Ignition woes

[Lostinspace]

Hi GS owners /enthusiasts.

I have been a member of this group for the past 10 years but haven’t posted in quite a while so had to create a new account.

I have owned my 1983 GS550ES for the past 9 years and it has been remarkably reliable. I changed the regulator/rectifier 5 years ago (thanks to this group) but other than a carb cleaning, it runs great.

Currently, I'm trying to resolve an ignition issue that began a couple of days after I dropped the bike on its left side (for the first time ever) after it got away from me in the driveway when I wasn't paying attention.

Problem: No ignition

Description: When attempting to start a faint "click" can be heard when pushing the start button and another faint "click" when releasing. When I disconnect the ignitor, the same "clicks" can be heard only they are noticably louder.

Observations to note:

- display cluster lights are bright (normal)
- head light (high/low) is normal
- battery tested with ignition key in off position at 12.7v (new battery last year)
- battery tested with ignition key in on position at 9.6v
- run switch is on

Thinking of testing the clutch safety switch next . Some posts have mentioned removing the fairing, others have mentioned unscrewing the wire underneath the clutch. The cable presently runs from the clutch, and under the tank. There are what looks like 2 screws underneath the clutch lever. Can I jump/bypass from under the clutch or should the tank be removed to join the wires at the end? Don’t want to fry anything.

Also, should I test the ignitor next? How can I do this?

Any advice would be helpful.

Thank you.

JP

[rphillips]

9.7 with ign. on. is not enough. just my opinion... Oh yeah, welcome back... Try, turn ign on and watch headlight while pushing the start button, headlight will probably weaken drastically or go completely off..

[Suzukian]

My CB400F fell over once, and the Stator covered moved, caused all kinds of problems till I realized what happened.

[Gorminrider]

If you have a normal 'wet-cell" type perhaps you drained the acid when you dropped the bike. Check the fluid levels. It will still offer an ok no-load voltages but be unable to supply enough power to start the bike. The "click" is probably the solenoid trying to start the bike. If this is what happened,and it lost a lot of fluid, you will be unable to repair it unless you have some extra acid/water -just adding water won't do it unless the amount lost was small

try: another battery. A car battery will work or Disconnecting the headlight from it's connector will give you more available power. By the way, the ignition draws power so 'getting more" when you disconnect it is no suprise but the starter motor is by far the greatest load the system will ever see and a good battery is what is needed to spin it and your motor.

if you have a long hill, you might want to start the bike this way, but fingers crossed on that. Bikes are heavy to push back up.

[Suzukian]

A car battery will supply too much amperage, and toast whatever you had working. Don't do that. Fill your battery up with distilled water, and charge it. If it doesn't charge fully, buy a new one.

Your 83 Suzuki has a horribly designed charging system. You would be better regulating all 3 legs of the stator, and running the +/- to the battery. There is a VERY LONG thread on this. I suspect you are experiencing this issue, the fall over may have done the stator coil in, and you have some work on your hands.

This thread should utterly confuse you, but also give you the answer you seek, and make your bike more reliable.

https://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/forum/technical-forums/electrical-ignition/1707222-stater-and-reg-rect-problems-on-82-gs650ez

[bitzz]

A car battery will supply too much amperage....

That's not how electricity works.

[Suzukian]

Your bike had better be in perfect condition. Yes, it can be done, but you can fry some of the components, like armature bushings, from excessive amperage, from bad grounds. I just see people tanking the quantum link and using a running automobile to start their bike. Feeding 100 + amps into the circuit, bikes with bad grounds, blown voltage regulators. I disconnect my R/R from the battery when I have used a small automotive battery to start my bike. So yes, it can be done, but you do risk problems, and if these bikes died from something other than forgetting to shut it off, the amperage can cause damage, it depends on the load the battery sees. In a perfect scenario, and good fitting cables, with the negative going to an unpainted surface on the motorcycle, it can be done. I've welded using batteries, so it does depend on what the battery "sees" as how your bike will react

I tend to think how electrons flow, rather the broad expression of how "electricity works".

