Headlight problem

[Guest RomTom]

Hi everyone. First day here. I have a 1983 Venture Royale. It's a great bike. Had it about six months now. It had 38,000 when I bought it and I have put about four thousand miles on it since then, just puttin around town mostly, here in Eugene Oregon. Well, I would like to take some long jaunts on it eventually, but I am currently going through cancer therapy, well, actually, I have finished the radiation and chemo program and accordin to the docs the cancer is gone, so YAAA!, but I am still healing from the healing, and still seeing doctors real regular, so now is not the time for me to be taking any extended vacations. But I sure am dreaming of the day.

 

So meanwhile, I ride the bike to the store and back, and wherever I need to go whenever it isn't too cold or rainy. Otherwise its our trusty old VW Westphalia camper. I like to keep my rigs in good repair so they may be counted on on a moment's notice any time day or night.

 

So I am bothered by an annoying problem with my bike's headlight. Sometimes lately I turn on the key and there is no headlight. If I turn it off and wait awhile and try to start it again sometimes it comes on again. Well, eventually it does. A couple times I had to get on the bike and start it up and ride it around the parkig lot and stop and start it up again, and then the light would come on. So first thing I did was check the fuses. The headlight fuse was the worst of the bunch as it turned out, with one side being soldered into place. But it worked. And it worked when the headlight was working too. So the fuse did't see to have anything to do with the problem, even though that fuse holder will need replacing soon as I find one.

 

So I went over to the local bike repair guy and he said he had never worked on one of these, and he scratched his head and looked at it. I am sure he could fix it but at $50 per hour I am not sure how long that might take. I went over the the Yamaha dealers and talked with the guy in the shop there and he was very turned on by my Venture Royale. He said that all the mechanics there had only seen one of these in pictures in a book. None of them had ever actually SEEN one for real. They loved the bike. But they charge big money to search out problems like that. I am not ready to fork over that big money yet, especially when I know from many years experience that it is probably just one little wire somewhere that doesn't like the Oregon Rain. It's just that the bike is still very new to me, and I don't even fully understand yet how to remove all the plastic covers without breaking the aging plastic tabs that hold them in place. (Broke one already.) So I got a lot to learn. And there is a lot of spaghetti wire to look at. Fortunately I have a good book with excellent wiring diagram. Unfortunately though, I am no wiring expert and those diagrams are little more than pretty technical pictures to me, kinda scarey,

 

So, the first thing I think I will do is ask if any of you have experienced a similar problem with the headlight on your Venture Royale? Or if any of you have any helpful pointers of where I might begin at tracing down the problem?

 

Thanks,

 

RomTom

[Squeeze]

Wiggle on the Starter Button and see if that cures the Problem. There is an Opener Contact inside which opens all unnecessary Circuits during Starting. If the Contact is corroded or the Button itself is stuck before it completely traveled out, the Light won't come on. If you determine that as the Culprit, go ahead and undo the Switch Assembly and clean all Contacts inside. Use a CRC 2-26 or similar Quality. Once all is clean up, add some dielectric Grease on all Contacts to prevent them from corroding again. I'd take a Look at the left side Switches also and give them the same Treatment.

 

 

If the Starter Button isn't Culprit, there may be an Issue with the Computer Board in the Dash, where all Solder Joint need to be resolderd.

Edited December 1, 2008 by Squeeze

[Marcarl]

Wiggle on the Starter Button and see if that cures the Problem. There is an Opener Contact inside which opens all unnecessary Circuits during Starting. If the Contact is corroded or the Button itself is stuck before it completely traveled out, the Light won't come on. If you determine that as the Culprit, go ahead and undo the Switch Assembly and clean all Contacts inside. Use a CRC 2-26 or similar Quality. Once all is clean up, add some dielectric Grease on all Contacts to prevent them from corroding again. I'd take a Look at the left side Switches also and give them the same Treatment.

 

 

If the Starter Button isn't Culprit, there may be an Issue with the Computer Board in the Dash, where all Solder Joint need to be resolderd.

yep I agree with all that, that starter button will cause more problems if not kept clean and functioning properly. The fuse block also needs to be changed if things are as bad as you describe. Go to your local car parts dealer and you should be able to come up with one that will do the trick. That block will start to give you more and different problems in the future if you don't replace it. It's a bit of work, but solves a host of potential problems.

