If you ever do something really stupid that runs too much current through your FJR's electrical system, or runs the current backwards (or maybe you just have bad luck) this page may help. You'll know if you need it because the ignition key won't turn the bike on, nor will any of the other electrical systems function. No gauges, no clicks, no whirrs. Nada.

The problem? The "main fuse" is blown. This is a 50 amp fuse that protects the entire electrical system from meltdown in case some well meaning but careless person hooks a battery charger/jumper to your FJR backwards and then pushes the button that pumps 200 amps of "starting current" through your poor FJR's electrical system.

The official Yamaha Parts Fiche shows this large fuse as being located in or near the main fuse cluster, shown in the above photo. That's simply not true, though it is true that most of the other smaller fuses are concentrated there. The SERVICE MANUAL is also wrong, though it at least shows it as being near the battery (which is true).

BTW, ATTENTION: Yamaha Motorcycle Designers, if you're reading this page, here's a great idea for improving future FJR1300 models. Please relocate the fuse cluster to somewhere easier to get to when stranded by the side of a road in the dark. To get to these fuses requires removal of 3 screws (2 of which have clear plastic washers which disappear in the dark) and two 2-part black plastic quick fasteners which are almost impossible to find in the dark, much less remove and reinstall without dropping one on to the ground. And after all that work, you still have to wiggle Panel "A" loose without scratching the gastank or breaking any of the plastic protrusions or loo

The 50amp main fuse is actually just in front of the battery under Panel "D", underneath the right side of the dash, as shown in the large red circle in the above photo. To get to it you may need to remove the cover that fits over the left side of the battery, shown in the above photo laying temporarily on top of the battery. It is held on by 3 small quick fasteners (also called "plastic rivets"), one of which is shown with a small red circle around it.

Here's an extreme close-up of the fuse installed on my FJR1300. The red rectangle is the fuse, the white part is the socket it plugs into. The black gizmo is a rubber retention device. The smaller part that extends over the top of the fuse can be pushed aside so the fuse can be removed by pulling straight upwards.

The 50A main fuse is quite a bit larger and longer than the blade type fuses used for the other circuits. The Yamaha part number is 5JW-82151-10-00, listed as "FUSE (50A)" and it is found in the "ELECTRICAL 2" page of the 2003 microfiche for the FJR1300. It's probably at least somewhat likely that your local dealer will not have this fuse in stock.

Don't dispair if that's the case, because your local NAPA auto parts store stocks the same fuse as shown in the above photo and will charge you just $4 for it. I don't know what Yamaha charges but it probably is more than that. It's just a fuse, and Yamaha probably bought theirs from the same supplier that NAPA uses, so I wouldn't worry about using a non-OEM part in this case.

The NAPA part number is 782-1232. I suggest you print this page and take it with you to make the parts guy (or woman's) job easier, whether you buy one from your Yamaha dealer or from NAPA. I also suggest that you might want to carry one of these if you plan to take long trips where finding such a fuse might be difficult to impossible. It's cheap, small, and easy to carry.

John Hinton wrote me and suggested: You just 'might' want to buy and carry two of these fuses -- I find that first I have a fuse blow and often times don't really know why. So, I stick in the new fuse and 'pop' it blows letting me know I still have a problem which needs attention. Sometimes I know what I've done to make a fuse blow and can correct it. Sometimes I don't...

Doug Chapman wrote to say that he discovered NAPA has a "blister pack" version of the same 50amp fuse for about $3. The grainy photo above shows the blister pack version on the right, the $4 boxed version on the left.

Copyright © 2003, by H. Marc Lewis. All rights reserved.