About Christopher Expertise I can answer all general maintenance questions, also any general problem questions regarding most emergency problems as well as some uncommon problems regarding most motorcycles but with specific knowledge and experience with older Honda and Yamaha motorcycles. I am also very experienced in field analysis of problems and solutions to get the bike going till you reach a safe spot or home.
Experience For starters, please don't call me Christopher. Chris or "Falcon" will do nicely. That said, I have been riding since 1981 and am licensed in the U.S. and in the UK for motorcycles as well as 3 other classes of vehicles. Since I began riding, I have owned 10 motorcycles of various makes and models, all but 3 of which have been older, second hand machines of questionable servicability. also, I ride 7 days a week, not 2. Rain or shine. but please do not ask me about specific parts and specifications regarding your bike. My expertise is in maintainence and field repair, not parts ordering. I will not be able to answer parts pricing and matching for specific machines. On a final note, I have recently discovered that a Honda V65 Magna will ford water up to nearly 2ft in depth. But you must keep the revs up and the speed down.
Question chris i have a 2001 yamaha roadstar. went out to ride.started-up ok in neutral. when i shift into first it stalls out. any ideas thanks mark
Answer Hi Mark.
You, my friend, have fallen victim to the most insidious problem to plague motorcycles since the safetycrats forced installation of sidestand cutoff switches on bikes. A bad sidestand safety switch or a bad clutch switch. Most likely it i the sidestand cutoff switch that is the real culprit of the two.
You can either replace the switch or remove and bypass it. The choice is yours. If you choose to bypass the switch, then make sure that you have the repair manual to show you the wiring layout, because you will need to connect two of the 3 wires in the switch together, but without the manual you will never know which 2 until it works.
