Stumped...Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe

Retired Guy said:

Went out this morning to get the bike out of the trailer. Strong gas smell. Got it out and found a little bit of gas at the bottom of the "V". Wiped it up but there wasn't much to wipe up. Couldn't see where it was coming from.

Turned on the key, lights come on like normal, hit starter, it starts turning over like normal but doesn't start. Turn key off, back on, lights come on, hit starter and nothing, no lights, motor doesn't turn over, nothing.

Pull the seat and check all the fuses, they're good. Kind a pull and twist on the negative battery cable, nothing. Pull and twist on the positive cable and buzzzzzzzz, fuel pump comes on. I had left the key on. Pulled and cleaned the battery cable. All the lights come on. Hit the starter and the engine spins and popped a few times but didn't start. Checked the petcock and made sure the choke was off.

Hit the starter and held it a few seconds and it started. Let it run a little bit then turned it off. Started right back up. Did that several times. Then went in the house and ate lunch. After lunch I got on the bike, it started right up. I idled it the hundred yards of so out our flint rock and dirt excuse for a road to the asphalt.

Turned right on to the asphalt and what the heck! Acts like its running on two cyclinders (its a 4 banger). Open the throttle a little and WAAAAHHH, now its percolating! Shift to second gear, same thing. Third gear and it dies. Never took my hands off the grips. Had not touched the kill switch. Coasted up to a side road and pulled the seat off. Could get the lights to come on, but whenever I hit the start button everything just went black.

Called the wife to come get me so I could hook the trailer to the truck and go get my bike. Trying to roll a 800 pound bike around on a dirt road in 90 degree weather will cause you to sweat. Our neighbor boy stopped to help and probably saved me from another heart attack. I'm tired and hot and don't want to work on it right now, but I'm going to check what TriPlay said about a faulty ground wire. If I have to I can run a ground directly to the negative side of the battery.

Click to expand...

Retired Guy said:

Pull and twist on the positive cable and buzzzzzzzz,

Click to expand...

Retired Guy said:

I guess I should have mentioned its not a fuel injected engine, it has carburetors. But you may still be on to something. Last year I replaced the fuel pump. While I was doing that, I discovered the fuel filter was hidden down below the battery box where it was hard to see and hard to get to. I re-routed some fuel lines so the fuel filter can be seen as soon as the seat is pulled off. I'll have a look at those fuel lines again to make sure nothing has kinked, also take a gander at the fuel filter since it's right there.

Click to expand...

Johncox1047 said:

I have a 2010 venture and I had a problem with my fuel pump it would stop every once in a while just going down the road I ran a hose from the tank to the carburetors and bypassed the pump 5 years ago been doing fine….the down fall is I can only run about 100 miles before I HAVE to fill up

Click to expand...

Retired Guy said:

Today I picked up the bike from the dealership. The bike got a new set of spark plugs, new air cleaners and the battery cables were cleaned up, again. They also found one of the carb boots was leaking, (I had forgot to tell them about the strong gas smell, guess they noticed it). The boot was just barely on, I was told. Anyhow, the mechanic said he must have started the bike at least a hundred times while they had it and he has rode about 5 miles on it. Everything is "supposed" to be okay now. I sure hope so.

Click to expand...

Retired Guy said:

I have a 2007 Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe with just over 33K miles on it. Today I was out riding around in the local area, run a few errands, visit dad at the home, stop at a body shop about a project I have. I had stopped in a small town for about a half hour and I headed east out of town. Speed limit went from 35, to 45, to 55.
I was in 4th gear as I approached the 55 MPH zone so I sped up to 55 and shifted into 5th (high) gear.

In less than a hundred yards the engine died. I coasted a little ways and then managed to turn in to the driveway of a small business. I sat there for just a minute wondering what the heck had happened now. I checked the kill switch. It was still in the run position. But I flipped it back and forth a couple times anyway. Checked fuel petcock, it was on, choke was off, over 1/2 tank of fuel in the tank. I then shifted it into neutral and tried the starter.

The engine turned over just like it normally would but didn't start right up, like it normally does. After maybe 3 or 4 seconds, the engine started firing and then started running normally. I revved it up a couple times then let it go to idle. Then I shut it off. Turned the key back on, hit the starter and it fired right up, like normal. Rode the rest of the way home, about 5 miles, and it never missed once. Temperatures were in the upper 80's or lower 90's.

This bike did nearly the same thing 2 years ago right after I first got it. I was in Colorado and was coming through LaVita Pass, (LaVeta?). I had came through the pass and was on the downhill side when the engine died. I tried starting it several times while coasting down the hill and it wouldn't start. I finally gave up and just coasted to a stop on the side of the road.

I got off, checked fuel, choke, plug wires got back on the bike and it started right up. Rode from Colorado back to Arkansas and it never missed once. When it quit in Colorado, after talking to other riders and the dealership, the suspect was just the altitude caused it to die. Now I'm not so sure.

When I got home I parked the bike for about an hour . I got to wondering if my fuel pump had quit temporarily on me. When I turned the key on, I could hear the fuel pump, pumping up pressure, and the bike started again just like it normally would.

Before it died, there weren't any warning lights coming on. Anyone got any ideas?
Check the kickstand switch.

Click to expand...