Motorcycle Repair: 1983 Yamaha Seca Turbo Elecrtical Problem, turbo bike, conversation pieces

Question
My name is Chris and I recently I purchased a 1983 Yamaha Seca Turbo or XJ/650/L. I am very familiar with motorcycles. I have been riding my since childhood and I have never had a problem like this before. This problem is very random and seems to be electrical in origin. The symptoms are that when I am riding and sometimes when it is just idleing it randomly will cut out on me down to 2,000 rpm's. When it does this it hasn't died on me all the time, only twice on the hwy, it just seems like something electrical is mis-firing and it sounds like it is only running on one cylinder. Also when it does this I can give it more throttle than  2,000 rpm and it seem to bog down more and "skip" in a way. The rpm guage will drop down to 0 also. I have taken the turbo, carbs, & exaust off and cleaned them. And again I am very familiar with these systems and how they work but electrical...eeehhh! So I am positive its not fuel flow and air intake. I have even gone to the lengths to take out the ignitions board and have it serviced and checked. All the electrical connections have been cleaned and the wires checked for shorts. If you have any info on how do further diagnose this problem or fix it, your input would be most helpfull. Thank you for your time.                                      

                                    Chris


Answer
Hi Chris, I am really sorry but I cant help you with that bike. The reason why is, the electrical system is just so primitive I am really amazed the bike is still able to be ridden. In fact I dont think I have ever seen a turbo bike/injected bike from the 80s that the owner was able to ride. They were just Conversation pieces in their garages. The problem Chris is a short. An electrical short to ground. Now it's somewhere in that mess of a wiring harness. Finding it Well...thats were the problem lies. Thinking about it just now, I honestly dont think it is repairable. You would have to find a dealer willing to attempt diagnosing it?? problem is the techs at the dealer are usually horrible and couldnt fix a flat without breaking something....now were looking for an independant dealer and there swamped with gravy work like tires, maintenance and repaires on modern sport and road bikes and will flat turn down a vintage turbo bike with an intermittent electrical/driveability problem....the only thing I can think of would be to scour the Internet for a 650 turbo yamaha owners club. These guys will have the best info period.         good luck


     randy