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Start Up Trouble

  • Thread starter Thread starter EdwardDaggerhands
  • Start date Start date
E

EdwardDaggerhands

Guest
Hey, everyone. Brand new to the forum, but already super stoked on the wealth of information here! My girlfriend recently acquired a 1986 GS450L, but we've been having some trouble with it. It ran fine for the first couple of hours, but died during one of our sessions (luckily just on back roads while she got the hang of the thing). We jumped it, and it was fine again... for a few minutes. Then it died again. Now it won't even start up. Took the battery out, charged it, reinstalled it, and the lights are illuminating (which wasn't happening prior to charge); but all we're receiving in terms of a start-up is a single clack, then nothing. Might be similar to the issue ssco156 had in the thread I've linked at the end of this post, but I'm not positive. I'm not super mechanically inclined, but I'm hoping to get my feet wet and start clocking some wrench time. If it is similar to the attached thread, does this mean I'll just need to remove the starter and replace the brushes? If you could keep terms as layman as possible, it'd be much appreciated. At least until I get better at this stuff haha. Thanks in advance!

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?245827-GS450-starter

Best,

Eddie
 
If it died going down the road, check your stator and Regulator/rectifier first. If it killed the battery...it may have killed it for good this time. Don't go yanking out the starter yet. If you can't do it yourself, take your battery to Autozone and have them test it. If it is bad.. there is your starting point. Could be bad fuse, bad solenoid, bad wiring, bad connection... Get the bike started then check the stator and R/R. First 2 things I had to replace on my 450EX was the battery and R/R. Check here on BikeCliff and also check the Stator Papers
 
From the symptoms described, I agree with Blue Falcon. Your battery is probably at death's door, and can no longer provide enough current to the starter. Responsible for that is usually a sick R/R, and one of the things (aside from age etc) that speeds up its demise is heat. I presume you guys were doing slow-speed maneuvers, so it finally gave out (Good thing actually, as sooner or later it would've gone anyway?, possibly in a much less convenient situation).

A faulty R/R can wreak havoc on the bike's electrical system, but from what you describe it's likely that only the battery got killed. I had a faulty R/R on my 550 as well, and I got away with a burned out bulb and dead battery. The Stator Papers confirmed the stator to be still good, and just recently I could confirm it visually as well.

All of this is very easy to remedy, I was able to do so back then as a complete noob to working on bikes.

?) Decades-old, stock R/R is a known weakness on these old GS'es
 
Update:

Took the battery to AutoZone to have it tested. While I appreciate what help he did provide, the employee was new and has never worked with motorcycle batteries before. All he told me was that test results read 11.99. He asked me under what circumstances it had died, and concluded that it's likely the charging system that's at fault... Is this an accurate diagnosis?

This might seem like a ridiculous question, but, again, I'm new to all this: does a reading of 11.99 render a 12V battery bad? Do I need to invest in a new one, or is it likely the culprit is elsewhere in the bike's system and I should refrain from unnecessarily purchasing a fresh battery? Thanks again for all the feedback, I really appreciate it.
 
EdwardDaggerhands said:
Update:

Took the battery to AutoZone to have it tested. While I appreciate what help he did provide, the employee was new and has never worked with motorcycle batteries before. All he told me was that test results read 11.99. He asked me under what circumstances it had died, and concluded that it's likely the charging system that's at fault... Is this an accurate diagnosis?

This might seem like a ridiculous question, but, again, I'm new to all this: does a reading of 11.99 render a 12V battery bad? Do I need to invest in a new one, or is it likely the culprit is elsewhere in the bike's system and I should refrain from unnecessarily purchasing a fresh battery? Thanks again for all the feedback, I really appreciate it.
Click to expand...

fully charge the battery, then try to start the bike, if it starts, check the R/R output. If it does not start, check for 12v at the starter when you push the button, if no 12v at starter when you push the button, check the solenoid. 11.99 is basically a dead battery.
 
Blue Falcon said:
fully charge the battery, then try to start the bike, if it starts, check the R/R output. If it does not start, check for 12v at the starter when you push the button, if no 12v at starter when you push the button, check the solenoid. 11.99 is basically a dead battery.
Click to expand...

Fully charged battery, attempted to start... No luck. Voltage at starter: about 10V. Didn't get a chance to check the solenoid because this happened... (ignition was off, key was removed, engine cutoff switch deactivated, etc.).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b93xi00gdp4o6y4/GS450L Start Up Trouble.mp4?dl=0

Sorry about the poor quality. Where to go from here? Thanks.
 
Your starter was spinning good for a while, then battery ( or starter motor )gave up. From your dropbox, it looks like your "choke" was not in operation - is this true?
 
tom203 said:
Your starter was spinning good for a while, then battery ( or starter motor )gave up. From your dropbox, it looks like your "choke" was not in operation - is this true?
Click to expand...

Correct. Choke was not active. We had it on when we got no results whatsoever, then pulled it in to see if it would make a difference, and all of a sudden we had a little life. Is it looking like a new battery is a good place to start then?
 
Yeah, your battery gave out, and with all the work to get the starter turning, there probably wasn't enough juice left to get a proper spark...Get a new one.

As the very next thing, check our R/R and stator, lest you risk killing the new battery.
 
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