2000 Yamaha Roadstar 1600 - stalling when put in gear | GTAMotorcycle.com

2000 Yamaha Roadstar 1600 - stalling when put in gear

EaZ8

Well-known member
having issues with a 2000 roadstar 1600 - carbed.
bike fires up and runs perfect, as soon as you put it in gear she shuts off as if you hit the kill switch.

troubleshooting done so far :
- unplugged kickstand sensor, issue continues.
- unplugged clutch sensor, issue continues.
- found out that the kickstand sensor needs to be jumped, touched the 2 prongs together, issue continues.
- replaced the safety switch relay (relay for kill switch, kickstand sensor, clutch sensor) issue continues. reason we replaced it was during our testing i flicked it a couple times and all of a sudden the bike worked so i assumed the relay was jammed and that was the issue but apparently not.

so, the issue started when the bike was bottomed out while going about 80km, it ran for about 500 meters then stalled out.
after flicking the relay and it worked bike was ridden about 50 km to work then half way home when the bike bottomed out again and shut off.

im really thinking that it is the kickstand sensor, there is really nothing else on the bottom of the bike that i can tell could have been damaged.

so for testing the kickstand sensor/switch im thinking i can tone it with a volt meter. it beeps when the circuit is complete and doesn't when its open...but does anyone know if this is how the kickstand switch actually works?
i think that when i tried to jump/bypass the kickstand it wasnt a good enough connection.
 
you have a wiring issue. its going to be in the kickstand area. should be easy to find.
 
just FYI - the bike has probably 100+km on it, hasnt had any wiring played with on it in at least 2 seasons (not sure when the tins were pulled and hydro dipped/painted), and has about 10,000 trouble free km on it this year.

any clue if i can test the kickstand sensor with the toner on the multi meter?
 
Kickstand switch is either on or off so the diode selector on the multimeter will work.
 
Kickstand switch is either on or off so the diode selector on the multimeter will work.
perfect thanks.
apparently the clutch switch needs voltage running through it to test it and when some of the roadstar guys bypass it they tie it into the ignition.
 
ok so we got a little progress tonight but now we are stumped again...

toned the wires in the kickstand...all passed, switch works.
toned wires from the kickstand switch plug to its next contact point inside the headlight - all passed
toned wires from headlight into the relay - all passsed.
toned killswitch wires - all passed to the relay

replaced the relay previously - still not working
replaced the clutch switch because it was only $20 and in stock at st onge - still not working.

heres is where we now fixed 1 thing and found a new issue

i tightened the clutch cable, bike went into gear perfectly, seemed to be all good to go so my gf's dad said lets go get my bike and go for a ride, i hopped on the back and she stalled out.
got off fired it up and as soon as i put weight on the passenger peg she cuts out.

rider weights are not being easy on this bike, im 210 and hes probably 240-250 but shes a big bike should be able to take that.
he is now thinking that the bike feels lower than it did last year which is why he has bottomed out 2x now, so now since its a soft tail design i need to get in and see the coil spring and hope its not cracked and maybe crank the preload up a notch if possible...but thats not a fix to the issue.

im thinking that with the bike sitting lower, and my added weight a wire is getting pinched and grounding out and stalling out the bike.

so i unplugged the light harness under the rear fender just to test and there is no change...so the rear harness is only for lights by the looks of it.

any suggestions now???

at this point i feel like if we bring it to a dealer they will charge a hour labor and say can not duplicate customer concern...just bouncing on the bike with 1 rider doesnt do it...
 
I'd agree you're still looking for a kickstand switch wiring issue.

If it's intermittent don't assume just continuity checking the wires is the end solution. If it's a bared/broken wire somewhere it could explain why it works one minute but as soon as the bike is sat on and things move a little, all of a sudden things change. I'd start by eyeballing the entire length of wire from the kickstand directly to the relay. I think you're going to find a physical wiring issue somewhere.
 
I'd agree you're still looking for a kickstand switch wiring issue.

If it's intermittent don't assume just continuity checking the wires is the end solution. If it's a bared/broken wire somewhere it could explain why it works one minute but as soon as the bike is sat on and things move a little, all of a sudden things change. I'd start by eyeballing the entire length of wire from the kickstand directly to the relay. I think you're going to find a physical wiring issue somewhere.
its gotta be a wiring issue but what has got me stumped is the only thing we changed today was tightening the clutch cable (and the new clutch switch that turned out to not be bad anyway..just eliminate a possible issue) and now it will go into gear with just the rider on, the weight of the 2nd person stalls it out.
where as before kickstand up in neutral no issues, even no weight on the bike, just holding it up tap it in gear and instant stall.

then i thought maybe it was a tip sensor, so we stood to the side of the bike, kickstand up, im gear, clutch in and tipped it left and right and nothing...she ran like she was new.

ugh, i hate wiring issues...

going to pull all the tins off tomorrow hopefully and go from there.
 
the weight of the 2nd person stalls it out.

