The first few days with my '85 VR

[RidenAgain]

My first few days with my ’85 VR and I am trying to work out all the gremlins. I am off to buy the Deka ETX18L battery today as it was obvious that the old battery is not holding up very well. I have a few questions.

1- Is it common to have constant power to the accessory fuse with key off? With key off and hooking up volt meter to ground of battery and accessory fuse I am seeing 8.53 volts, when switch is turned on this jumps to 12 volts. What does this fuse operate? I unplug fuse and everything seems to work fine without it.

2- I followed the directions in the post to override/fool the battery sensor by wiring in a resister however this did not work for me at all I tried both the 1kw and 2.2kw just like the post recommended but neither of them worked for me. Has anyone been able to get this to work?

3- What is the quick and easy way to restore the look of the black plastic panels surrounding the radio and other control panels? I am not ready to tear bike apart just yet so re painting is not an option. Unless you all tell me there is no other option then maybe masking the bike off and painting could be done sooner than later.

[GaryZ]

My first few days with my ’85 VR and I am trying to work out all the gremlins. I am off to buy the Deka ETX18L battery today as it was obvious that the old battery is not holding up very well. I have a few questions.

1- Is it common to have constant power to the accessory fuse with key off? With key off and hooking up volt meter to ground of battery and accessory fuse I am seeing 8.53 volts, when switch is turned on this jumps to 12 volts. What does this fuse operate? I unplug fuse and everything seems to work fine without it.

2- I followed the directions in the post to override/fool the battery sensor by wiring in a resister however this did not work for me at all I tried both the 1kw and 2.2kw just like the post recommended but neither of them worked for me. Has anyone been able to get this to work?

3- What is the quick and easy way to restore the look of the black plastic panels surrounding the radio and other control panels? I am not ready to tear bike apart just yet so re painting is not an option. Unless you all tell me there is no other option then maybe masking the bike off and painting could be done sooner than later.

 

1. Not sure how this can happen. Volts are dropped through resistance.

2. I have successfully put this mod on my '85. I connected the resistor to a switched fuse on the fuse block. Where did you connect the resistor?

3. I have tried a couple of chemicals on my dash panels with no luck.

[PBJ]

First off welcome to venture riders. glad to have you. I also have a 85 but I can't tell you what that fuse is for. Normally when the key is in the off and not acc position there should be no power. In ACC you should have power to you air pump or CLASS system that inflates the front and rear shocks, also the radio and Cb ( if you have one, i don't).

 

One recommended modification to make is to had larger battery cables for better starting. The originals are too small. You notice a big difference in starting. I can't help with the override on the battery sensor. I haven't had need to make that mod yet. good luck

 

 

For the plastic try some furntiure polish like Pledge Orange to see if it will bring back the shine. I use it religiously on everything it works great.

[RidenAgain]

1. Not sure how this can happen. Volts are dropped through resistance.

2. I have successfully put this mod on my '85. I connected the resistor to a switched fuse on the fuse block. Where did you connect the resistor?

 

I have seen constant power to accessory fuses before in automotive applications. I have even seen where this power is cut from 12 to 6 volts with the key in the off position to power dome lights and such, so I wasn’t sure how the accessory fuse worked on motorcycles.

As far as where I connected the resistor mod, I connected it to the accessory fuse as suggested in the write up; this is how I found the constant power on this fuse. I did not permanently connect the resistor as I needed to see which resistor would work. Since my accessory fuse does not seem to be switched, maybe I could try another fuse.

[Condor]

I have seen constant power to accessory fuses before in automotive applications. I have even seen where this power is cut from 12 to 6 volts with the key in the off position to power dome lights and such, so I wasn’t sure how the accessory fuse worked on motorcycles.

As far as where I connected the resistor mod, I connected it to the accessory fuse as suggested in the write up; this is how I found the constant power on this fuse. I did not permanently connect the resistor as I needed to see which resistor would work. Since my accessory fuse does not seem to be switched, maybe I could try another fuse.

 

The accessory fuse will be active to maintain the clock while the bike is sitting.

On the battery fluid level warning light the resistor should work unless it might be a bad solder in the CMU??

On refinishing the side panels of the dash. Scrub them down with soap and water, rinse well, let 'm dry, and then use a can of Krylon 'Semi-Flat' black spray paint to bring them back to looking like new.... Hope this helps.

[mbrood]

Resitor mod:

 

If you are trying to add the resistor to a "hot system" and see the light go out... it won't... you have to turn the key off and back on for the computer to initially SEE the resistor... but either resistor should work... they are just current limiting resistors, directly connecting the line to battery fries the detector chip in the CMS.

[Yammer Dan]

On the plastic "Mothers" -"Back to Black" get it at wally World or most parts stores. Take a sponge paint brush and use it to paint black plastic. Don't be afraid to put it on there. A few times with this and it will make a major difference in the looks of your plastic. It will shine and it is Black.

[bassplayer]

:cool17:I also just bought a 89 VR and I have the same problem with the battery light. looks like someone before me put a resister in there, But it doesn't seem to be working. I'll have to look into it a little deeper. Got some good Ideas from all the guys postings. Thanks!!

[timgray]

The accessory fuse will be active to maintain the clock while the bike is sitting.

On the battery fluid level warning light the resistor should work unless it might be a bad solder in the CMU??

On refinishing the side panels of the dash. Scrub them down with soap and water, rinse well, let 'm dry, and then use a can of Krylon 'Semi-Flat' black spray paint to bring them back to looking like new.... Hope this helps.

 

 

This is what I do. Clean it very well, spray it down with a painter prep to strip any and all wax, silicone or finger oil, wipe it down, then wipe with a tack rag. Spray it with an adhesion promoter lightly and let it dry, then paint a couple of coats of the bumper black paint. Looks like new again and has an incredible strong bond due to the adhesion promoter.

 

The Krylon can have adhesion problems if there is any silicone or left over wax on it. The painters prep tries to get rid of all that.

[Condor]

The Krylon can have adhesion problems if there is any silicone or left over wax on it. The painters prep tries to get rid of all that.

 

I suppose any paint can have adhesion problems, but I've used cases of the stuff and have never had a problem. Generally the parts I need to recondition are old and dirty, and the wax and oil are long gone. I also like the semi-flat finish instead of a straight flat, or high gloss, black. Plus it dries very quickly. Two or three coats left to bake in the sun for 30 minutes and it's pretty tuff stuff...

[lonestarmedic]

Just to make sure, the resistor goes between the sensor wire and a switched positive source. it does not go to ground.

 

The accessory terminal is switched off when the key is off. The keep alive circuit I believe runs off of the fuse for the radio memory. That fuse is under the radio in the left side on my 1986. Sound like a feedback from a bad ground if you are getting low voltage when off.

 

JB

[GeorgeS]

REmove the Black Ground Cable fwd right corner of engine. Clean the Stud, and Resolder the stud to the cable.

 

Under you Left side upper fairing is a Main Grounding point, with about 4 black wires attached there, remove cover from left fairing, and inside the side panel. The Bolt head is kind of hard to get to . But this Bolt that the black wire studs, might be getting corroded. Everything is grounded at this point. Be sure its cleaned up. I also reccomend RE-Soldering these 4 studs to the black wires, There might be corrosion inside the original Crimps. Yamaha did not solder all the studs to wire ends, They are only crimped in place.

 

You might have a High Resistance Ground somplace and these two points are highly suspect.