My Max quit on the freeway

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Hijinx1812

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Allen Park, MI
I rode into work this morning and everything was fine. Bike ran great, perfect weather, light traffic. On the way home, I hit a huge raised spot on the freeway and the bike completely shut down. I was able to get it to the shoulder but I had to have it towed home.

I’m not sure what happened. I assume something got knocked loose somewhere but I won’t have time to look too deep into it until this weekend. The bike turns over ok and the battery is strong so I think something somewhere got disconnected.

Has anyone had something similar happen & what did you do to fix it?

Thanks in advance!
 
Thanks - I’m off next week so I know what I’ll be doing! What a pain.... I’m just thankful that I was able to get over to the shoulder & didn’t get picked off by a cager on their phone while I waited for the tow truck.
 
I-94 or I-75? MY friend who was raised in Birmingham MI, worked and retired from GM @ the Tech Center in Warren, told me that if you broke-down on the Detroit-area interstate and you left your car, there would be little of it left, if you left it sitting on the shoulder, when you returned. He used to ride to Warren from Oxford township on a CBR 600 F2. I can only expect the opportunistic thieves would be worse for a not-attended motorcycle.

On those 'checks,' look for a partially-disconnected plug, a broken wire where the wire enters either-side of the plug, oxidation on the contacts (a smear of some dielectric grease on the opened plug contacts, before re-connecting them may help to stop corrosion) a sticking switch which isn't operating properly. The sidestand switch could be partially deployed due to corrosion on the barrel. The running bike will die when you kick it into gear, if the sidestand is down, if it's operating correctly. Operating incorrectly, it could do exactly what you're saying, crank but not-start. I'd also check the kill switch pod & plug.
 
Thanks for the tips - I’ll be going through everything next week.

I was on I-94 east, just past Huron River Drive. It happened at the worst possible place - on the other side of a low visibility curve during rush hour. I agree with your friend. There’s no way I would have left my bike there. I’m sure it would have walked away in no time! All in all, the situation sucked but I’m thankful that nothing worse happened.
 
I'd check your grounds. I'd check the ignition key switch, and its plug. The sidestand swiignition tch. The fuse block. The relays under the seat and the left scoop.

Do check the ignition pick up connection on the left side near the battery. A black plug if I recollect. It would cause a shut down/no start. Worth a look, and a dab of di-electric grease upon reconnection can't hurt.
 
I’ll definitely check the kickstand switch too. Thanks for everyone’s advice. I’m off this weekend and all next week so I’ll have time to tear into it (and do a few other things while it’s apart, too). I’m sure it’s something simple and just a matter of finding it
 
It runs on the sidestand switch, but when you kick it into-gear, it kills the ignition, if the sidestand is deployed.
 
Right, but e

Right, but if my switch is bad, will the bike even turn over? On a bike with a functioning switch, will the bike even turn over with the side stand deployed? Thanks!

Yes it will turn over and run while sitting on the sidestand. Leave the sidestand down, put it in gear, and the ignition is cut-off. The engine stops. Flip-up the sidestand, and your bike will start on the starter button. If your battery ran-down, you should be able to get it going by 'bump-starting' it, though pushing a near 600 lbs bike is hard to do. Second gear, and get up some speed, as-much as-possible.

As has been mentioned many times in other threads, the sidestand switch can have a 'sticky' shaft where a build-up of corrosion and/or a lack of sufficient lubrication will cause the switch to not adequately-move. It stays in the 'kill the ignition' position, and you're left scratching your head, "why-won't this %$@! engine start?" A shot of WD-40, and working the sidestand switch shaft in and out fully, should take care of that problem for many months.
 
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I emailed with Tim Nash [he is awesome] a while ago when my 09 wouldn't crank. My buddies were pushing me all over a gas station lot with NO luck. After pushing the starter button a bunch of times it cranked and started..Happened a 2nd time months later, after lots of good starts. So 3 things for those that are interested..

Tim said the ECU needs to see some RPM before ignition is turned on and the engine starts.. Pretty stupid thing if you ask me, but guessing Yamaha had a reason. So bump starting is a tough thing to do.. Maybe someone else can give some input on their experience.

As a part of maintenance now I open the started button assembly and clean the contacts at the beginning of the season. Tim said that it was probably either the side stand switch or starter button.. Mine was the starter button.. After reading this thread, this weekend I'm going to check and lube the side stand and switch.

Under the seat is the starter solenoid, The color codes for the starter button and solenoid are the same.. I believe it was a Blue w/ White trace and Black w/ White trace. You could manually jump these in a pinch to get it to crank. If I am wrong on the color codes someone can chime in.. But I'm pretty sure these are correct.
 
I spoke with Damon Ferraiuolo the other day and he gave me a step by step of where to start. I’m going to mess with the side stand switch first & then start deep diving to figure out what’s disconnected. It’s making me crazy - it cranks all day just won’t start!
 
I spoke with Damon Ferraiuolo the other day and he gave me a step by step of where to start. I’m going to mess with the side stand switch first & then start deep diving to figure out what’s disconnected. It’s making me crazy - it cranks all day just won’t start!

Keep it basic. Sometimes its the simplest things we over look. Sidestand switch, kill switch all easy to look at and test.
 
What year bike was this? The 85-89's are going to most likely be a bad sidestand relay (4 wire connector part mounted to the left lower front of the CDI rack in front/above the airbox). Accessible by removing the left scoop and neck cover. Look for the gold relay or black relay with blue body section.
If 90-07 then the most likely no start scenario is a bad pickup coil. Remove the seat and look for the 2 wire orange and black connector. Unplug it and test for resistance going down to the sensor on the left.
This is of course provided you have a good main fuse (located just above the positive terminal of the battery under the seat). There is an active fuse and a spare in the small black box.
 

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