Electrical Issue

[B.P.Sr.]

Hello all, new to the forum and the cruiser world. I have been riding crotch rockets for all my life, but due to recent surgeries that is now over, and I can't be any happier. I MUST ride, I love it to death, and I am so happy to have a big ol cruiser now. It's a world of difference in comfort and style. Freebird said I shouldn't disclose my age though.

 

I am now the proud owner of a 1996 RSTD. Got it for a great deal and the bike is flawless. But I have encountered an issue.

 

I have been searching the forum and believe I have come to the r/r connections, but I just cleaned them and I am having the same issue.

 

The problem I am having is that on occasion when I started the bike, the speedometer would bounce around and lights on the cluster would flash while revving it up in neutral, but would run at idle like the electricity is dying.

 

From my previous ownership of bikes, I immediately ran out and bought a battery, charged it, slapped it in and same issue. Then listening closely every time I would cycle the key, I would hear the main relay, kind of "fizz" if you will.

 

Searched the forums again, and determined that I needed to clean all the battery/ground connections. Did so, still same issue. So then I bought a new main relay, and replaced it. and everything was awesome for about 4-5 days, now the same issue.

 

Every time I did something I could ride the bike for a day or 2 and then my little gremlin came back. Now I cannot ride it at all. .

 

So anyone have an idea, I'd love to hear it.

 

I have attached an image of my new love, also have attached a picture of my exhaust, anyone have any clue what type of pipes these are? The PO put them on, and I bought it from a dealership.

[calperin]

Hi,

 

I have that problem before. First verify that your carb is iddle between 900 to 1000 rpm.

 

On my I found that since the iddle was so low on rpm, the tach was allways bouncing in low or idle.

 

After that, no more problems.

 

Also, I added the passing lamps, but take off the seal units and put HID as well as leds on the back, in order to minimize the power consumption.

 

Regards,

[calperin]

About the pipes, those are not the originals. Pretty sure they're really loud for that bike.

 

Not my taste. The original 4 are the best for me.

[B.P.Sr.]

I don't have a tach, it’s the speedometer that bounces. You can defiantly tell that its an electrical surge. The engine light blinks, and the odometer blanks out completely. Then as the bike idles back down, everything returns to normal.

As for the pipes, they are actually VERY subtle. I had expected them to be loud, but they aren't.

It’s just killing me to not be able to tell people what’s on there.

Are the passing lights stock? Or aftermarket? I hate not knowing what's been done to the bike.

Thanks again.

[Flyinfool]

The 2nd gens have been known to have issues with the ignition switch. There is a thread here somewhere on how to bypass it in an emergency. You can do this to verify if the switch is the problem. If it is not the problem at this time this will still be good info to have stored in the back of your head for if/when your switch dies on the road.

[B.P.Sr.]

That ignition bypass seems to be a bit over my head. Is it worth while to pay someone to do it for me?

[Kregerdoodle]

Hi, and welcome to the Family!!

 

I am not sure that the RSTC had a switch problem, but some one on here will know. I would pull every Fuse, clean, check for any lose connections and replace. sounds like something is lose as it only does that when you rev the engine. Sorry not more help, but stick around, the advise will be pouring in!!

 

Good luck!

 

Kreg

 

 

That ignition bypass seems to be a bit over my head. Is it worth while to pay someone to do it for me?

[B.P.Sr.]

Thanks for the input Kreg. Honestly, that was one of the first things I did. But;

So last night I went and bought an $80.00 multi meter, that's purpose is to help diagnose grounding errors/shorts. Got home, gutted the bike, and started to check wires and circuits. Everything checked out normally, except there was no charge going back to the battery.

Frustrated, I curse the bike out, figured it was time to take it in to the dealership to have them figure it out. As I was bolting the side cover on, I bumped something, and heard a fizzle, and the bike ran perfectly. Tore the left hand side-cover off behind the passenger foot peg and found my problem, some other damn fuse that I couldn't see and knew nothing about. (pic attached) Cleaned and dialectic greased everything up. Purring like a kitten again.

Still cannot figure out what type of exhaust I have though...

[Pegasus1300]

It appears that you have a set of Kromewerks pipes on your bike.They were one of the 1st companys to come out with a set of pipes for the early Royal Star Tour Classic.Many dealers put them on as an option while still on the showroom floor.

[B.P.Sr.]

It appears that you have a set of Kromewerks pipes on your bike.They were one of the 1st companys to come out with a set of pipes for the early Royal Star Tour Classic.Many dealers put them on as an option while still on the showroom floor.

 

You're awesome! Thanks Paul