GeorgeS

Be sure to register, and vote, next time :whistling:

If you checked the voltage " At " the large white plug, Input side of plug that indicates the Alternator is OK. ( Your AC readings look good ) Did you check on the Output side of the large Plug ?? Its possible that ONE, of the three wires is not good " thru " the plug. ???? Did you open the plug ( pull apart ) and Inspect the male and female pins """ All three phases, have to get to the plug on the R/R unit. -------------- If so, yes, probably, you are looking like a bad R/R unit. Also, check your battery cables, be sure the black one, is going to a good ground, follow the wire, to grounding point and check it. ( this is just a " maby " ) Also, good idea to find the Starter Solinoid, and check for Loose connections there. Another check, is Charge the battery, and without starting engine, Key ON, Does EVERYTHING Else on the bike work OK ???? If any other system is " not " working, might be a SHORT, drawing down the battery. Have you checked under the front fairing, for any sign of wireing cables, being Pinched OFF as the bars move back and forth.

Find the big white plug ( 3 large wires thru it ) located down below the battery. Open the plug, check for Burnt Pins !! If OK, the Take an AC Voltage, reading on each of the wires thru that plug, with engine running at about 2000 RPM. Next. Pull the Plug " Out " of the Rectifier/Regulator unit, And again, Inspect the pins, for Burnt Damage, Clean with a good electrical contact cleaner !! ( That Plug on the R/R unit, has been known to go bad internally, inside the plug itself) You might have to do RESISTANCE Check, " Thru " the Plug itself. The Three Phase AC comes from the " Above" mentioned white plug and goes into the R/R unit. Do Resistance checks, from the Plug under the battery, to the pins of the plug at the R/R unit .

Check your " Run / Stop " switch, I highly suspect you have High Resistance Across ( thru ) that switch, It might be on the verge of going bad. Open is up and check for corrosion on the switch contacts. Also, I suspect High Resistance across the Main ON/ OFF contacts of you Main Ignition Switch !!! Follow the cable from the switch, to a pull apart plug, behind the headlight somplace in there, ( Use Wireing diagram ) Open the Plug, and take a resistance reading Across the Main " On/ Off " contacts inside the Ignition switch. Any resistance higher the ZERO Ohm's ( ie: a dead short across the contacts ) is BAD !! If you still running the OEM Fuse Block, ??? Then your Ignition fuse, Clips, might be causing HIGH RESISTANCE, across that fuse holder. Check, that, if you have not allready. Question: Have you Ever, " RE-Soldered " the Studs, on Both Ends, of Both or your " Main Battery " Cables ????? ( Its a Good thing to do !!! ) Under the Upper , left side fairing, there is a " Main Grounding Point " !!!! Its NOT easy to get to !!! Find it, Remove the Nut, and RE-Solder, the 4 or 5 BLACK wires that are Grounded at that point. ( Its a good thing to do ) Have you Cut out the Big White plug between the Alternator, and the R/R unit ???? And spliced the wires together ( Spliced, and Soldered, of course ) IF not, you might have some burnt up pins inside that Old Plug !!!! (( Just asking ))

The jets are " not " the same sized in all the carbs. Like " Condor" and others said we need more information. Put one can of Sea Foam in a full tank, take the thing out and "" Run It "" Hard!! Burn thru two or three tanks of fuel, let us know what its doing under all conditions. It would be a good idea, to Replace the fuel filter, and spark plugs, Just in case. Especially the fuel filter. Also, be sure the fuel pump is working, as these pumps have a history of makeing trouble, Each carb bowl has a Drain Valve, and drain hose. Open the drain on each carb, " One a time " then Turn KEY to on, and listion for the fuel pump running, and make sure its pumping fuel thru the carb with the drain valve OPEN. IF Not, you might have a failing fuel pump. (( this is just something to check, and keep an eye on , on an older bike. ( let us know the results of this check ) A new set of NGK, Iridium plugs is also a good idea. I would also, COMPLETLY DRAIN THE FUEL TANK, if there is OLD fuel in the tank !!!!! Again: Add a can of SEA-FOAM !!!!! Drive it hard, for at least two tanks, with Sea - Foam !!!! Have you cleaned the Air Filters ??

I switched over to milk shakes !!

Yup, sounds like a bad pump. Check into the low pressure pumps at auto parts, store, I think there are two models that will work. Cost a lot less then an new OEM pump. I'm going to install one of those on my 08 RSTD, when I get to it.

Just wondering, mounting that air horn, near the exhaust pipes, is the heat from the pipes going to have any detrimental effect on the nice new air horn ??? Any comments ??

Take better care of this one !! :whistling:

Well, sounds like he has a " bad " battery ---- ( or loose battery bolts ) Time to contact the " Deka " folks !!

Well, its been pouring rain for 3 days now, so I guess I could go out and give it a try ??? 1st day of Fall, bye the calendar, and its starts pouring rain, right on schedule !!!! ( I know, Seattle is not alone, this year with the rain !!! )

Wa D. C. is trumping everything !!! ( as long as we are talking about jokes ) :whistling:

Ignition fuse, powers, several items, The TCI, the 4 coils, the Fuel pump, and a couple of other non discript " relays " Basicly, it kills everything, except the starter motor. ( all the lights will still work though , and the radio ) Also check the Ignition fuse with a meter, even if fuse not blown, make sure the fuse holder is makeing good contact, to the fuse. ( if you still have the stock fuse holder ) Those clips, are known to cause trouble !!! Also, they break OFF , easy.

