• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

noob with stupid question?

  • Thread starter Thread starter munoz
  • Start date Start date
M

munoz

Guest
Hi there. First off, I have to say I love this forum, very informative. With that said. I just received a 1978 gs 1000 from a widow. Her husband, the previous owner of the bike, hasn't registered the bike since 2001. So I assume it hasn't ran since then. The widow doesn't know any info on the bike as she married him after the bike was last running. So anyway, I've noticed that he had been tinkering with the bike at one point as a few bolts and things had been missing/disconnected. My question is ,if anybody is still reading this at this point, is that with the key on, and powered by an external jumper box, I'm not getting power to any lights, horn, switches, starter, etc. Ive checked the fuses on the right side of the bike, five of them, and all are good. after pulling the carbs, which I will be rebuilding after I rectify the electrical problems, I jumped the starter to see if the engine even cranks, which it does. I've pulled the headlight and evrything seems to be connected except for one solid brown wire with a clear connector. what might that connector be for? And what might be the cause of said lack of power? I'm sorry if this issue has been covered before. I have been searching the threads and haven't found anything relating to My issue. Please help. I'm pulling my hair out here...
 
Your '78 came with only one fuse, which runs everything. If you have more fuses, someone has changed things around. Making sure this was done right might be a good place to start.
 
Your '78 came with only one fuse, which runs everything. If you have more fuses, someone has changed things around. Making sure this was done right might be a good place to start.


My 78 GS1000 has four fuses,
MAIN 15A
HD LAMP 10A
SIGNAL 10A
IGNITION 10A

Change them all out even if they look good.
 
How did you connect the jumper box? Why not just hook up a battery, or charge the one you have? You can get a powered continuity tester for about $7 and start tracing wires. First, make sure you actually have a power source. To have a total failure like that requires either (a) blown fuses; (b) a bad or missing connection at the battery; (c) a bad connection at the ignition switch denying any power to the rest of the system.

Edit - If shorting the solenoid spun the motor (did you hand crank the engine before doing that? or are you just lucky as hell?), then you have a power source. There are usually two connections from the battery + terminal, the starter (which you confirmed) and the ignition switch, which then MIRVs juice to the rest of the bike. You have an open in the following sequence:

BATT (+) -> IGN SW -> REST OF BIKE

If you have a fuse block, one fuse is between the BATT and the IGN SW, the rest are wired in beyond the IGN SW (i.e. one wire goes into the block through the 15A fuse and up to the ignition switch, then comes back into the block and MIRVs into the three 10A fuses that wire out to the rest of the bike.

If your bike has the OFTRTA (One Fuse To Rule Them All) system, that fuse should be between the BATT(+) and the IGN SW.
 
Last edited:
Munoz,
There are no stupid questions, just a lot of stupid answers. That's why we have the forum; So you can avoid those!
Niels
 
My 78 GS1000 has four fuses,
MAIN 15A
HD LAMP 10A
SIGNAL 10A
IGNITION 10A

Change them all out even if they look good.

+1. Just because it looks good "visually" and carries continuity, does not necessarily mean that it will carry current. One way to prevent any future 'hiccups' is to upgrade to a blade-style fuse system. :)
 
Back
Top