v star 1100 electrical problem

[gsale68]

hi first time user here got my bike out today turned the key and hit the starter and everything went out no lights no power nothing checked all the fuses but still nothing evert now and then everything will come back on but click and go backout when you try to start any body had this problem

[Motorcycle Forum]

[Ironjoey]

Did you charge your battery? Sounds like its dead.

[gsale68]

just got finished putting in new one that was it.i have just put on passing lamps dont know if the problem came from that or just old battery

[Water Warrior]

Did you fully charge the new battery? Without doing that it won't do you much good. New batteries have some charge but not nearly enough to be of any real use. Eliminate that situation then try to start the bike again.

[Easy Rider]

i have just put on passing lamps dont know if the problem came from that or just old battery

Probably a little of both.
How old was the battery?
How long had it sat unused?

It's not uncommon for them to fail when doing "electrical mods or testing" as you tend to not let the bike run long enough to recharge between starts.
A bike battery has nowhere near the reserve capacity of a car.

And as WW said above, even if things SEEM to be working OK now, you need to put that new battery on a charger if you haven't already.
The bike itself may not do the job properly.

How big (wattage) are the lights.......and are they on all the time ??

[gsale68]

Put new bikemaster trugel battery have not had anymore problem since talked to mechanic at local yamaha dealer said to cut passing lamps off in heavey traffic and that it was best to leave them off for periods of time.

[gsale68]

Dont know how old the battery was it was in the bike when i bought it and bike does not sit very much drive about 60 miles back and forth to work .dont know the wattage of the lights i will have to check.i did put switch in for the lights but have failed to use it probably good idea to cut them off during start up and warm up period

[Easy Rider]

dont know the wattage of the lights i will have to check.i did put switch in for the lights but have failed to use it probably good idea to cut them off during start up and warm up period

You should know what you are putting on your bike, in this case the wattage, and the potential effect it will have.......BEFORE you put it on.

Since we are past that now, a few voltage measurements should tell the story; that is, whether or not you need to worry about turning them off or not.

IF your front turn signals still function as running lights, having the added ones on during the daytime probably won't make you much more visible anyway.

[Water Warrior]

You should know what you are putting on your bike, in this case the wattage, and the potential effect it will have.......BEFORE you put it on.

Since we are past that now, a few voltage measurements should tell the story; that is, whether or not you need to worry about turning them off or not.

IF your front turn signals still function as running lights, having the added ones on during the daytime probably won't make you much more visible anyway.

Easy, we will have to agree to disagree on your added light theory during daylight. Lynda's M-50 has added lights on the crash bars and it is very noticeable during the day. The triangle effect of 3 lights is far better than one central light coming down the road. The extra lights are 20 watt halogen MR-16 bulbs mounted in cheap WallyWorld lights from the auto dept.

[Easy Rider]

Easy, we will have to agree to disagree on your added light theory during daylight.

That's why I said "IF the turn signals still work as running lights too."

It might be interesting to note that the NTSB has decided that DRLs on cars are not required anymore.......because there was no hard evidence that they help anything.

Extra lights certainly don't hurt (unless they run the battery down) and mounting with a proper seperation is much better. Most end up pretty much with 3 in a row though.

[gsale68]

i want all the lights and noise i can have i drive the interstate everyday everybody run over you about ready to duct tape the horn down

[Easy Rider]

i want all the lights and noise i can have i drive the interstate everyday everybody run over you about ready to duct tape the horn down

OK, but that doesn't further the discussion of your original problem.
Are you going to tell us about the wattage of your lights and the charging voltage ??
If not, we can't help much........or at all.

[old codger]

i want all the lights and noise i can have i drive the interstate everyday everybody run over you about ready to duct tape the horn down

If you want traffic to see you might look into getting a Headlight Modulator. They work great for getting peoples attention and they are legal in all states plus Canada. Some are plug and play and all I know of are less than $100. I have then on both my bikes and they do not have any additional current draw over the stock headlight as well.

old codger