On the fork bearing torque, all you need to do is the " fall to stops " test. with bike on lift, set torque till the forks will not Fall, to the Stops, then loosen, the nut untill it will just slowly fall to the stops. But, Does Not , flop, to the stops as they say. Do ride test, check for head shake, if head shake, then add about 2 degrees of rotation to the big nut, and re-do the drive test. Replacing front and rear, wheel bearings, and swing arm bearings, good idea !!! at 100K . Yes, I would do that. Swing Arm,??? well, maby just a good greese job will do for them. As long as its all apart, consider replacing the oil seal on rear end of the drive shaft. At 100K, I would also consider replaceing the U-Joint also ( especially--- if, you pull out the swing arm to do the bearings ) And, of course, new fork springs, if they are over 50K !!! ( Progressive , of course ) Don't forget to remove, and clean, and greese the linkage assembly under the rear shock unit !! While you have it out, also good idea to install ZERK fittings, to the shock, linkage assembly. Easy to do,

Have had the new 08 RSTD since May 2012. 19K on it now. Sold the 89, to guy up the street, ( he is very happy with it !! ) After 18 yrs rideing the 89, and 2 yrs rideing the 08, Hmmm all I can say without getting into details, is, I Love the new bike, Rides great, ( after installing dunlops ) plenty of power ( more then enuf ) No way, I would go back to the 89!! Sorry folks, but this bike is superb !! After all the bikes I have owned since 1956, this is the One !!! But--- a tach, and temp gauge, and voltmeter would be nice ???

Check voltage with battery disconnected. Then reconnect, and recheck voltage with about 2000 RPM on the Tach.

I linked this one to some of my old work buddies !!!

But my mouth is " Sealed " !!! I'm focused on motorcycles today :)

did you check the master idle screw setting ?? Turn it " IN " might start. did you make sure you had some play in the " Pull " cable before starting the sync proceedure ?? (( With master idle screw, just makeing contact, to linkage assembly, you should still have some " Slack " in throttle " Pull " cable. If not, your SYNC, is Way out of adjustment. Check the " Ignition Fuse " Open one of the Carb bowl drain screws, turn key to ON, is the pump, pumping fuel out the carb bowl drain hose ???? IF so, the pump is ok. If not, fuel filter might be plugged, pump might be bad, or worse yet, you might be " Out of Gas " !!!! Is it out of gas ??? :whistling:

Carefull, now ------ :no-no-no:

I was talking to a parts counter guy at Yam dealer. about those new super small batteries. He said when they first came out, for couple years they were failing left and right. !! But, say's he, they are now fixed, and working great!! Well thats what he said. ??? Hmmmm ??? well I not convinced as yet. They are a big deal with the dirt bike crowd, and great for weight saveings on the bike. But for the price, I think I will wait a few more years before I jump in on these batteries. I'm sticking with DEKA for the time being. In fact I just ordered a DEKA for the CX-500 C

How many miles is on this bike??? If well over 50K you may also need to re-lubricate the fork steering head bearings. The Springs, come out easy, just remove the top caps from each fork tube, pull out the springs. Getting the old oil out of the 2nd gen forks not so easy, as they do not have a drain screw as do the 1st gens ( I think I am correct on that point ) Sombody said you can remove the large bolt at bottom of tubes to drain the old oil. Before you Loosen the Steering head bearing Nuts, be SURE to MARK the Nuts, in Ref: to there current setting, so that on Re-Assembly, you can get them Close to the correct RE-SET Torque setting. Have you done a driveing check for " Head Shake " ???? Drive on straight level road, at different speeds, take both hands OFF bars, and see if head shake starts to happen. IF so, you need to " slightly " tighten the Head Nut, ( very little ) at a time and retest, until you get it correct, and NO More, Head Shake. !! Are you now haveing a problem with " Head Shake " ????? More info please, How many miles on the bike, what condx are the tires in, how much air press do you run, what brand of tires are you useing ??? :confused24: :detective:

How many miles is on this bike ??? If high milage, ( like over 40K or more ) check the large white plug, between the Alternator and the Voltage regulator. It located down Under the battery, Not easy to get to. Open it and check for BURNT PINS. Check the battery stud bolts, Are they Tight ????? Possible bad battery, shorting out internally. How old is the battery??? if its like over 4 to 5 years old, it would be highly suspect. Disconnect the battery cables, and take a voltage reading across battery terminals, If its Below 12 volts, then it is " suspect " ( Try charging the battery, can't hurt anything ) If you are useing a Lead Acid , old type battery, is the water level up to the marks ????? If not, service, and charge the battery. This should get you started Post what you find, more experts will chime in !! :whistling:

Have you checked the " Main " fuse's ????? might be blown. Have you checked for " loose " bolts on the battery posts ??? Have you checked for " loose " nuts on the Solinoid posts ??? Go into a auto parts store. buy a volt meter, and disconnect the battery cables, and check the voltage level of the battery, If Low, buy a new battery. install it and go !!! ( or pull out the battery and have the guy in the auto parts store check it ) Battery being dead, does not proove that the charging system is bad.

Venture Clutches !!! They Slip !!! 1st Gen and 2nd Gen, Yes, they do !! My 1st gen, started slipping around 25,000 miles on the new bike I bought back in 1993. My New, 08 RSTD, ( bought Aug of 2012 ) started slipping at about 12,000 miles. New Barnett Clutch plate Installed at start of this rideing season fixed it. As did the Barnett clutch installed on the old 89, back around 1996. You might as well just replace it before it starts slipping !!! It can get you into a dangerous situation out there on the road. I almost got killed on the old 89, because of the slipping clutch.