More troubles in the land o' Vision

[geolin]

Okay,

I fix one problem and another raises it ugly head!

The Vision no longer floods after it gets warm; I adjusted the carburetors 1 CCW turn, and moved the stopper on the airbox flapper so it stays open a bit. It worked, started hot everytime!

Now I take it for a couple of short rides, and all is cool until suddenly the bike just shuts down without warning. Now every time I try to start it it makes an electric sort of clicking sound and doesn?t turn over. It sounds like it is coming from under the seat, but I can?t be sure.

Any ideas?

[desperado]

The clicking under you seat has got to be your starter solenoid (cylindrical shape just to rear of battery) probably not recieving sufficent current to operate starter.   Check for broken or corroded terminals, connectors or grounds wich may have also killed your bike when they broke or shorted.   Not that familiar with vision wiring myself,  someone else might have a better idea.

[Lucky]

check your charging system too, if the battery is bead, then charge it up and connect a voltmeter accross the battery terminals. you should see 13.5-14.5 volts. 12V or less indicates a bad charging system. (Vision stators are prone to failure)  go to www.electrexusa.com and download their charging system diagnosis flowchart, and follow it to the letter. (be sure your battery is charged before starting the tests)  if you need to replace the stator, go with the electrex unit, it is far superior to the yamaha one and a hell of a lot cheaper.

check both connections on the regulator. one goes to the stator, and this connector commonly fails, causing stator failure. the solution is to eliminate this connector entirely and solder the wires. ditto for the connector on the reg that goes into the wiring harness.

the other problem might be oil in the starter, or worn brushes in the starter.  the solution here is to drain the oil and pull the starter, clean it out, replace the seal and brushes.  contact Jason Morris at jsmthefix@msn.com in connecticut. he rebuilds our starters for a modest fee.

good luck and let us know what you find.
--Lucky

[geolin]

News flash,

I recharged the battery, and it started right up! Some how something is draining the battery while I RIDE!!  I recently replaced the starting solenoid, and the regulator (the regulator was used) because of this problem. Because it appeared about the same time that the bike would flood when warm, I thought that they were related.

So what would drain the charge while running? Oh and I tested the stator and it appears to be fine.

It?s crazy, I?ve gone from thinking it is electrical to a fuel problem, and now I?m back to the electrics.

Thanks!!

[Lucky]

there is another possability, i have seen automotive regulators do this, not sure if it applies to the Vision

an internal short can drain the battery, at least while the vehicle os off, worh a check, here's how:

frmove the neg battery terminal and place a test light (not a meter) between the neg cable and neg post. the light should not come on, if it does something is shorted or "on"   you can test this by turning the key switch on, the testlight will come on.

if the testlight does come on with the key off, then start pulling fuses one by one till you find the circut with the short. if you have pulled all the fuses (including the fan fuse in the headlight) then unplug the rec/reg (these can short in the same manner)
--Lucky

[dav]

You said your stator appeared to be o.k.  That didn't sound like a very confident diagnosis.  If it is charging at 13.2v or higher it is probably o.k.  You may need to rev it a little.  Some charging systems dont have max output until loaded or revved up.  A poor battery will not allow an accurate charging system test either.  You should have it load tested to rule it out as good or bad.  Lucky was right about checking for draws.  You can use a multimeter though.  Use the milliamp setting and hook in series just like a test light.  On cars the max draw is usually 50 miliiamps.  That is with computers with memories.  These bikes should have a much lower draw than that though.  Poor connections will also create draws that are hard to find.  You can do a voltage drop across all wires and cables to check for good connections, especially at high current places like starter connections and at the battery.

[Lucky]

the reason i specified a test light and not a meter is for it's simplicity, it's either on or off