Strange Problem with a Yamaha XJ750Maxim

I have what I think is a strange problem. Every time I start my 1982
Yamaha XJ750 Maxim for the first time in that day it will idle rough
(kind of in a sequence) and when I take off it will seen like a
cylinder is not firing and my tack will not work. I have found that I
can take it out of this problem by causing a draw of electricity I.E.
Flip my high been on and off over and over, use my blinker or my
auxiliary light. It does however; take a couple of minutes for the bike
to come out of it. The really strange thing is, every time my blinker
flashes or I turn on my high bean for a split second the bike will run
good. Any Ideas as to what is causing this? Ohhh, after the bike comes
out of it, it runs good for the rest of the day.

Check out your regulator by putting a volt meter across the battery
when you start it up cold. It should be over about 13.8 volts. If it's
way high (like over or close to 15V) then:

Check the grounding of your regulator. They sometimes need to be
re-mounted. If the voltage is still way high, replace it. If all's well
in the regualtor dept, then:

Charge, then perform a load test on the battery. May be getting weak.

Thanks for your reply. I do have one question, I was thinking it might
be the regulator; however I could not figure out why it would stop
after about 10 minutes of running. Any ideas on this? Thanks again...

Just a guess, but it could be that the battery is no longer drawing so
much current after given a chance to re-charge a bit....

What happens if you apply a constant load while it's failing ?
(i.e. leave the high beam and brake lights on)

What happens if you charge the battery before starting ?

Had you measured voltage ?

I'm guessing it might be reacting to a voltage surge rather than
a draw.

I think I'd start by cleaning up all the battery cable connections
and measuring battery voltages while it's off and while it's
running well and badly. Might also be the regulator but I'd
make sure the battery's OK first.

Thanks for your help. When the bike is off the voltage is around 12.05
and when the bike is running badly, it's around 11.5 or 11.7 (that's
with every thing accept the headlight off). I have not tested it when
it's running good. I'm assuming it would be around 13.8. Ohhh, it's a
brand new battery. I'm pretty confident its the voltage regulator or
the generator. I really hope it's not the generator...

Sounds like a regulator problem. I'm guessing that the voltage
drop starts the regulator which very briefly begins charging
the battery then shuts down again. It'd be really interesting
to watch a voltmeter while all of this was going on.

12.05 is a little low. I'm wondering what's the best voltage that
you see. Not sure if you could jumper the regulator to force
constant charging. If you could, that'd be a good test.

It also wouldn't hurt to prove to yourself that the battery could
really take a good charge by putting it on a charger. Even if
it's new it could still be defective. A new battery with one bad cell
might behave sort of like what you're seeing.

Ok, I got some better numbers for you. I ran the bike up the road for
about 3 miles and it came out of its problem. At idle with it running
"good" it's at 12.58 and at about 4000rpm its at 14.45. I also noticed
that you have to bring the bike to a stop, and let it sit for about 10
seconds at idle for it to come out of its problem. After that, it runs
fine. Do you still think it the regulator? Thanks again for your help...