[midway mike]

Looking for some technical advice on an electrical issue on a 2001 V-Star 1100. When I plugged up my battery tender last night I heard a "tick" (sounded like a fuse blowing). I have checked all of my fuses and they all are good. I have 13.5 volts coming from the battery but evereything is dead, no lights ,no horn... zilch. Any Ideas???

 

[farmalldanzil]

Check the main fuse that is under the seat. It's under the ignitor unit, 30. A.

 

[midway mike]

Pulled and checked all of the fuses. Even checked them for continuity. All are good....

 

[LVNeptune]

If you turn your bike to "On" with the battery tender plugged in does your gauge start or any lights come on? Don't try to start it with the tender plugged in just see if anything happens.

 

[tbiker]

Does the 1100 have a fuse in the stator?

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[midway mike]

When I turn the key to "on" ....nothing happens....no lights or anything

 

[LVNeptune]

Definitely fuse blown somewhere.

 

[midway mike]

there is 7 fuses. 4 under the left side cover and 3 under the seat. all of them are good....

 

[Miescha]

Remember, you can have continuity via a multimeter and still have a bad fuse under load. I've seen it many times in the ham radio world. Can't fully explain it, but it happens. I'm guessing this isn't your issue, but if all else fails, there aren't that many fuses to just replace them all as a test.

Good luck.

Pulled and checked all of the fuses. Even checked them for continuity. All are good....

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[2005vstar]

My 1100 left me stranded one day in a Lowe's parking lot. No power what's so ever. Pulled the battery terminal connections, cleaned them and then reattached. Bike showed power and started right up. Just a little corrosion on the battery terminal connections caused complete loss of power. I now rub dielectric grease on the terminal connections to keep them clean.

 

[midway mike]

I've cleaned the battery terminals already, I plan to replace all of the fuses when I get home from work today.

 

[2005vstar]

Could the ignition switch itself be bad? I'm restoring an old car and have had to trace electrical issues on occasion. I grab my trusty meter and start from the battery checking for 12v along the circuits. If your battery is good then you should be able to trace 12v until the break, which could be a bad fuse or something else.

 

[Miescha]

Definitely need to trace the power from the battery out using your meter. I read your post to mean you had already done this. On the good side, bikes don't have much wire to chase so it should go pretty fast.

Let us know what you find.


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[LVNeptune]

Not sure the "proper" way of testing ignition switch BUT you could unwrap the wiring harness going to the larger fuse block with the ignition fuse in it and tap on the large brown wire (assuming it's the same wiring configuration as the 1300) and run that straight to the battery...Obviously make sure it's the ignition wiring. If the gauges light up your ignition switch is bad.

 

[BirchyBoy]

Looking for some technical advice on an electrical issue on a 2001 V-Star 1100. When I plugged up my battery tender last night I heard a "tick" (sounded like a fuse blowing). I have checked all of my fuses and they all are good. I have 13.5 volts coming from the battery but evereything is dead, no lights ,no horn... zilch. Any Ideas???

I had the same issue with a new Bikemaster battery this summer (battery had OK voltage, no lights, etc). It looked OK on a multimeter but a shop's tester showed it as bad. A new battery under replacement took care of the issue.

 

[midway mike]

"Birchboy" you are dead on the money. The battery holds 13.5 volts. but zilch under a load. THANKS FOR ALL OF THE INPUT !!!!!

 

[mole2]

"Birchboy" you are dead on the money. The battery holds 13.5 volts. but zilch under a load. THANKS FOR ALL OF THE INPUT !!!!!

A similar story. I had the same problem a year ago. The battery was bad after attaching the tender. I replaced the battery and searched online about my tender (can't remember the make and model) and it seems it was a common problem with the tender destroying a strap in the battery. I replaced my tender and all is well with the new battery since then.