Then I'd be focusing my attention on the under-seat area, as well as any wiring that passes anywhere near the suspension. Those are the two logical things that would be affected by weight and would cause any problematic wiring to cause issues.

BTW, when it dies...are all the indicator lights, headlight etc etc still on? Any sign of *complete* electrical failure that could point towards something like a loose ground/positive cable at the battery instead? With the battery being under the seat, and the issue cropping up when extra weight is added to the seat, I'd be really focusing my attention there.
 
If you are chasing a short: wire in a light bulb. Lets say you think you have a short in the side stand switch wire, but you are not sure. Disconnect the wire where it joins the main harness and connect a bulb in series to the battery positive. If the wire shorts to ground, the light will illuminate. Allowing you to duplicate any motions that could be causing it.

Notes: light bulbs get hot... do not lay it on your seat or anything else that can be damaged.
 
From looking at wiring diagrams online, your sidestand switch connects that wire from the start-relay to ground. The circuit is closed/grounded when the kickstand is up.

I suspect that you are looking for an intermittent open condition, ie a break in the wire or connection. This simulates that the kickstand is down, hence killing the ignition (fuel pump?),

So with the relay removed (ignition off) and the kickstand up, a continuity/toner from that connector-to-ground into the relay should sound the toner, and you'll be able to put weight on the seat to try to get the circuit to open and the toner to stop. Then you have to determine where the break is.

Maybe up near the relay or connector as this is where you tapped once before to correct the situation for a while.
 
Then I'd be focusing my attention on the under-seat area, as well as any wiring that passes anywhere near the suspension. Those are the two logical things that would be affected by weight and would cause any problematic wiring to cause issues.

BTW, when it dies...are all the indicator lights, headlight etc etc still on? Any sign of *complete* electrical failure that could point towards something like a loose ground/positive cable at the battery instead? With the battery being under the seat, and the issue cropping up when extra weight is added to the seat, I'd be really focusing my attention there.
all the lights seem to still work. i didnt notice if they flicker at all.

one thing we did try was when it started to stall out i got off and she kept running.
 
any guesses as to how tightening the clutch cable made it so the bike will now go into gear but it will still stall when the weight of 2 people is on it?
before it would just stall as soon as we put it in gear.

i just want to make sure the clutch isnt over tightened, and maybe there were 2 issues 1 was the clutch cable and 1 is the wiring issue.
 
If you are chasing a short: wire in a light bulb. Lets say you think you have a short in the side stand switch wire, but you are not sure. Disconnect the wire where it joins the main harness and connect a bulb in series to the battery positive. If the wire shorts to ground, the light will illuminate. Allowing you to duplicate any motions that could be causing it.

Notes: light bulbs get hot... do not lay it on your seat or anything else that can be damaged.
Could this not be replicated with a test light?

Sent from my custom purple Joe Bass mobile device using Tapatalk
 
Could this not be replicated with a test light?

Sent from my custom purple Joe Bass mobile device using Tapatalk

Yes, as long as it's not a complicated one with LED's and diodes. It might give false reading if there is only a partial short during certain circumstances. There are many ways to replicate this testing method, but everyone has at least one headlight bulb..
 
havent had a chance to look at the bike this week, he actually started looking at new bikes the day i wanted to dig into it.

really wants the Indian Darkhorse but hes leaning towards something with a sidecar or a newer roadstar and then look into the issues on this one over the winter and black the whole thing out.

so if anyone has a good roadstar for sale let me know.
 
Could it be the clutch? Mine went last week and some of those symptoms sound similar

I messed around with both sides of the cable, got enough to get moving but not pretty when I attempted to stop. Clutch kaked, bike just wanted to pull forward so jerked to a stop.

Someone mentioned that center nuts sometimes come lose.
 
well he ended up getting a 2000 roadstar 1600 with 7000km on it. this bike looks amazing.
his old bike had custom paint on it so thats getting swapped over as well as a few other parts.
when the tins come off ill be able to actually see all the wiring and track down the issue.

the one that isnt working has over 100,000km on it so hes glad to have a basically new bike.
unsure whats going to happen to the old one, he has myself plus 3 others that want it and hes thinking of getting it fixed then possibly blacking it out.
the motor on this thing still fires up first try and runs amazing besides this electrical issue.
 
within 5 min of taking the rear fender off i found the problem.
one of the wiring harnesses got pinched by the soft tail swing arm and broke. with the bike running i was able to grab the wire and bend it a little causing it to short out.

all the custom painted tins have been swapped over to his "new"bike and hes happy.
 

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