So I generally say "don't do it", as most of the people posting here would know what to do and would take the proper precautions, and wouldn't be asking in the first place

If I write "Go for it", I will provide a link to describe the proper methods. Cranking a bike longer than a few seconds off of a car battery can burn out the starter motor and other electronic components, on a new bike, it can void your warranty. If you hook up you car battery to the positive and negative terminals, you could blow up your bike battery......just needed to throw that in there, I've seen it happen. The blow up is a loud sound, and a very cracked battery case.

Electricity works under specific laws and a simple statement on starting a bike with a car battery to someone who mustn't have experience isn't giving the whole advice, so I will try and be more complete in my answer. I should have posted, "Yes, but there are certain things you have to set up and watch for".

It's not a simple "Yes, you can.

Here is a link on the proper way to do it, and the "do's and don'ts":

https://motorcyclehabit.com/can-you-...le-with-a-car/

[Gorminrider]

it's true a car battery will start a bigger fire where resistance = 0 because it'll take longer to drain it and, once started, your charging system will be charging a bigger battery...but that doesn't matter if the car battery is in a decent state of charge....but if you are nervous about that then sure-disconnect the RR-(I don't bother myself ) .........but to get a bike running and where you havent a spare good motorcycle it works fine. It's not going to affect anything with resistance any differently..ie: your headlight will not get brighter, your coils will not spark harder and your starter will not go faster. They will last longer however as compared to troubleshooting with a motorcycle battery, where you don't get many tries without recharging it. IMO, it's Quite useful to have a car battery kicking around...

[Suzukian]

Agreed. Don't hold that starter button too long.

[Gorminrider]

right, don't hold the starter button too long. ...really, don't hold any starter button too long. I even give my battery a little rest between attempts. I think it helps.

[Redman]

LIS,
come back LIS.

if solenoid is clicking then the clutch switch is not a problem. If clutch switch was a problem nothing at all would happen.

volts dropping from high 12s into the 9s when turn on key indicates weak/marginal battery. Either cuz battery is failing or cuz isn’t being charged well enough. Get a mocykl battery charger (1.25 or 1 amp or less) and charge up battery and see if better some.
mid it’s dripping into the 9s with just turning on the key, that is low enough that ignition system not going to function even if everything is good with the ignition system. And the volts will drop lots more when hit the starter button whic is why it only clicks and not anything more.

[Rijko]

That's not how electricity works.

When correcting someone, it's proper form to explain yourself.
This remark does not help anyone, and adds nothing of value.

[Rijko]

Personal preference : i like to begin with the starter, because it is a simple small system.
Way easier to diagnose than a voltage issue, corroded connectors, igniter and the like.
And you need the starter to work for further troubleshooting.

Disconnect the green/yellow wire from the start relais and touch the + on the relais (the 'live' one
that has the cable attached to the battery) with it's bullet connector.

If all is well, you are now able to crank the starter engine : you have bypassed nearly the whole
electrical system on the bike.
Since this is a low-amp wire you do not need to fear sparks like when shorting the relais big poles.

Oh - the igniter does not tolerate low voltage well !
Somewhere around 10V the igniter will start to falter/stutter.

But get the starter to work first ...

[Suzukian]

I know where Rijko is coming from, I took no offense. A battery sees the load. and either drops voltage, or if it was series, would run the current straight through, as current doesn't change in a series circuit. When hooking a bike up to a car battery, you are dealing with series-parallel circuits. One of those other circuits being not up to it's fullest could drop a lot more voltage because of the amount of current available to it. So, my answer was simplified, because I have found that people do some really crazy stuff when trying to jump start bikes. If you have insufficient voltage, the solenoid will click. If the starter motor is bad (bad bearings, etc), the solenoid will click. If you hook up your starter directly to the 12V source, with your bike in Neutral, of course, the starter motor should wind up really fast and turn the motor over. If it doesn't, your starter motor is shot.