I just bought a new '05 Roadstar and when the bike is at idle all of the lights pulsate, as soon as I am off idle it is okay. The dealer says it's the nature of the beast, but I have owned 10 bikes over 20yrs. and have never seen this problem. Can anyone give me some help? Is this normal? Is there a fix? Does the dealer know what he is talking about?

"all of the lights pulsate"

Headlights and running lights? Headlights, running lights and spotlights?

The Yamaha charging system is weak, especially if you have auxiliary lighting.

Put a voltmeter on the battery and check what it reads. About 12.8 V when the bike is off and about 14 V at high rev.

Doc

Yep, all the lights pulsate. The headlight, taillight, and the speedo light. The bike only has 100 miles on it and has done it since day 1. Battery reads 12.9v without the bike running. At idle it is 12.7v and when you increase the rpm's it goes to about 13.5v. However, the lights do stop pulsating as soon as you are off idle and start riding or if you just rev it up. If this is normal, does anyone know of a cure? Maybe a different rectifier, or higher amp stator? It is very annoying, especially at night. Thanks.

Its relatively normal Geezer. As Doc said, the stator on the Road Stars is pretty weak.

You could try adjusting your idle up and see if you can get it to at least diminish a little.

Also, if you are running spotlights, see if it makes a difference when you turn them off. They draw a fair amount of current (more than the headlight) and turning them off might get you over the top.

I only used my spots when I was out on the road at night, and there was not a lot of street lighting.

GRAM

My lights don't pulsate. I have even installed more lights besides the usual. I would agree with the cking of the idle. I keep mine around 950 when hot. I was also told that if you have your rpm down to where the bike lopes like a Harley you could be damaging your oil pump. Don't beleive any of that nature of the beast Bullshit that these dealers tell you. The reason they say that is they don't want to admit they don't know shit, like The Suck heads at Barneys of Tampa bay. They figure the majority of people that come to the dealer knows less than they do so they just say all kinds of krap. Guess I better stop now.

Wildrat<br><br>Post edited by: wildrat, at: 2005/11/24 18:31

Some general 'maintenance' things you can try is to make sure all the connections are solid.

Check the battery cables at the battery. Then check the rectifier plug. Check the connector for the lights on the left side of the frame under the tank. Also check the connector in the light bucket.

Before you plug the connectors back together, use some dielectic grease.

Finally check the stator coil resistance

Doc

Thanks, Docshadow, Gram, and Wildrat, I went out to ride this morning and the battery was conpletely dead. I normally keep a battery tender on it when I'm not riding, but it had only been sitting for 24hrs without it and the bike is only 1 week old. I jump started it and went staight to the dealer. They put a new battery in it and it seemed to help a little. They did a charging system test, while I stood there and watched, and all was normal. I usually do all my own work on my bikes, but it's still under warrenty and I figured I would make them correct it. From everything I know over the years of working on both bikes and cars I was leaning toward the rectifier, but I didn't want to give them any ideas. Funny things is I checked with the parts departments of 3 different dealers and they all told me that the rectifier for that bike was on backorder though Yamaha. You think maybe the sold out of them because of a problem? Very interesting. If it keeps up, I'll order a new one and put it on, if it corrects the problem, I'll give the dealer a bill, or maybe call Yamaha customer support, for what it's worth.