Hi, wonder if someone can help me out, i drive a yamaha virago 535 but has recently broken down, i'm sure its just a small electrical problem but some experienced advise would be greatly appreciated. When i turn the key to on i get this triggering sound (sorry its the only way i can explain it), when pressing the start button it turns over but nothing happens, doesn't even give off the spluttering sound like bikes do when the are about to start, just turning over as if there is no fuel in the bike (and yes i have checked the fuel lol ). If anyone can guide me at all, any help with be greatly appreciated.

the sound is the fuel pump priming thats normal

you could have faulty plugs

check to see if your getting a spark at them first

then check the coils are ok

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. It did not have this sound a few weeks ago, this only happened the first time it 'died' on me, which was a loose terminal to the battery but when that was tightened it did not make this noise again until the 2nd time it died on me. I will check plugs and coils are ok then revert back to the forum.

Thanks again

You may have a relay that is shorting out, depending on the noise - clicking?

Take a plug out. Is it wet with fuel and smells of petrol?

Without putting the plug back in, reconnect it to the ht lead and using a pair of insulated pliers hold it against the engine so that the metal end touches the engine. Turn the bike over with the starter. Does the plug spark? Be careful as it will Zap you if you don't have it isolated.

Thanks for these possible answers folk, i will try all this tonight, i'll firstly get some new spark plugs just incase.

Dirty DT, it was the relay i was thinking but just couldn't remember the name of it, the reason i was thinking this was something similar happened when i had my 125 years ago and thats what it was but i just couldn't remember the name of it. Thanks again.

i will also get the rubber diaphram in the carbs checked if all else fails but im sure it is something simple which is why i don't want to go phoning someone out to come pick it up, i'll get the parts first and try it myself.

The 2 issues sound unrelated however, if the relay is shot it may still turn the bike over but possibly earthing out the plugs. I don't have a wiring diagram as I am at work. You say you tightened up the battery but it is worth giving the terminals a good clean and making sure that the connections are sound. It could be that a bolt has had it's thread stripped and has shaken loose again. The tests I suggested should start to eliminate either the electrics or fuel issues. A new relay won't hurt anyway but fixing the things is easy, the diagnostics are a bit more difficult.

please see below a you tube link to exactly what my bike is doing.

going by the replies on this you tube link it looks like the fuel filter needs cleaned???

Embedded the video.

Sounds like the fuel pump to me.

Have a look here. LINKY

Knackered pump

Fuel pipe split

Kink in the fuel line

These are my first 3 guesses now.

Is this the model with the false tank and the tank is under the seat or something?

Yeah it was suggested that it is the noise the fuel pump will make if there is no fuel getting to it, so not neccesarily a knackered fuel pump, could be a dirty filter so it was suggested that i take the tank off and clean the filter first to see if this is the case then if not start looking at the fuel pumo itself.

im not too sure if its the model with the false tank...why would it have a false tank out of curiosity?

It could be a filter.

Not 100% sure on this model as I have never owned one. My understanding is that some/all of them had a plastic tank with the main tank being just for aesthetics. The reason is that people expected the dummy tank to be there so it looked like a normal bike but there was insufficient space to hold what would be considered a decent amount of fuel. To overcome this, they put a separate tank under the seat (I think). This could mean that the dummy tank has fuel in it but there is a blockage between this and the "real" tank.

There are some good pictures on this fleabay item LINKY to show you what the real tank looks like. It shows the position of the pump and petcock (fuel tap) as well. I am not saying yours is the same but if you can relate the pictures to where your petcock is, then things may be easier to picture.

Woohoo.....got it sorted at no cost at all. Took the 'dummy' tank off and the hoses and there was a blockage, was a wee bit messy with pertrol but a small price to pay to get it sorted.

if someone could tell me what the 2 hoses leading to the real tank are that would be great. You can see the 2 hoses in the video clip posted above, there is a thick hose and a thin hose and they both lead from the dummy tank to the real tank, not sure if its just a back up hose incase one gets blocked. The blockage in mine was in the small hose but the thick hose looked like it had been jammed between something so thats maybe why if this is a backup hose that wasnt working either....

Aw well im learning every day. Thanks everyone for your help

It looks like you have the model with 2 tanks, the normally positioned upper one and the lower one. The top one is not adummy tank, its 2 tanks. The hoses are just hoses to carry the fuel to the lower tank

yup the same as my virago

2 tanks

whats the point in the 2 hoses though?

obviously i understand its better because if one does get blocked then you have the other one so the fuel still gets through, but why one smaller than the other?

I think its due to the shape of the tank. Only one tube would mean fuel trapped in the side without tube.

I think its due to the shape of the tank. Only one tube would mean fuel trapped in the side without tube.

spot on that man

Woohoo.....got it sorted at no cost at all. Took the 'dummy' tank off and the hoses and there was a blockage, was a wee bit messy with pertrol but a small price to pay to get it sorted.

if someone could tell me what the 2 hoses leading to the real tank are that would be great. You can see the 2 hoses in the video clip posted above, there is a thick hose and a thin hose and they both lead from the dummy tank to the real tank, not sure if its just a back up hose incase one gets blocked. The blockage in mine was in the small hose but the thick hose looked like it had been jammed between something so thats maybe why if this is a backup hose that wasnt working either....

Aw well im learning every day. Thanks everyone for your help

The large hose is the fuel feed, the smaller one is a breather, without that, the the fuel would be held back buy the pressure building up in the lower tank, the air in the tank is being replaced by petrol so it has to have somewhere to go, its rooted into the main tank near the top of the filler tube, if you remove the filler cap and look inside, you will see a small hole just inside near the top.

LOL google brings me back to the best place for answers