Lost all Electrical power

[jlyon40]

I have an 81" 850G and I was on my way home from work last Friday and I was about a quarter mile from home when I lost all electrical power out of nowhere and the bike stalled out. Tried to diagnose it on the spot and couldn't find anything wrong. All fuses were good and everything. So I had the walk of shame up hill with a 600 lb bike. When I got back to look at it the battery is all good and charged up but when I go to turn the key on there's no lights no nothing. The wire harness doesn't have any crimps anywhere in it and I tried jumping the solenoid to see if there was at least power there and that worked. Does this sound like it could be the ignition switch? I'm no mechanic and no electrician so I'm a little lost here. I know the R/R's are notorious for burning out but if my R/R went out would there be no power when I turn the key to the on position? Again when it went out there was not fading out it was like a click and the bike lost all electrical power.

Any input would be very much appreciated!

 

[Redman]

Can not troubleshoot such an electrical problem with you eyeballs (nor any other seance).
you need a volt meter or at least a test probe/light to determine where you have power and where you don’t.
need to understand the circuit a little bit to determine where you are loosing power then narrow it down further.

This is not a charging system problem.
yah, something like ignition switch or connector problem.

since you jumped the solenoid and it cranked , that makes it seem like the battery connections are okay.

Lets start with:
check power at fuse block on these wires:
(stick probe up into the connector to touch the connection)
big red wire is from the battery.
smaller red wire is from main fuse going out to ignition switch
orange wire is coming back from ignition switch.

 

[Redman]

The only charging system problem that would cause anything like you d scribe is sometime when r/r fails it blows the main fuse immeaditly. But you say all fuses good.

 

[jlyon40]

Ok thanks I'll look into that when I get out of work. So if the main fuse is blown then that means the R/R went out? just curious for future reference if that ever happens. And if the R/R ever goes out will that mean that there will be absolutely no power at all even when turning the key to the on position?

 

[Redman]

Yes and no to your first question. And yes and no to your second question Would be long detailed descriptions, and not directly related to your present situation, since you say all fuses are good.

but if you do find main fuse (top, 15amp) blown. And if a replacement blows immeadiatly before turning on the key, then suspect the r/r and disconnect it, and then try another fuse.

but for your problem of “no power anywhere with all fuses good” let’s:
look at main fuse again
and check power (with meter or probe light) on the wires I listed at the fuse block.
report back and we can go from there.

 

[Guest]

redman has you on the right track, be systematic. Check the kill switch while you are at it. And don't just use your eyes to determine if the fuse is good, looks can be deceiving

 

[Redman]

Thanks Greg.

Maybe the ESs are different, I don’t know, but the Gs the
kill switch only effects the ignition and starter.

 

[Redman]

If you don’t have a meter, and don’t want to get one, at least stop and get a 12volt dc test probe/light.
a test probe light will help for checking if power or no power.
a meter will be good for that and also good for checking the charging system by being able to check if ,say, 11 volts or 13 point something volts.

you have a 30+ year old bike, so you might need to be checking electrical things from time to time.
you have an 80s GS so you will be needing to troubleshoot electrical problems and charging system problems.

but you have a gs , so you have this forum with lots of folks willing to help.

 

[jlyon40]

Thanks Red for the input. My brother works on bikes and I got him coming over Thursday to help me out if I need the help. and yes I have a meter to check with. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks again

 

[Guest]

This happened to me a few weeks ago. I was coming home from a short ride with friends and it was like someone reached over and hit my kill switch. Along the side of the road I couldn't find anything obviously wrong.. so had the bike towed home (AAA RV+ is a must) I found that many of my contacts were corroded and my fuse box was heated to a melting point. These bikes are very susceptible to electrical problems and from what I've found out here most of those problems can be avoided by cleaning the harness contacts and making sure the fuse box contacts are cleaned properly. My main problem turned out to be fuses. I've also replaced the standard shunt R/R with a real series type R/R and that has cooled the bikes connections down by a large measure. a roll of 200 grit sand paper polished the contacts and made a huge difference. Before you could feel the main fuse heat from a few inches away.. after the cleaning it was not even warm to the touch.

