'80 GS450 twin, electrical issues

[apopleptic]

you know, I've been meaning to scan them and send them to BassCliff for his page.
I bought a Clymer off of ebay a long while back because it advertised 'Full Color' and I thought that would be awesome. Turns out only the last 3 pages were color with the wiring diagrams. I suppose I didn't read the add properly.
Ironically I got halfway through scanning the first page before I realized I was scanning in black and white

I'm sending BassCliff a PM to see if he wants me to email him the higher resolution scans.

 

[Guest]

Cool, we're all on the same page with that double connector.

Trevor, that wiring is starting to take shape

I'm going to have to revisit some of mine due to the size of the Dynatek coils and I still need to insulate the Dynatek and associated oil switch wires.

 

[ferguson30]

you know, I've been meaning to scan them and send them to BassCliff for his page.
I bought a Clymer off of ebay a long while back because it advertised 'Full Color' and I thought that would be awesome. Turns out only the last 3 pages were color with the wiring diagrams. I suppose I didn't read the add properly.
Ironically I got halfway through scanning the first page before I realized I was scanning in black and white

I'm sending BassCliff a PM to see if he wants me to email him the higher resolution scans.

If BassCliff doesn't, I sure as heck would. Although I am sure he probably will take them and share.

 

[Trevor76]

Thanks for sharing that! flaming Chainsaws had pointed me to a copy of that Clymer, but I couldn't see dropping thirty bucks on another manual.

 

[apopleptic]

Haha, of course I agree with you, if I had seen this site before ordering the manual I would say the same thing. I may have even paid $35 for it back when I got it... that could have been a month of internet which would have allowed me to download the manual, as well as some other things :-\\\

 

[Trevor76]

If I can find the actual Suzuki shop manual for a decent price I'll pick one up, but the Clymer/Hanes manuals are (mostly) junk in my opinion. I've got Clymers for both of my bikes and still find myself surfing the 'net for more in-depth coverage of most procedures.
(I have the Clymer for the '77-'87 GS 400-450, with NO color diagrams)

So yes, I am very grateful for this site.

 

[apopleptic]

yeah my manual only covers 77-81 so most of the stuff is pretty relevant. Although I do find it havng a bunch of irrelevant stuff in there but it's mostly noted as such. However if you think about how much irrelevant stuff is on the web the ration in the book seems better.
I find myself on here mostly because I'm new to this stuff and I have alot of strange questions that someone with more of a background would know already. Plus I figure people on here have been learning about the issues on these things for 30 extra years since the book came out.

 

[Guest]

If I can find the actual Suzuki shop manual for a decent price I'll pick one up, but the Clymer/Hanes manuals are (mostly) junk in my opinion. I've got Clymers for both of my bikes and still find myself surfing the 'net for more in-depth coverage of most procedures.
(I have the Clymer for the '77-'87 GS 400-450, with NO color diagrams)

So yes, I am very grateful for this site.

Get onto eBay and look for a seller called eClassic Bike or similar, he sells factory reproduction manuals out of New Zealand.

http://stores.ebay.com/eclassicbikemanuals

I paid about $US30 plus shipping, it was bound up nicely, is on decent quality paper, and includes the necessary addendum as well.

He says if he doesn't have it listed for sale, contact him and he may have one he just needs to get printed and listed.

Trust me when I say it's worth it!

 

[Trevor76]

I've had that my eye on that manual, Pete. It would cost about $45 total with shipping to the USA but if it's got your stamp of approval then it's a done deal as soon as the funds are available.


Now, an update on progress: Last night I came home from work to find both handlebar controls waiting by my front door. I immediatly went out to wire them in, and after all the connections were made I stuck the battery in, turned the key, and........nothing.

No lights, no horn , no signals. I thought that I had everything connected right, but now I don't know if I have something wired wrong, a faulty component or a broken/poorly connected wire within the harness. I did use my multimeter to check for continuity for a lot of the wiring, but not all. So the first course of action may be to completely undo the main harness and methodically check for continuity in every wire...

But really, even if there are one or two faulty wires/connections, isn't it likely that something would have still worked?

And here is another question...looking at the diagram posted by apopleptic, and focusing on the lower right hand corner, you'll see the "starter disconnect switch", with two yellow/green wires running off of it.

While removing the left hand control housing last night I realized that those two Y/G wires don't run to the control housing at all but are actually run to the clutch lever assembly. What is supposed to happen there? I initially thought "starter disconnect switch" might refer to the run/off rocker switch or the starter button but I realize that those are both accounted for on the right side. is there supposed to be a kill switch somewhere on the left hand bar?

Thanks in advance for any clarification.

