacation and someone else did it. He is very, very good and has always taken good care of me. I make certain to thank him each time he works on it, and let him know I appreciate it.

 

My local shop would have said... "You need a new engine!"
and while we're at it, how about new tires.

 

Yes by all means! Libations for the good tech. I personally never forget a cash tip either. It was wise on your part to do all you can to either make the bike fail, or figure out the conditions which make it do so, then tell your tech directly. Service writers don't always know the right questions...or communicate that crucial bit of info. Intermittent electrical problems are tough. In order to diagnose anything with a meter, the circuit has to be in a state of failure. Short of that...all you're left with is visual inspection.

 

I agree. In fact I even wrote down everything I had tried and checked, and Ray was smart enough to ignore things I had already looked at. The service writer included the note I gave him with the repair order. In short, these guys do their best to get things done right. Shops like that are, unfortunately, becoming harder and harder to find.

 

Hey FrankQ:

I know it may be a bit of a drive, but the guy I go to here in DE is pretty damn good and very reasonable. So if you have a bunch of work, let me know.

BZ