B
biglady112
Guest
Ok. So this is a survivor/rescue bike. It is 1978 GS550. I basically rewired the whole bike because it was tore up where the instrument cluster was and was just too much of a cluster for me. We have actually had the bike running for about two months just idling and revving in the garage. The carbs were gummed up pretty bad from sitting for almost 20 years. I got the carbs back on on thursday last week and the bike ran really well finally. I was still having trouble with one of the cylinders either not firing or providing fuel(may have narrowed it down to fuel).
Well I got brand new tires and tubes for it today and was ready to take it for its first test ride. I thought I would check one more time and wanted to check for spark. I pulled the two plug wires for the right bank of cylinders with one affecting how the motor ran and the other not. I then moved to the left side of the motor to test that side. Granted I was wearing welding gloves while I was pulling the wires, but the first wire I pulled on the left side shocked the crap out of me and then the bike kind of cut out and died. I did not think much of it and put it back together for a test ride after one more round of checks.
I killed it trying to turn the bike around 180* on the next block over from the house. Well, I could not get the starter to turn over. I could kick start it and it would fire up though. So I rode it about a mile or so and went back to the house. After messing around with it, it was clear there was something wrong. The starter would just not turn over. I got the voltmeter out and finally traced it down to the battery not having 12v. I figured I would jump it and try the starter button. It fired right up. So I let it run and started metering things. It definitely was not charging.
The bike still uses the stock ignition components. Everything is just run off a simple rocker switch with a push button for the starter. Some more testing revealed all of that was still working correctly and not melted or damaged. I am not sure what it is called as I am a total greenhorn with motorcycles although I have been racing cars for 15 years. But the little box that has a wire coming from the positive side of the battery and the other side of it goes down into the engine case for what I presume from diagrams is the stator and rotor. That little box also has two smaller gauge wires with one that goes to the starter button(went to the stock starter button before rewire). I am not getting any voltage from the stator side of this box. And slowly but surely the battery will trickle down in voltage.
There is only one stock fuse left and it is not blown. I cannot find any burnt wires and all systems work aside from the battery charging. The first thing that made me think it was not charging was the headlight was dim.
Anyone have any ideas on how to test that thing on or off the bike? It was running well before the thing shocked the crap out of me. I can only assume I shorted out the stator. Unless I killed what ever that little box might be. The one with the battery cable hooked to it that is.
Well I got brand new tires and tubes for it today and was ready to take it for its first test ride. I thought I would check one more time and wanted to check for spark. I pulled the two plug wires for the right bank of cylinders with one affecting how the motor ran and the other not. I then moved to the left side of the motor to test that side. Granted I was wearing welding gloves while I was pulling the wires, but the first wire I pulled on the left side shocked the crap out of me and then the bike kind of cut out and died. I did not think much of it and put it back together for a test ride after one more round of checks.
I killed it trying to turn the bike around 180* on the next block over from the house. Well, I could not get the starter to turn over. I could kick start it and it would fire up though. So I rode it about a mile or so and went back to the house. After messing around with it, it was clear there was something wrong. The starter would just not turn over. I got the voltmeter out and finally traced it down to the battery not having 12v. I figured I would jump it and try the starter button. It fired right up. So I let it run and started metering things. It definitely was not charging.
The bike still uses the stock ignition components. Everything is just run off a simple rocker switch with a push button for the starter. Some more testing revealed all of that was still working correctly and not melted or damaged. I am not sure what it is called as I am a total greenhorn with motorcycles although I have been racing cars for 15 years. But the little box that has a wire coming from the positive side of the battery and the other side of it goes down into the engine case for what I presume from diagrams is the stator and rotor. That little box also has two smaller gauge wires with one that goes to the starter button(went to the stock starter button before rewire). I am not getting any voltage from the stator side of this box. And slowly but surely the battery will trickle down in voltage.
There is only one stock fuse left and it is not blown. I cannot find any burnt wires and all systems work aside from the battery charging. The first thing that made me think it was not charging was the headlight was dim.
Anyone have any ideas on how to test that thing on or off the bike? It was running well before the thing shocked the crap out of me. I can only assume I shorted out the stator. Unless I killed what ever that little box might be. The one with the battery cable hooked to it that is.
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