 

[apopleptic]

I believe that is a disconnect to prevent you from starting the bike without the clutch being pulled in. My bike doesn't have one ,possibly because that type of switch seems to fail alot and the PO may have just spliced it out on my bike.
I believe it works the same way as the switch to actuate the brake lights from the hand controls. Squeezed would be connected and released would be open circuit.
The kill switch located by the starter button is right next to the tachometer on the left side of the diagram. Make sure you don't have the wires hooked up backwards.

 

[Trevor76]

Oh, duh. That makes sense.

I will double-check the wiring of the kill switch.

 

[apopleptic]

and not to question what's obvious, but you did put a fuse in the holder? check that it hasn't blown. depending on the order you hooked it up in it might not have taken too kindly to it...
Good luck!

 

[Trevor76]

I did check the fuse, but please don't be afraid to question the obvious -I'm sure that I am overlooking some rudimentary thing!

 

[apopleptic]

OK the line with the fuse is on the same side of the starter solenoid as the direct to battery connection right? I'm pretty sure that it doesn't matter which side, just that they are on the same side. If you put it on the other terminal of the solenoid I'm pretty sure the bike would have no power to anything.
to clarify I'm pretty sure that the starter motor needs to be hooked to the other side by itself.

 

[Trevor76]

Yes, I have it hooked up as you described with the fuse line and battery cable bolted to one terminal and the starter motor lead hooked up to the other.

I've got to head to work now but I will check back here soon.

Thanks and enjoy your weekend!

 

[Guest]

Ummm you do have the kill switch in the *run* position right?

I had to completely dismantle my ignition and right controls and clean the guts with contact cleaner to get good connections in there. Combined they were losing me about 2 volts.

I believe that clutch safety switch is wired in with all the wiring in the headlight bucket and consists of bullet connectors. If that's the case, I believe you can simply unplug them and plug the harness side of the connectors together to bypass the switch. Can't help much more than that as mine doesn't have one either...

 

[Trevor76]

Didn't get to work on the bike at all since my last post, had to catch up on sleep.
I'm at work now (on break) but thought I'd throw a few thoughts out there...

I will take the control housings off and make sure that all of the internals are clean.
The bars on my bike are black, presumably aftermarket. Should I sand the paint off where the controls mount to make sure that there is a good connection?

If the horn is not functional, could it interrupt the circuit?

Also, the aftermarket signals I mounted are the standard two-wire type. Two of the signals have one green wire and one sky blue, the other pair have green wires and orange. Dunno why they wouldn't just have the standard red/black, but I assumed the green were the negative. I will try to switch it around so that all of the green wires are routed to positive and see what happens...

Also I will just bypass that clutch safety switch as I always cover the clutch when i throw a leg over a bike anyhow...

Hopefully tomorrow I can get a bit of time before work to look things over and see if I have any luck.

 

[Guest]

Didn't get to work on the bike at all since my last post, had to catch up on sleep.
I'm at work now (on break) but thought I'd throw a few thoughts out there...

I will take the control housings off and make sure that all of the internals are clean.
The bars on my bike are black, presumably aftermarket. Should I sand the paint off where the controls mount to make sure that there is a good connection?

Nup, the grounds are all done via the main harness, there is no ground provided by the controls themselves.

If the horn is not functional, could it interrupt the circuit?

Well, while it really depends on why it isn't functional, generally I would say no... if you're not sure just disconnect it.

Also, the aftermarket signals I mounted are the standard two-wire type. Two of the signals have one green wire and one sky blue, the other pair have green wires and orange. Dunno why they wouldn't just have the standard red/black, but I assumed the green were the negative. I will try to switch it around so that all of the green wires are routed to positive and see what happens...

If they're standard incandescent bulbs (not LED's), then it actually doesn't matter which is which as the bulbs don't have a specific polarity. Unless of course one wire is obviously grounded and therefore you need to make sure that doesn't get connected to positive.

Also I will just bypass that clutch safety switch as I always cover the clutch when i throw a leg over a bike anyhow...

Hopefully tomorrow I can get a bit of time before work to look things over and see if I have any luck.

Sounds like a plan on the clutch switch, I don't like idiot-proof switches as they tend to prove I'm an idiot...

 

[Trevor76]

Yeah, I didn't think it mattered which wire went to +/- for the signals, as touching either wire to the positive terminal will cause them to light. I'm really just trying to eliminate any possible causes...

So I'm kinda at a loss here.

I did invest in a better multimeter today, hopefully it will make diagnosis a little faster/easier. I guess the next step is to disconnect everything and double check continuity through the entire harness.

A little tedious maybe but shouldn't take too long and I'll chalk it up to a learning experience.

Also I will bo back through the "stator papers" and see if anything there helps.

 

[Guest]

All I can say is before I put my harness back on the bike, I went through every single connector, sprayed with contact cleaner, and plugged/unplugged several times to make sure there were good connections.

I also cleaned the guts of all the controls and switches where possible.

There's gotta be some little thing we're missing somewhere