2002 Yamaha Road Star Midnight - Answered Questions & Fixed issues

I have 2002 road star midnight. I lost completely spark on all 4 spark plugs. Before bike was running OK but sometimes on low RPM while idling would skip a firing on a at least one cylinder making spufff like sound. I put new spark plugs, and wiggled a little coil wires. Bike with new spurk plugs would not fire up at all. Checked for spark on all 4 spark plugs - no spark., not even an electrical I lost completely spark on all 4 spark plugs. Before bike was running OK but sometimes on low RPM while idling would skip a firing on a at least one cylinder making spufff like sound. I put new spark plugs, and wiggled a little coil wires. Bike with new spark plugs would not fire up at all. Checked for spark on all 4 spark plugs - no spark., not even an electrical charge going to spark plug. Went back to coils. Each coil (there 2 of them) has 2 spark plug wires and 2 ignition timing signal wires connected to them. I realized that these ignition timing wires contacts are corroded to the point they would not conduct a charge from the distributor to coil. CLEAN ALL THE TIMING WIRES Contacts on the coils. I did that and bike fired up right away and started running much better without sputtering or skipping a cylinder firing. SO DISCONNECT ALL THE COIL WIRES AND BRUSH THE CONTACTS WITH A SMALL METAL WIRE BRUSH.

Check fuse.

Some bikes have one or more safety features regarding the clutch and gear box. One feature is a micro-switch at the clutch master/lever, it tells the safety system if the clutch lever is out or in. If the switch fails the safety system will think the lever is out (allowing power to rear wheel) and kill the engine to prevent the bike from lurching forward, potentially causing the bike and rider to go down. The other feature is not as common, it is a similar switch at the side stand. This prevents the rider from starting off with the side stand down. Which can also cause the bike and rider to go down. If that switch fails then the bike will think the side stand is always down and will kill the engine as soon as it put into gear. If you know how to use a multimeter you can test the switch(s) for function and determine if it is failed. Otherwise have it checked by a competent mechanic. There is also a recall on your bike (and many others with the same gearbox) regarding the power train. A good reason to get you bike in, fix this safety issue and your original issue. 2002 Yamaha Midnight Star POWER TRAIN MANUAL TRANSMISSION Recall MGM

possible worn out rings or the other piston might have a hole in the top of it if it was running too lean,also possible wrist pin is worn out also

The belt should have no more than 1 inch of deflection in the center of its span.

If old gas sat in the carb. for more than a month it starts to dry up. As it drys up it leaves behind a varnish like film that stops up some very small ports and pin holes inside a motorcycle carburetor. It is also very hard to get out. You can try this before you pull the carb. for a full cleaning. Use a product called Seafoam, get as much gas out of the carb.s as you can. use a turkey baster and force the seafoam into your carb. fuel line that you take loose from the fuel tank. Let that set for say 1 or 2 days. then hook up the fueltank with a mix of good gas and seafoam, (not a lot but enough to start it up. Move the cycle outside as the seafoam will make a lot of smoke if it does start up. If that does not clear up the problem you may have to pull the carb. and remove the blows to clean the inside. If you have to do that do not DO NOT MESS with any adjustment screws. Just take the carb. bowl off. Do not mix up any internal parts. It is best to work on a large sheet so if you drop a small part you can find it, you do not want to be missing some tiny spring or screw. Hope this Helps Fix Ya Up..

remove the small bolt behind the passenger seat, remove smaller seat. You can now access the slightly larger bolt from the rear of the drivers seat. After removing the bolt slide the sear forward approximately 1 inch and lift up

Please make sure if the Air filter of the Yamaha is getting wet or leaking any liquid, which means the Filter needs to be replaced with new one.

Hi
One end should be fixed so cannot be undone, the other end will be in a clasp with a narrow entrance.
stretch the rubber and the metal loop should come out from the clasp when the tension is eased off.

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Many thanks

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It sounds like a battery issue.
If the voltage is low, its either a bad battery or a charging problem

Sounds like too much oil! Yeah it sounds like a switch. You can probably get that thing apart and see what's happening. Have you ridden in the rain lately or trailered it through heave rain? I trailered my Ducati through some heavy rain in North Carolina and washed all the grease out of the throttle, wouldn't even turn. I have a feeling, you have corroded the connection some how, check it out.

The seat on a Roadstar releases by the ignition key, turn to the left without pushing the key down and it releases the seat.

Check that you don't have a stuck float ,which is preventing the float needle from shutting off the fuel.Its not uncommon for foats to puncture and sink .or grit or dirt to get stuck in the float needle shut off needle and fuel can still gtet passed causeing flooding .

make sure all your connections are tight from the speedo (sqaure plastic ) if they are your speedo sensor may be bad

want a great source for roadstar information? try roadstarclinic.com. you might have a sticking exhaust valve in the rear cylinder! they are known for it when they have the pipes and jet kits installed! if that be the case, I have a fix for it that is a lot cheaper than pulling the heads!

Been running mine now for 36,000 miles on Castrol GTX 10W40, and have had no problems!

yup! what is the problem please be specific?

Sounds like you got something in the carbs that got into the float needle and keep it from shutting all the way to stop the fuel from filling the float bowls. And when this happens it has know where to go but up threw the main jet and into the intake and into the combustion chamber which would flood it. And also it would leak back from the carbs and into the air box.
The air cleaner needs to be clean so you wont get dirt into the carbs and also put a inline fuel filter on if the is not one already.

Check the battery connections and make sure the battery is charged up. Sounds like it went dead on you

The sprag clutch that kicks the starter gear into the flywheel is not engaging. This may involve splitting the engine/transmission case if you have to clean or replace that mechanism. I have had success running CD-2 as described here. You might try that before tearing into the bike.