Im a new owner of a used 1999 Roadstar. Its my first Yamaha and I love it. After I bought it I had it checked out by a local shop for the usual stuff plus a couple things they fixed for me that I didnt know about. Ive put on lots of miles since buying it in the early spring and its now boasting more than 20k on the odometer. Hey, Im in S.FL, we ride all year long on smooth roads with lots of sunshine.

Here's the problem Im having,
Lately Ive been riding and loosing power. My speedometer goes out then a compression problem, lots of backfiring and then I loose all power. If it sits for awhile I get some power back but still wont turn over. A quick jump and Im back on the road for a short time until I need the next jump. I leapfroged home last night with my wife following me for the jump.

This oddly started after I lost a screw in the headlight assembly and replaced it with one that was just a bit longer than the other. It happened the first time on the way home from Lowes after putting that screw in. I was worried that I grounded something out inide the headlight so I took that screw out. Didnt help, still happened. Im not sure that was the cause- just coincidence maybe? So, not knowing how old the battery was I installed a new one, still had the problem.

Is there a tester or something I can use to find what it grounding out the battery? Does it sound like something else on the bike might be bad and need to be replaced? Or, should I resolve to trailering it to the shop for some profe$$ional help? Nothing really has been added to this bike other than the air filter and jet kit.

Im so glad I found this site! I really love the bike and want to get back out there! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

sorta sounds like your charging system might be on the fritz

Did you open up the headlight bucket to see if the longer screw hit a wire or wires that could now be grounding or shorting out?

Thanks silvasilv. Yes, I removed the headlight and checked but didnt see any wires the screw couldve hit, just to be on the safe side I never put that screw back in but it still happened. maybe it was just a coincidence.

Do a battery and charging system check. Sounds like the battery is running low.

If they are fine then you have a short to ground which is draining the battery. You're right, it might all be a coincidence.

Doc

do you have anything to check the voltage of your battery, optimally you want liek 13 or 14 volts i think my dealer told me once...check the connections on your battery, clean the connections...check all those wires in your headlamp and check fuses, from what i understand the 99's ( i have a 99 as well) have a weaker charging system so it may be overloaded or just shot


wow it musta taken me 4 minutes to respond cuz doc beat me haha, and the more i think about it the short draining the battery is most likely the culprit

silvasilv wrote:
wow it musta taken me 4 minutes to respond cuz doc beat me haha,

I didn't stop to breath.

Doc

Sounds like the same problem I'm having on my 05 . I just ordered a new rectifier for mine since according to the charging 101 thread my stator checks good. I hope that fixes mine replaced the Batt with no luck she still left me on the side of the road. Check the elec. forum on here it'll walk you through a check step by step. If you nee a new r/r or stator or both Tim B. over at the roadstar riders forum just got a new shipment of high outputs he's gettin $248 shipped for both and believe me thats a bargain.

Meant to say the rectifiers are really sensitive to voltage spikes and boosting them from a running vehicle can be detrimental to their health

I have a bike shop in Sebring, if you can get the bike here I'll be glad to help you out. Quality Motorcycle Repair, 2326 US 27 N, Sebring, FL, 863-386-0015, cell 863-441-2949.
If it will jump start and run without having recharged it I don't think you have a charging problem. If you have a volt meter check the voltage across the battery terminals with it not running, then start it and see what it reads. It should be 1 1/2 or 2 volts higher with it running. From what you say it sounds like a loose or corroded connection to me.

Clifford