HELP: New Venture owner with serious electrical problem (I think?)

[AltonKen]

Hello all,

 

This is my first forum and I am proud to say that I made an 1987 Venture Royale my first bike.

 

The bike was purchased from a friends cousin. I bought it last year (2008) however, I have had nothing but problems with it.

 

The bike sat for 5 years in a garage. When I started it up for the first time, it ran rough but I (and the owner) figured it just needed a tuneup from sitting.

 

Long story short, my buddy found it running on 3 cylinders. He found a couple pinholes in the "bladders"? on top of the carbs. I ended up buying 4 new aftermarket carb "bladders" and they were all cleaned and setup.

 

NEXT PROBLEM: THE ONE THAT IS FRUSTRATING ME AND MY MECHANICAL FRIENDS.

I bought a brand new battery and made sure it was charged correctly,etc.

PROBLEM: I can ride the bike everyday for about 3 - 5 days then I have to recharge the battery.

My electronics buddy has used a voltmeter all over this bike and we can't find anything wrong. He has checked the grounds.......everything. The problem is that it is so intermettent. Sometimes I get even 5 or 6 days before I have to recharge the battery. He checked everywhere to see if something was "on" slowly draining the battery when the bike was turned off. He found nothing. The voltmeter on the bike and handheld voltmeter shows it charging around 13-14 volts when the bike is running. One person said "maybe the voltage regulator is screwed and only working sometimes?"

IF ANYONE CAN GIVE ME SUGGESTIONS OR POSSIBLITIES WITH THIS ELECTRICAL ISSUE, I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

I am really getting bothered by this. My wife is telling me to "get rid of it" but I like the bike too much when it's actually running properly.

 

 

 

PROBLEM 2:

Yesterday the throttle stuck almost wide open. I used the kill switch to shut it down. My buddy checked the throttle cable and found it being held together by 1 strand where it connects to the carb. TIME FOR A NEW CABLE.

 

 

 

Thanks

 

AltonKen

[Reaney in NH]

I am far from an expert on these bikes... But it sounds like your charging system is not working. Download the service manual and run thru the diagnostics for the Charging system.. checking the Stator and Voltage reg.

 

Replacing a throttle cable is to be expected on a bike this old... as is the carb diaphrams. The bike is 22 years old and will requier some work to bring it up to the level you need for dependability.

 

They are awesome bikes and well worth the effort. Good luck

[jasonm.]

OK there are 2 simple solutions to your problem. I had one of these myself. 1st open the trunk. There is a light inside. . DISCONNECT the wires at the switch on the left. 2nd the battery sensor diode in the instrument panel can go bad and draw power even with the bike off. To test this theory disconnect the sensor wire every time you are not riding the bike that day. OR instead of the above YOU CAN DO THIS ELECTRICAL TEST> get a digital electical VOMeter. Set it for milliamps and connect the leads to meter properly. They are marked on the meter. THEN disconnect the battery's negative lead. NOW connect the leads of the meter in series between the negative side of the battery and the large ground wire you just disconnected. You should only show a draw of less than 2 milliamps...this is to keep you radio and clock working. NOTE: the polarity of the connection you make w/leads may need to be reversed to get a correct reading...simple. If you have more than 2 milliamps draw. Start disconnecting things. Start w/ the ones stated above. If your diode is bad. You'll have to put in a relay to enable(ign. on) and disable(ign. off) the battery sensor. Lastly I believe your charging system is fine. Mine also runs 13.6 to 14.2v most of the time. Has been like this since day one and 70k miles. AND check the charging at various rpms. Idle might be 13.6v then 1500rpm may be 14.2v then @ 3000 may be 13.9v. This is not an issue.

Edited May 17, 2009 by jasonm.

[GeorgeS]

Then: !!

 

Remove left side panel, find the TWO large White Plugs,

 

1. From Stator, going to the Regulator ( 3 wire plug, #14 White wires )

Open the Plug, and Inspect the male and female connectors. If any sign of black carbon or Burn Damage, must be cleaned up.

