just a little irratated now..... any help?

[uni_boy15]

hello again,  tonight i worked on my vision for about 5 hours.  I forced a few sparks out of it and got it to turn over but now it wont do anything. not even turn over. no clicking, nothing.  the rear lights work but the front lights and all the turn signals dont work.  The bike will turn over if you pass up the solonoid with a screw driver but then it doesent have spark.....if you guys and gals dont have any idea ill be listing it on ebay in a few weeks... :'(   I dont know what to do and i dont have the spare change to take it to a shop.  any help would be nice.    
                       hopefully,  Louis

[kiawrench]

UNI-

It is time for you to just back away from the bike , take a day or so and do something else. When you go back to the bike,
start with the very basic steps ,all over again--
check the fuses under the seat
check the fat black ground wire mixed in the harness just behind the ign module
check the wires in headlight bucket for corrosion and poor connection
check every solonoid on the bike,look for bad pins,corrosion

 most of the time, this will reveal what is making you so mad .these bikes are over twenty years old water,time ,weather have all had a chance to damage the bike,you have to "think" like corrosion-- "what can i mess up in here?" this will help a lot in your tracking of this problem.
if all else fails ,ask if anyone in the group lives nearby - maybe they can come by one day soon and look at the problem with you .

[h2olawyer]

Hi Louis -

Don't give up! ? :) ?Have you gone through ALL the elerctrical system & cleaned the connections? ?Time consuming but very well worth the trouble. ?What voltage are you getting @ the battery terminals? ?Still, it sounds like bad connections at the solenoids and/or switches. ?Could also be corrosion @ the fuse box or inside the solenoid(s).

Get yourself some CLR bathroom cleaner & get those terminals & connections clean. ?Dip each terminal in a small container of CLR for about a minute & then rinse in water or rubbing alcohol & thoroughly dry with a lint free towel or better yet, a heat gun or hair dryer.

Many shops won't even work on bikes this old. ?You need to have a few somewhat specialized tools for maintaining a Vision - or really any older bike. ?After a Haynes or factory repair manual, your best friend for electrics is a digital voltmeter with diode test capability. ?They are fairly inexpensive & available at Radio Shack, Sears and Harbor Freight Tools, among other places.

Getting the electrics sorted out is your first order of business. ?Let us know what you've done so far & someone here will let you know what you ought to try next.

Where are you located? ?Maybe there is another Visionary nearby you can get some help from as well. ?Just a thought.

Hope these ideas give you a good start and I'm sure you'll get other suggestions! ?There are others with much more experience in the electrics than I have. ?We're all dedicated to helping Vision owners get these bikes into good, dependable riding condition.

H2O

Looks like kiawrench & I are basically on the same page.  He got his posted just a bit before me!

[louthepou]

Kia and H2O are right. From one Louis to another, don't give up just yet. There's no such thing as a "possessed" or "jinxed" machine. Although the Vision can sometimes give you a headache... But the same goes for any machine.

Take a good break, make some room around the bike, create a good, clean working space, organize the tools. Think about it once you'll have found a relative peace of mind. (When one's about to throw the bike in a ditch, one's no thinking straight).

And do not underestimate how good it'll feel like when you'll finally look at the Vision, idling in front of you, and you'll think to yourself, "boy, now THAT was a challenge!"

Louis (the one in Ottawa) (feeling somewhat Zen this morning).

[Sable]

I've had this problem as well, turns out, I had a bad ground. Believe it or not, there is only two places where the electrical system is grounded... the first and most obvious is the negatvie battery terminal.
The other (which is where I found my problem) is on the left coil. You have to take the tank off the bike and take the two cap nuts off the left side, the ground wire connects to the first one (towards the seat). Use an emery cloth or medium grit sandpaper and clean the connection. Also, where this ground wire connects into the wiring harness is, what I think, is a  weak spot in the system. If you have ever have locked your handle bars to the right, you may have pulled this grounding wire from the rest of the harness. I had to go in and splice in a 2" section of wire so there was enough slack in it so it would not happen again.
Once I did this, she's been running like a champ, just my $0.02 ;D.
Best of luck to you Louis....

 ~Sable

[Lucky]

The starter itself provides ground at the two 10mm mounting bolts on the back end.  if you decide to check this, be aware that if you pull the starter out you'll have oil all over the place.  you could poss take the 2 bolts out and slip some sandpaper between the mounting tabs & the engine...

also, there is an oil seal in the nose of the starter (the starter gear sits in engine oil)  if this is the stock seal, it leaks. if the starter is full of oil, the bike won't start.  The procedure is to replace the oil seal with one with a spring in the lip.  the procedure is well doccumented here & on my site.

--Lucky

[jasonm.]

The MAIN ground is a #8 wire to the engine. Above the left footrest...if memory serves me.