1988 Yamaha Route 66 (XV250) Electronic Issue

Hi there. I just happened to join this forum in search for help sadly. I have ran into a small (Rather large) issue on my Yamaha Route 66.

A little bit about the bike. I got it in Stockbrige Georgia in August 2015. The previous owner was the original owner. He happened to put a lot of love and care into the bike, and I picked it up because it was a good price for what it is, and it is in almost pristine condition for only 7500 miles on the bike when i purchased it. I have since put 1000 miles on the bike, along with some small maintenance with the driving.

It has a bit more lights than what they normally come with. Two 40w lights on the highway bars, A amber light in the front fender, and a rear tail light in the sissy bar on the back. All wires are good though.

I start the bike, it turns over just fine, runs strong. After about 5-15 minutes on a ride, the bike will start to lose power. It will go somewhere. Sometimes i beep the horn just to see if has sufficient power. Sometimes, it won't even emit a buzz, showing imminent failure about to happen.

The bike stalls out (of course) and it rolls to a stop. I pull out my volt-o meter, and the battery goes down all the way to 8.7 volts! Yet I can turn off the key for 2 minutes, let the bike sit, and then crank it back up, good to go! It is boggling my mind. It's a new battery in the bike. Could it be a bad cell? Could it be the Rectifier?

I checked the wiring harness and the wires to the external lights, including gauges and ignition switch. All corded up and good to go. No shorts.

I don't suspect the Stater. When you start the bike and wind it up, the lights brighten up, like it's so-post to.

Any feed back would be great! Thank you!




Zachary

 

The below forum is more adept with the XV voodoo.
http://viragotechforum.com/index.php

Your first suspect should be the battery. Have it load tested.
Second suspect is the regulator.
Check battery voltage at idle, 2,500 RPM, and 4,000 RPM. report back.

 

Thank you for the forum information! I will make sure to use that for future references.
I just took the battery to a motorcycle shop. From the readings under load they say there are two dead cells. When not under load at standard charge it would drop from 12.4 volts to 10.8. That is odd considering I was able to get it to charge back up from 8.7 volts by turning off the key. I guess the battery is toast.

I got a replacement battery via warranty.
I will load up the dry battery with acid when i get home, and charge it on two amps for five hours when i get home. I will let you know the result!

 

Be sure to test the charging voltage. If it's too high you will fry the new battery. It should never go above 14.8 volts.

 

Noted. If thats the case, then it could be the rectifier.

 

Not the rectifier, but the regulator. Of course both are part of a sealed unit, so the whole thing will need changed if either part is faulty.

 

Just got home from work. I'm too beat to look at it tonight. Ill wake up early tomorrow to fiddle with it. More to come, Wish me luck.

 

So I putted the battery together. I topped it off to high level, all six cells, and then plugged it on 12v amps for 5 hours like it was called for on the instructions.

I unplugged the charger after so and let it sit for one hour with the caps off. It read 12.7v. A steady voltage from what I understand.

I plugged it into my bike, and clicked the key to on. Lights come on, i see the volts drop down to 12v flat. As long as it does not go below 9.6v it should be fine.

I pressed the ignition, the volts drop sharper to 11.5 then bumps right back up to 12.5 at idle when first started. I let it warm up and raised the RPM's to about 4-5k. The voltage goes to 13.0 It seems a bit low in my opinion, but the stater is working and the regulator seems to be doing the job. Could the amount of lights on it be an issue? It should be around 14v. Could it be an unknown drain? Could this be normal?

 

The first suspect when charging voltage is low is worn-out alternator brushes. Pull the alternator cover and inspect. Clean the traces with an eraser, and recheck voltage.

 

I think I have found the problem. I finally managed to pull off the stator cover, exposing it to see what is the matter.

It turns out that the top of two coils seemed to have shorted a little and the wires near the plugs have almost degraded. I am suprised it charges at all honestly. Tough lil bike. Im not sure if this is the stator from the factory from 30 years ago or has been replaced.

So this begs the question. Is there a quality difference between OEM parts and aftermarket parts?

 

There can be, but that depends on the manufacturers of the part. Yamaha never made any major electrical parts themselves.
I'd poke around on Virago tech and see. Rick's used to (and may still) sell a good stator, but I'm not sure if they ever did for the Virago 250. Don't be afraid of buying a used one. Sometimes those end up being a better deal.

 

Alright. Ill make sure to look around. Could the amount of lights on my motorcycle shorten the life expectancy of the stator?

The motorcycle has quite a few lights for such a small bike. I am certainly not going to ride it for now because of fire hazards.

 

I'd replace the pair of 40W spots with a pair of 10W LED spots.
That extra 80 watts is most likely the cause of the stator failure.

 

I figured those bulbs would be the devils work. They work so great at night, even brighter than my headlamp, but i was worried about the power they pull. I will look for bipin 10 watt led bulbs that will fit in my sockets.

I am going on a hunt for two things now. Ill let you all know how it goes.

 

Don't forget to check all of the ground wires from battery to frame and wire harness as well

 

Once I replace these parts, i'll search every wire again, just to be safe.

 

I just got the parts from yamaha. The gasket to the stator alone was $30. It was a bit pricey for the kit, but atleast it's OEM. I also went to home depot to get two 20 watt spot lamps for the highway bars. I couldnt find 10 watt LED lamps that would fit in the light assemblys.

I pulled the battery out, grounded the bike, and then drained the oil (10W-40 motorcycle oil for those who wonder) and got the filter to the oil out. I pulled the stator cover back off and remove the gasket, also removing the stator.

I plugged in the new stator and set the new gasket in, lining it with a touch of oil to seal well. I assemble the stator cover together, using an impact hammer to gently nudge it to specific torque.

I remove the lights on the highway bars, replacing the original 40W bulbs with the new 20W bulbs. Durring this, i went ahead and sought out for unwanted hots and grounds on the bike, just to be sure. I even pulled out the headlamp to see if everything was where it needed to be. It indeed was and no corrosion to my surprise.

I then put the new oil filter in, filling the bike up to 1.5 quarts of oil. I plug the battery back in. Time for the moment of truth.

I check the volts at off. 12.7V. Seems stable. I click the key on, lights glowing to life as it drops down to 12V flat. I click the ignition button, seeing it drop down to 11.5 once again. Aslong as it is not below 9.6 during draw, it should be fine.

It runs. I let it warm up before reving the engine to 4k. And what do you know? The volt meter reads 14.4 volts! I let it idle, reading at 12.8 volts. Seems healthy to me. No oil leaks, and it shows no strain when starting. I will do further testing today, starting with a small ride around my neighborhood.

 

Looks good

 

Well i rode it around the neighborhood, parked and checked the volts. They are at 13.5V at idle. I got brave and rode it to the gas station.

After fillin up, i checked the volts again, this time at 5k rpm, it goes up to 14.4V. I think this was the cure to my bike.

 

I am sure that the issue is fixed now. I rode around all day, and there has been no problems since.

Voltage hovers around 13.2-13.7 depending how long you're at idle after riding. It charges up when revved up and doesn't sputter or stutter.

It's nice to ride a bike without worries. (Until something else goes wrong) Ill be on the road now. Thank you for inviting me to the forums fellas.

I'll make sure to refer to the Virago forums for the future of technical stuff for the bike, but will update the status of the bike and it's Pro's and Con's of owning it.


Zachary