 

Also, Inspect the male and female pins where crimped to the wires on both sides of the Plug.

 

Make sure all of the Pins, are makeing a good tight fit !!!

 

2. Now find the Plug From the Regulator, do the same inspection .

 

3. Re Fit the plugs, now with enging OFF, Do a Resistance Check thru the Plugs, stick leads into each side, Make Sure ZERO Ohms thru All connections.

 

4. Now with Engine Running at 2000 RPM.

Use your Voltmeter, Read --- ((( AC Voltage ))) --- From each of the 3 large white wires from the Stator, TO Ground.

 

You will see some AC Voltage of about 5 to 10 Volts, AC. The Exact Voltage is not important, What is important, is that ALL 3 voltage levels are within about + or - 1 Volt AC.

 

((( IF one is Substantially Lower then the other two, then your STATOR, IS BAD !! sorry )))

 

 

5. Pull the NEG BATTERY Cable, from its ground Point, at the Rt. , Fwd, Corner of the Engine case, ( ITS CORRODED, CLEAN IT !!! ) And Dip stud in Rosin Flux, and ReSolder the Stud to end of cable.

 

OK, this should get you started. Those Two large Plugs, are VERY COMMON Trouble spots on these Bikes. !!

 

We, have all been there !!!

Edited May 17, 2009 by GeorgeS

[painterman67]

Listen to these guys. I am far from being considerd a mechanic. But buy going step buy step and doing exactly what I was told,(Thanks by the way to georges )I was eventually able to narrow down my problems to the battery. I could test the bettery after riding the bike and all was well. let the bike sit for a day or two and nothing.

 

 

Good luck ,

David

[Guest ReinyRooster]

I had the same dying battery on my '87 also, and found that it was the plunger switch for the trunk light.

[SapperMedic]

that trunk light will drain a battery pretty fast if the switch stays on. Like most of you I disconnected it unless I need it

[jasonm.]

ALso to test the stator, there is a ground test. Meaning check the white wire(s) using the ohm meter. THere should be an absolute open, infinite resistance from any of the 3 whites to frame ground. Always do this ohm(resistance) test on the HIGHEST setting of the meter. MAKE SURE the connector is disconnected from the plug to the regulator. As a large number of stators get shorted to ground. Thus your voltage is going to ground and not the regulator. I have never done the voltage check George says to do. But I have been told the voltage can be as high as 50 volts on some bikes. Personaly as stated before...do the simplest thing 1st. From what you described, I believe your charging system is fine .

[Squidley]

Good answers, but just because your battery is new doesn't mean it isn't defective. The trunk light is a culprit, but I would also check that battery very hard.

[GeorgeS]

Good answers, but just because your battery is new doesn't mean it isn't defective. The trunk light is a culprit, but I would also check that battery very hard.

 

Pull the battery, fully charge it with battery charger ( NOT a trickle charger) then let it sit on bench for 24 to 48 hours, and watch the voltage with test Volt meter.

If good, it should hold 12.1 to 12.2 for at least 48 hours.

 

If it drops to near 11 volts, its draining internally. This is a rare condition, but it does happen.

[saddlebum]

One of my bad habits is to put the kick stand down while runnig in first gear, which of course kills the engine and then I walk away leaving the key in the on position. You will never guess what happens, you come back and the battery is dead. Another one is if you turn the key too far when locking the steering head the parking lights stay on. guess what happens. Right again dead battery:bang head::bang head:

[Marcarl]

On Wayne's scoot we tested the stator and regulator according to instructions. One thing we missed and that was to check the the three white wires to ground when the engine was hot, I mean running it for at least 20 min to half hour. It was then that the stator showed a grounding out issue. Something to keep in mind maybe.

Just to confirm my suspicions, I just went out and tested both stators. They are both cold, of course, not being in a bike, and both test fine for the ohms test, nothing going to ground. So do this test when the stator is hot.

Oh, and both stators tested fine for the AC voltage output test, hot or cold.