carb heaters

[jrcain32]

Will it hurt anything to take the carb heater fuses out? Something is draining my new (6 months old) battery. A friend who had a YAMAHA 1100 said his was doing the same thing and he traced it to the carb heaters. He took the fuses out and all was well afterwards.

[V7Goose]

It won't hurt a thing to disable the carb heaters, but I'll tell you right now that ain't your problem. I don't know what it is, but no way it's that - the carb heaters cannot be on unless the temps are low enough AND the bike is in gear. And even in cold weather, they don't stay on for more than about 30 minutes unless the temps are below 40!

 

Even if there is a problem with the bike that somehow bypasses either the neutral switch or the thermo switch, the chance is about zero that there is a problem with both!

Goose

[jlh3rd]

what goose said...

[massey130]

i am a fairly new RSV owner but not new to battery issues on bikes, ATV's or lawn mowers. i have read several threads where this occurs.

 

i am going to assume you are talking about an abnormal drain on the battery above the normal AM/FM radio drain to keep the presets programmed and other settings active. I do use a battery tender type of charger, so i don't have rundown from the normal drain.

 

start undoing a wire at a time till you find what's draining the battery. You have not mentioned if you have add on electrical equipment that stays on the bike once you turn off the scooter. GPS or satellite radio left on the bike will drain as well.

 

it could be a process of elimination to find the draining source. it may sound simple, but until you eliminate the simple stuff, you may not know a piece of the puzzle.

[jrcain32]

There is no add-on item on the bike.

I first experienced this problem about 6 months ago (hence new battery) while on a trip in NC. After a day of riding the bike died when I pulled into the motel for the night. Thinking it was the battery, I bought a new one. On my way home the next day we stopped to buy gas and the bike would not start (dead battery). From then until I got home I made sure I parked on a slope so I could roll to a start. Once home I had a friend (because I'm ignorant when it come to electronics) check everything and he could not find anything out of normal. All has been good until a few days ago. Now the problem has returned.

[massey130]

well, that one is a stumper for me.

If it were me, i would have to make the time and start taking the bike semi apart and start looking for a wire that is now bare but only touches long enough to drain the battery.

 

that is all that comes to mind from threads i have read.

 

hopefully someone else will post with other advice.

 

for the short term, you might consider a battery cut off switch for the time you are dismounted. for the problem of drain while riding, that points to not charging by the on board charger system. do a search on that to check that out.

[V7Goose]

There is no add-on item on the bike.

I first experienced this problem about 6 months ago (hence new battery) while on a trip in NC. After a day of riding the bike died when I pulled into the motel for the night. Thinking it was the battery, I bought a new one. On my way home the next day we stopped to buy gas and the bike would not start (dead battery). From then until I got home I made sure I parked on a slope so I could roll to a start. Once home I had a friend (because I'm ignorant when it come to electronics) check everything and he could not find anything out of normal. All has been good until a few days ago. Now the problem has returned.

Well, you do have at least one add-on to your bike: the driving lights (I can see them in your picture). If someone has changed those bulbs from the normal 30W to something larger (fairly common change, unfortunately), that is enough to slowly kill your battery in some conditions.

 

No way I can diagnose your bike with only the limited information available, but it could certainly be a charging issue where it can't quite keep up with the load - either tooo much load or damaged charging system - that fits all of your symptoms. If that new battery wasn't properly charged before it was put in (ALL new batteries need charging BEFORE going into service to reach full capacity and life expectancy), it wouldn't surprise me to have it not start the next day if there was anything at all amiss with the charging system. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out, but you do need to find someone who actually understands bike charging systems and electrical circuit troubleshooting.

 

Here's a hint - if they didn't find the problem with a digital volt meter, but then did not use an ammeter on the individual circuits, they do not know what they need to know.

 

Goose

[dmoff1698]

First thing, I would remove the seat and put a volt meter across the battery leads. Start the bike and rev the engine. The volt meter should rise to something over 13 volts. If it does then your charging system is probably good.

 

Next, temporarally disable you driving lights. See if the problem goes away.

 

Regardless of the above results, remove the left side cover. Get a flashlight and look through the frame. Attached to the battery box is the starting relay, look for corrosion and gunk built up on it. Not only is this your starting relay, but is also a primary tie point for power distribution. I've had to replace mine twice on my 99 now because of corrosion. Acted just like a bad battery or a dead ignition switch.

[V7Goose]

Well, I didn't include troubleshooting steps because his earlier posts said he did not have the knowledge for that. But if you're gonna start pulling stuff and looking at it to find the problem, better pull the Regulator/Rectifier and check for burnt pins and melted plug - that's where I'd put my money if I was betting on a WAG.

Goose

[massey130]

If you are gonna ride a venture (1st or 2nd), you either need money and a dealer who likes you OR put you money in tools and get to learnin' your bike.

 

i have had to add to my tools and knowledge cause i don't want to spend my time waiting on the stealer to call and say "come get yer bike, the note is due on my Lexus"

 

just kidding about the lexus part, but an out of warranty bike can cost quite a bit when trouble starts.

[jrcain32]

First let me thank everyone for your input.

 

Now I will try to add to my original post to clear a few things up.

 

Well, you do have at least one add-on to your bike: the driving lights ...

Goose, the lights were on the bike when I got it so you are correct, they are add ons. They were put on by my local YAMAHA dealer who happened to be the PO. I have put on a couple of extra LED running/brake lights to the rear but they have been on for three years so I don't think they are the problem. I have put on a trailer wiring harness but it has been on for nearly two years. The only recent add-on is a Stebel horn. (The problem started around the time of the horn install.)

 

I'm not an electrical guru but I have a couple of friends who could trace these wires in their sleep. If I have any juice problems I take it to them. The first time it happened we checked everything. The battery was new and fully charged before I installed it. It checked good as for as voltage. The charging system checked good, both on the side of the road (so to speak) and when I got home. No blown fuses.

 

What is weird is everything has been fine for 5 months. No charging issus at all. All of a sudden the problem has returned. The only thing I have done in the last few days is put a new rear shock on and the Marshall Mod. (new antenas). I had to move some wires around and this may have attributed to the problem. I will get to the bottom of it but it may take awhile.

[massey130]

First let me thank everyone for your input.

 

Now I will try to add to my original post to clear a few things up.

 

I will get to the bottom of it but it may take awhile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i had to fiddle with my shifting problem for weeks until i brought it a maint day in Texas where my issue was found and fixed. it may take some time, but keep trying. and go back over some previous stuff. i missed a step on check my shifter thinking it was ok when it was the problem.

 

good luck. please post when u find the issue and fix.

[jrcain32]

good luck. please post when u find the issue and fix.

 

Thanks, and I will.