[Venturous Randy]

RomTom, first of all I want to welcome you to this great bunch of folks. They will do just about anything they can do to help with your problems.

Second, thanks for sharing your health concerns and you will end up on many prayer lists. We all wish you the best on your continued improvements.

Third, welcome to the world of Ventures, especially the early 1st gens(83/85), they are great bikes.

Now, as already noted there are three real good problem areas mentioned and they are all somewhat common on the Venture. Even if you are not mechanically or electrically inclined, we can help you resolve your problems. It is like eating an elephant, it is just one bite at a time.

Even if the start switch is the problem, you will still need to put upgrading the fuse box at the top of the list. It is not hard and if you do not know how to solder, it is now time to learn. You can pick up a five or six slot holder with the blade fuses and to replace what you got, just start on one end and replace each set of wires one at a time. Before you know it, you will have it rewired. It just takes a few basic tools and I feel you will be able to do it.

As you have already figured out, finding someone else to work on these bikes may be dificult and expensive. But, again let me assure that there are many folks on here that will do just about anything to help you out. And, the more you can do yourself, even with help, the more you will become one with the bike.

Just don't worry about asking all kinds of questions and you got off to a good start.

RandyA

[MikeC]

Hi RomTom and welcome to the site.

 

I had a recent problem with my headlight as well and, while the suggestions offered above are excellent, my answer was in the dimmer switch. There was a lot of accumulated crud built up inside and it works great now that it is cleaned up. While troubleshooting, I noticed that I had about 4 volts at the headlight. When I finally found the problem, I noticed I had the same 4 volts at the center leg of the dimmer switch. I don't know how technologically insightful that observation is, but it may save you some time.

 

Here is a link to the maintenance manuals (cudos to Juggler):

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3384

 

If you follow the troubleshooting chart in the electrical section for the headlight, you WILL learn how all the plastic goes together.

 

As a warning, if you need to get to the start switch, pay very close attention to how the wiring is routed inside. It could take a while to figure it out later... (don't ask...) It's very crowded inside that box. Also, if you need to get inside there, you'll have to remove the throttle cables at the junction where they all come together under the left side fairing.

 

Bet of luck - let us know how it goes!

[Guest RomTom]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I can hardly wait to get started. I will let you know how it goes. This is great. A few days ago I hotwired the headlight as a temporary fix so I would at least always have a headlight on and no sudden moments with none. It means I only have high beams though. And I did this with some trepidation that I might cross some wires and cross permanent problems, but at the same time I have done stuff like this with most of my old rigs at one time or another without ever creating an irreversable problem in so-doing, so I don't expect problems. But I have been wearily thinking that it was a bit of a bummer to have a glitch like that on my neat bike, with the computer constantly giving me the warning light about the headlight. But now I feel like I know what to do to fix it correctly, and it doesn't sound like anything major at all. I am downloading the manuals now and will have a look at the appropriate section. Thanks again!

 

RomTom

[Venturous Randy]

Just remember, don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

RandyA

[Gearhead]

I'm so glad to hear you're cancer-free, and that you sound like you're really living life. God be with you.

 

As for the plastic breaking, get used to it. JB Weld or similar, along with some sort of reinforcement like sheet metal will become your friend.

 

Most guys replace the fuse block with a blade type. Some just replace the contacts in the original block. I've replaced two contacts.

 

You can often clean out those switches (start and dimmer) without disassembling. Take the magic contact cleaner and spray it in the cracks around the switch. Place a rag under the switch to catch the runoff. Work the switch back and forth. Repeat several times. Blow it out with air. Finish with spraying a light lube in there. Unless you just want to take them apart to see!

 

In the electrical section of the manual, find the section on the lighting system which isolates the components involved. The HL has many opportunities for voltage drop, some of which have been covered. If memory serves, power goes through the main fuse, ignition switch, HL fuse, start button, dimmer switch and the RLU to get to the HL. (I installed a relay to eliminate the ignition sw, HL fuse and start button.) Every component and connector, even when working properly, has some drop, and if dirty or bad they have more drop.

 

Read about the RLU if you don't know what it is (I didn't know). In short, if the beam you're on burns out, it automatically switches to the the other beam and lights the warning on the dash. Personally, I think I could live without it, but I don't want the darn dash warning on all the time!

 

Jeremy