R80RT electrical problem?

[jblove]

A buddy of mine just bought a 1985 R80RT from an estate sale. Bike has sat for 4 yrs. . Cleaned carbs, checked plugs, air filter, oil, etc... All in good shape or new. Installed new battery, problem is that although the volt meter will get up to around 13.3 amps the only lights that will come on are the "parking lights." Nothing else seems to work... "information" lights (gen, neutral, etc...), starter does not cycle, no headlight/brakelight and so on. He and I don't know where to start looking for the problem. Is there a fuse panel on this bike or just individual "in-line" fuses? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[JimD]

I would check the kill switch & make sure that you have the key switch turned on all the way. If I remember correctly ther are two notches on the key switch. 1 is parking lights & 2 is full on. The switch could be defective. The headlight is not fused. I know that thru the 84 model the fuses are in the headlight bucket. It seems that maybe the fuse block was moved under the fuel tank on the later models, but I am not certain.

 

 

[Mighty Manfred]

On my 87 R80RT, the two system fuses are under the seat, right behind and below the fuel tank. They are 8 amp fuses. The in-dash voltmeter is reliably low in its measurements - 13.3 is what mine shows.

[MacRunch]

I'd start by checking the grounding cable, the heavy black wire from the battery to the transmission. Check the termination point at the tranny and clean it well with some sandpaper or emory cloth. Chances are if the bike has been sitting for a few years there is going to be some corrosion at the connections.

 

Fuse check next. Kill switch can also be a culprit. The kill switch on my R90 can be a bit tempermental at times so make sure it is on and connections are clean.