 

[cowboyup3371]

If you still have the glass tube fuses then keep in mind that they can go bad where you don't see them - under the caps. Use the test light or voltmeter like Redman suggested. If you decide you want to move to the blade style, there are several options available anywhere from the cheap $10 style to something a bit more expensive great quality like the Eastern Beaver Fuseblock

 

[Redman]

Thanks Red for the input. My brother works on bikes and I got him coming over Thursday to help me out if I need the help. and yes I have a meter to check with. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks again

Ah, you do have meter, .... good.
Lets get started befor Thursday nite.

Meter on 20volt DC scale.
Meter negative stuck at battery negative connector someplace or maybe the negitive on bottom of the fuse block.

Meter positive on battery +. Mostly just to check the meter is set up right, and to check you negative connection. SHould measure battery voltage 12 point something. If shows zero, then check meter setting and check the meter negative lead. When verify that meter is setup properly, then proceed with meter positive to:

Big red wire on fuse block connector, stick meter lead up into the connector along side the wire so the meter probe contacts the connector, should have battery voltage there. If not; there is your problem, trace the wiring back to the ring terminal on the solonoid, and then the big red wire to the battery positive.

If good, then try the little red wire. THis is the wire from the main fuse, if no voltage there. then know are loosing it in the fuse block or the main fuse itself.

If good there at the little re wire, this is the wire to the ignition swtich, then try the orange wire, (this is the wire back from the ignition switch) then turn key on, should have battery voltage there. If not, then problam is in wiring to the ignition swtcih, or at/in the ignition swtich, or the wiring back. We can discsss that further if this is the problem. THis orange wire poweres the ignition and the headlight and the signal fuse in the fuse block.

If power at the orange wire, then check for power at headlight and the ignition and the signal fuses (the next 3 10 amp fuses).

We are doing this testing/checking to narrow down where you are loosing power, after you tell us this, then we can narrow it down further.
You can do it this way, by checking things, and narrowing it down.

Or, you can start wiggling things, take things apart and put back together, look at random connectors, and start replacing things like the fuse block and the ignition switch, and maybe at some point it might start to work again. There are connections inside the fuseblock that can go bad. There are contacts insid the ignition swich that can go bad or need to be cleaned up. The is a connector on back of ignition swtich, and the connector on the fuse block and conectors in the wiring harness. You can play with all those randomly, there is possibility that might be able to see some suspect, but even if you see something that looks suspect you will not really know it is THE problem .... or we can try to narrow it down.

 

[jlyon40]

Ok so I looked over the fuses again and saw that the main was blown near the top. Popped a new fuse in and everything worked. I took a meter to most of what I thought was important and found everything to be good. My brother came over and he checked the electrical over everywhere and he noticed that the connectors on the fuse block were dirty. The main being the worst. So we cleaned those off and popped all the fuses back in and everything was working fine. The r/r is good still. Thinking that maybe the bad connection caused the main fuse to get blown.

 

[Redman]

Good to hear of some success. Back on the road anyway.

..............................................Thinking that maybe the bad connection caused the main fuse to get blown.

Only if the corrosion made a conductive path to ground (which I doubt) could it blow the fuse with too much current.

Corrosion like that adds resistance, impedes the current, and causes heat.
If you are talking about the connection right where the fuse plugs in, Maybe the heat made the fuse melt open prematurely.
So, good that you cleaned that up.

Also be aware that there are connections inside the fuse block, those could be "corroded" also.
http://s6.photobucket.com/user/RedMan52/library/2013-05_FuseBlock?sort=2&page=1
THe fuse block can be opened up, but is annoying to get back together. Might be easier to get a salvage replacement unit, maybe just to have on hand for future occasion.

 

[Guest]

While you are at it also check your grounds. They are often overlooked when having electrical problems. They can become corroded, especially with all the high humidity. I use a bit of dielectric grease on mine.

 

[jlyon40]

Yes we did actually take the fuse block apart and everything looked good on the inside and it was a pain to get back together.