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81 gs650g electrical confusions

  • Thread starter Thread starter 1tomahawk23
  • Start date Start date
1

1tomahawk23

Guest
ok, im new on here.. been lurking for a while.
im trying to get my 81 gs650g running again.. needed carb cleaning and all that, did that. Replaced the old battery with a pretty new agm.
when i got the bike, it started and ran for about 30 seconds (the jack@s$ i got it from put foam cut pieces INSIDE the individual pod filters... so he wouldnt have to re-jet, so i found some lovely foam inside the 2 and 3 carbs) so i know it's not locked up at least.
well last weekend i went to go put the carbs back on and try and start it up. i put the new battery in hooked it up and turned the key, nothing... no lights no gauges, nothing. so i figure i'd try and run through the wiring and see what could be the issue.

i get to the starter solenoid and see it looks like it might be a little crappy connection, so i strip the wire and re-connect. i hook the battery back up and lo and behold the lights come on when i turn the key to the first location. however i get no response what-so-ever when i try to hit the start button (yes kill switch is set to "run"). and when i turn the key past the first location all the lights go out and again nothing works.

I am certainly new to bikes and the likes but i'm not a moron, if i am missing something obvious, please let me know.
 
To state the obvious, start cleaning and inspecting connections. Naval Jelly and Deoxit work well. Follow the schematic for you bike from battery to the ignition switch, back through the fuse box and make sure all is there. You are loosing it some where.
 
1981gs650ex_wiring_diag.jpg I've been going off this, closest i can find. but the way the guy "customized" things was rather.... stupid. and makes my head hurt trying to figure out which way the wires are going and to what.
I'll go back through again when i get home from work in a little.
 
Messing with wire at the solenoid should have no effect on the lights coming on or not. Completley different circuit, completely different fuse.

WHen you say turn key to "first" position, it makes me wonder if maybe the lettering on the switch is not readable ... and if so, maybe there is some confusion about what position is for what. Any comment?

Good that you know about the kill swtich.
Do you know about the clutch swtich...?... required for the starter button.
 
yeah, Which is exactly why i was so confused?... how could the solenoid possibly effect the lights coming on?

as to the key positions, the first position says "on", the second i believe is "P"... either way, i tried all positions with the key and it never worked.

the clutch switch, i always assumed it was like my car where you have to hold the clutch to start, so i made sure i held that as well.
 
It sounds like you might have an issue in the starter switch itself. Have you tried jumping power across the solenoid yet?
 
BigD_83 said:
It sounds like you might have an issue in the starter switch itself. Have you tried jumping power across the solenoid yet?
Click to expand...

uhhhh..... i don't think so... nor do i know how i don't think lol
 
"i turn the key to the first location."

when you put key in, turning it one spot CW, powers on the electrical system. But you can turn it one spot CCW and push key down to lock handle bars towards left. There is also a spot after first spot CW- but you have to push key down and turn with handlebars towards right. This latter spot locks handlebars and turns taillight "on" - avoid this latter spot in real world use.
print out a large copy of that wiring diagram and check your wiring to it.
 
tom203 said:
"i turn the key to the first location."

when you put key in, turning it one spot CW, powers on the electrical system. But you can turn it one spot CCW and push key down to lock handle bars towards left. There is also a spot after first spot CW- but you have to push key down and turn with handlebars towards right. This latter spot locks handlebars and turns taillight "on" - avoid this latter spot in real world use..
Click to expand...

Correct, I am purely speaking of turning the key clockwise.
 
1tomahawk23 said:
uhhhh..... i don't think so... nor do i know how i don't think lol
Click to expand...

You can just use a screwdriver across the solenoid terminals. If the starter turns over, you can move upstream from there to figure out why pushing the starter button doesn't make it go.

Make sure you have the bike in neutral, or things will get interesting quickly.
 
1tomahawk23 said:
yeah, Which is exactly why i was so confused?... how could the solenoid possibly effect the lights coming on?

as to the key positions, the first position says "on", the second i believe is "P"... either way, i tried all positions with the key and it never worked.

the clutch switch, i always assumed it was like my car where you have to hold the clutch to start, so i made sure i held that as well.
Click to expand...
The harness ground on many bikes goes to the solenoid which is where is also grounds to the R/r (-). If you loose that ground you don't get lights or starter.
 
posplayr said:
The harness ground on many bikes goes to the solenoid which is where is also grounds to the R/r (-). If you loose that ground you don't get lights or starter.
Click to expand...

Yep, same thing happened to me after replacing my R/R with a SH-775. Had to remove the battery box in order to properly fit the new R/R and forgot to reattach that ground. No starter and no headlight.
 
JTGS850GL said:
Yep, same thing happened to me after replacing my R/R with a SH-775. Had to remove the battery box in order to properly fit the new R/R and forgot to reattach that ground. No starter and no headlight.
Click to expand...


If you look at my guide on SPG, and in fact the way that the SPG harness if configured for the SSPB, the ground of which we speak stacks right on top of the SPG.

Just think about this. If the solenoid ground is not in place or even just very dirty how does all of the charging current get back to R/R(-)?
According to many bike model's manuals the R/R(-) is grounded to the same place as the solenoid or a separate ground where those currents travel through the side plate. The solenoid will continue to operate with even a few ohms of resistance in its ground but the results are disastrous for a SHUNT R/R. The high impedance tends to make the output voltage hit the upper limit almost immediately causing the R/R to shunt everything it receives. That makes it very hot very quickly.
 
Last edited:
posplayr said:
If you look at my guide on SPG, and in fact the way that the SPG harness if configured for the SSPB, the ground of which we speak stacks right on top of the SPG.
Click to expand...

woah woah woah... I'm not in the army anymore, easy on the acronyms for my fragile newbie mind
 
SPG= single point ground

SSPB= solid state power box

Links are in posplayr's signature
 
BigD_83 said:
SPG= single point ground

SSPB= solid state power box

Links are in posplayr's signature
Click to expand...

well... that explains that... i thoroughly feel stupid! THANK YOU very much for that haha. sometimes i just need someone to make a real bright sign showing me the right way. :)
 
1tomahawk23 said:
well... that explains that... i thoroughly feel stupid! THANK YOU very much for that haha. sometimes i just need someone to make a real bright sign showing me the right way. :)
Click to expand...

Just make sure the sign is not hovering over a bowl of purple Kool-Aid.
 
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