No electrical power at all

[TomR]

Hi All,

My son and I were bombing along the other day and having a great time, the XS was running great! All of a sudden we had NO electrical power, zip, zilch, nada. I know the battery was good as I had rewired a headlight switch and the headlight was still on. No Horn, No Turn Signals, No Brake Lights, Nothing on the starter.

I checked the main fuse on the left hand side and it is good, all the fuses are good.

Is this the stator biting the bullet? One of my friends says Yamaha used fuseable links back in the 70's and early 80's, could this be the culprit? If so, where the heck is it?

Any and all ideas are greatly appreciated.

I am riding a 1980 XS1100SG.

Thanks very much!

Tom

[tcoop]

Check the 3 white wires that connect behind the fuse box. that connection is know for heating up and melting.

Check to make sure the regulator/rectifier is properly plugged in. It is more likely to go bad than the stator.

Check your ignition switch to make sure nothing sorted out there.

If you have the old glass fuses you may want to upgrade to more modern fuses.

[Arthur_of_Hex]

Hi Tom, sorry for your electrical woes. I'll start off here with what I can help you with, then im sure as the day goes on, more experience will float your way.
Start at the battery and work your way forward (forward in the wires and circuit, not specifically forward on the bike) The battery feeds a main fuse, the main fuse feeds the lines to the key and voltage regulator, the key then feeds the fuse panel. The Yamaha fuse panels of the late 70s early 80s are famous for failing. Either the "ears" that grasp the fuse crack and lose spring. corrosion. bad connections lead to heating the fuses and melting the plastic, and thus splitting the connection. Test for power at the battery, main fuse, and then the fuse panel. if you have power at the wires on both sides of the fuses with the key on, then you'll need to dig deeper. Yamaha also has a few relays in the circuits, one for headlight power, one for "safety" that disables/enables lines depending on the engine running or not <--- (the XS650 I just rewired had this system, I'm not 100% if the 11 shares it. Im sure someone will confirm/correct me) And as always be sure your ground wire(s) are connected well and uncorroded. There, that's a good start, there are sure to be a few more helping tips coming your way

[tcoop]

This may not be related to your issue...
Last year I was riding my venture to work, I reached up to adjust the mirror and the bike just died. No power as you described. After a few moments of panic (being on the highway) maneuvering of to the side of the road and saying a few choice words I had found I hit the kill switch.

[Ken Talbot]

...
I checked the main fuse on the left hand side and it is good, all the fuses are good....

Have another look at that main fuse. Those old glass fuses are notorious for failing under the metal end cap. You look at them and the fuse looks good but if you twist and pull, one of the caps will come off.

[crazy steve]

Nope, no fusible link....

You said you 'rewired' the headlight switch, so that might be a place to look. As per OEM, main power comes off the positive battery terminal at the starter solenoid, goes through the main fuse, then on to the ignition switch, from there to the fuse panel; if this goes bad anywhere, you lose all power to everything on a stock harness. Several places that can cause poor connections; the main fuse holder, the plug for the ignition switch, the switch itself. The OEM fuse panels are famous for poor connections, most replace them.

You might want to read this: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35337
... and this.... http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14052

95% of all wiring problems on these are connections (either at plugs or in the switch contacts) that have degraded over time, the rest are usually hacked 'fixes' perpetrated by owners. Component failures are usually caused by bad connections (which increases current draw, causing a overload) burning out the parts.

If you don't already have one, get a factory service manual and use the 'circuit diagrams' in the repair section rather than the 'everything on one sheet' diagram found in the aftermarket manuals (or the back of the factory manuals) to trace the individual circuits. This can be downloaded (for free!) by searching for any post by member 'CatatonicBug' and using the link in his signature.

My experience is if you have any electrical issues on these bikes, it's time to go through and check/clean every connection...

[TomR]

Thanks!

Hey Guys,

Thanks to you all! I think I will spend most of this afternoon and tomorrow tracing down wires, cleaning connections, and in general learning waaay more about electrical circuits than I ever thought I would.

I will keep you all posted. If anything else pops into your minds please let me know.

I wish it was just the kill switch. LOL!

Thanks again!

Tom

[jetmechmarty]

Tom,

Are you aware that the main fuse is behind the left side cover? Start with that if you haven't already.

Mine went dead just like that on the way to XS East 2013. It went dark at a traffic light in Franklin, NC. I cleaned the connector under the tank that I believe was in the ignition switch circuit. All better and continued to West Virginia. Get some Deoxit and clean every connector on the machine.

[BA80]

I had that happen before. The wire to the main fuse that runs directly off the + side of the battery (unless a PO moved it to the solenoid) broke and I lost EVERYTHING. See if you have power TO the main fuse. If not, check that wire.

[donebysunday]

Hi All,
I know the battery was good as I had rewired a headlight switch and the headlight was still on.
I checked the main fuse on the left hand side and it is good, all the fuses are good.
I am riding a 1980 XS1100SG.
Thanks very much!
Tom

Check the kill switch and the wiring for it in the headlight shell.

[cajun31]

Start checking with where you were working in the headlight. If the bike was running fine prior to that it would definitely be my first suspect area. It also would not hurt to deoxit ever connection on the bike. If the fuse panel is not corroded or weak then it is up to you to replace or not. I still have my original and it is fine. I would advise that you go out to a site such as Mikes XS and get a new batch of fuses. They are very reasonably priced and you will have extras on hand for future use. Electrical issues are just a real pain and generally unless you have experienced a component failure work themselves out by just doing the thorough go thru and cleaning.

[TomR]

Thanks very much!

All,

Thanks a bunch for the great advise! I am going to start at one end and go to the other, cleaning and checking.

You guys are great!

Tom