Electrical troubles

[mordan42]

Good morning from Louisiana, folks.

 

Background: 2001 Royal Star Venture found in an old man's barn, which hadn't moved in 12 years, and he was about to scrap. He asked for $100, I gave him $200, and set out to restore this beautiful land yacht, the likes of which I had never seen (previously not a biker) and took it to a man who knows two wheel beasts for help. Mechanically, we got the bike back up and running, and she runs like she was just parked yesterday. The friend who was helping went back to working on other projects, and I decided that the rest of the issues were mine to fix without troubling him, as he hadn't charged a dime for hours and hours of assistance already. Trouble is, I'm not a mechanic, or electrician, and have no experience restoring anything, so the intricacies of what time does to a barn queen are lost on me.

 

Some things we did already:

-Replaced fuel tank, carbs, petcock, and lines, as "Abigail", as I'm calling her, had sat with fuel in the tank and carbs for 12 years and were beyond salvage. All of the above were secured from pinwall cycles.

-new tires, obviously, new windshield, new throttle cable.

 

Current status:

-She runs the road like she was born for it. NO COMPLAINTS AT ALL for how she rides and cruises. Wish I had found this girl years ago.

-Electrical issues abound. Most of these, I am going to take the fairing apart tomorrow morning while off work and see about cleaning electrical contacts, as I think these will mostly clear with some dielectric grease and scrubbing. E.G., Cruise control switch is 'finnicky', sometimes turning on the cruise control, sometimes doing nothing whatsoever; dimmer/bright switch will only operate bright light, dim contact apparently non-functioning.

 

Main problems, for now:

- Fuel gauge is showing the error diagnostic (Flashing full bars, then flashing Full and Empty bars together without intervening bars), but the sender unit is functioning as far as I can tell. Manual says to take to Yamaha dealership, but the nearest one is almost two hours' drive time and I won't be able to make time for that kind of trip away from home for a couple of weeks. Hoping one of you gents can fill me in with some DIY tips.

- Radio will not turn on. This may be a fuse problem, but I'm not even sure where the fuse box is located. The manual told me there are two panels, but the pictures don't give me enough context to know where on the bike they are. I apologize, this is probably the dumbest question y'all have seen, but again, I'm not mechanically inclined at all, this is a trial and error lesson for me. If someone could post a picture showing me where to go, or describe in detail, that would be appreciated.

- Trip gauges reset every time the bike is turned off, without exception. Odometer works flawlessly, but without a functioning fuel level readout, mileage is my only means of determining fuel expenditure, and I cannot accurately judge that when the trips I've made so far are short test runs, learning how the bike handles (say, thirty minutes at a time). I don't want to hit highways until I get the issues completely sorted.

 

Any leads would be greatly appreciated. Even links to other threads where these may have been answered already.

Thank y'all, and I'm excited to be a new member of the Venture Rider community!

[XV1100SE]

You are in Louisiana ? Consider that the bike has sat for a long time and temperature/humidity could affect electronics.

Do you have the owners manual? Service manual? If not you can download them from the "read only" section under the 2nd Gen tech library. Owners manual will show you where the fuse boxes are.

As for dielectric grease... my understanding is you do not put them on the wires themselves as this will reduce or block contact.

The cruise control isn't electronic - it runs off air pressure/vacuum. Do a search for "cruise control" (top right of page) and you'll find several links to threads. Check tech library too.

For radio...inside the cowl are the contacts.... unplug, clean, reconnect. You'll see them as large plugs. If cassette was removed it would be the way it was re-wired.

For trip meters....again, try a search in the forums.

Hope this helps....

[mordan42]

I don't know how I missed the service manual download. That should be a big help! The owner's manual doesn't quite get detailed enough to assist me, I think. Thank you!

[XV1100SE]

Good luck and welcome to the forum !

Hopefully there is someone on the forum near you that can provide on-site assistance or guidance. Including you there are 8 members in LA. Not sure if you can do a member search but hopefully one of them will see your post.

Did the previous owner do any modifications to the bike? Passing lights? Remove cassette? Additional wiring? If it is stock it will be easier to diagnose.

And the $12 membership will pay off very quickly ! May already have paid off with the owners/service manual and being able to search posts !

[mordan42]

It certainly has paid off! No, he did no modifications, however, I am interested in removing the casette deck. I don't believe I have any casette tapes left, hah.