CLICK CLICK nothing

[bighamms]

Gentlemen,

some exciting news this morning. Raced home like a bat out of hell last night to check for a seized engine. Hooked up a socket and crossed my fingers. Happy to report, engine is not stuck. It spun with relative ease. I even put it in gear and spun it a few times and everything checked out. so then i decided to hook up a positive cable from the solenoid directly to battery...more good news, it went CLICK CLICK.... So the issue still remains. how's this positive you ask, well I've learned more about this bike in the last 24 hours and am feeling pretty confident that I'll be better off by the end of this post.
So, it's still CLICKING. Now I'm thinking that either the relay is faulty, the ignition start switch is faulty (which is already broken so i know it has issues) or the starter motor is faulty. So i decided to take out the starter motor to make sure is spins freely. After unbolting it, i realized that the cam change tensioner is in the way. I don't want to pull it out until i ask a few questions:
1. should i pull it out?
2. will it go back in with ease?
3. is there a precise science to the removal/

Again, thanks gentlemen, your advice has been invaluable.

[chuck hahn]

you shouldnt have to remove the tensioner..just wiggle it around while lifting the back and it should come out. just sit back and look at it and the process will develope in your mind. If you press the starter button and you get the selinoid click the switch is ok..otherwise it wouldnt send power down for the selinoid to click in the first place. Like i said before.. to bypass the selinoid and check the starter motor while in the bike is easy.. Jusy run a hot wire directly from the battery to the post on the starter..it will either crank it over or not. If it cranks it over then that tells you the starter is good. Since you already know the starter button is working, the process of elimination isolates the starter selinoid as bring bad. OH and be sure the battery is 100% charged too so that your getting MAX cranking power while doing the bypass to check the starter motor.

[bighamms]

@ Chuck... Ok, so starter button is good. when you say run HOT wire directly from starter to battery are you referring to starter MOTOR or starter RELAY. i currently have a hot wire running directly from solenoid (starter relay) to battery. If I'm running a hot directly to starter MOTOR, where to i connect it? i have the black ground coming from starter relay to starter motor, where do i connect the hot on the motor.

Also, this may be of use, but with the starter relay correctly connected (black to starter motor, red to battery and yellow into wiring harness) i get NO spark when I use a screw drive to jump from post to post on the starter relay. I believe I should be getting some sort of spart...correct?

[chuck hahn]

from the [positive on the battery directly to the post the wire on the starter motor hooks to. this bypasses the selinoid and throws juice directly to the starter.. the starter button on the hancle bars must be working or like i said before..if it isnt working then there wouldnt be any click at the selinoid in the first place. Since it does click i say the button is fine. By directly bypassing the selinoid you will know if the starter motor is good..it will either crank or it wont. follow me so far?

[bighamms]

LIKE A GLOVE....dude, you are the man.. i bypassed the solenoid and it turned over....sounds goooooooood. And the bolt on engine began to move. Ok, looks like i need a new relay. so here comes my next set of questions. I found a relay on ebay that came off of a suz gs550 same year. I am really thinking that I'd like to buy a NEW relay. maybe a universal. recommendations.
again, thank you so much for the education.

[chuck hahn]

MOST and i reiterate MOST selinoids are the same in working principles.. Now i would say to ask someone like Cheff , Tkent, Nessism, Rustybronco, or The Cafe Kid on that issue. So now all you gotta do is find the appropriate selinoid, swap that out and reckeck that when you push the button she kicks. Then it will be on to carbs rebuilt and then the firing up process can begin. She may start now and run, but if it has been sitting for a while its advisable to do the complete and full tear down of the carbs right from the getgo..saves many headcahes down the road.

[mike_of_bbg]

Haven't tried it myself, but I hear that tractor solenoids available for cheap at lowes/home depot/tsc work as great replacements on GSes, and bolt almost directly up as replacements. May want to try a forum search for "tractor solenoid".

[bighamms]

@ chuck... the carbs are in great condition. While waiting on replies to my posts over the last few days, I've taken them off and prepared them for rebuild/cleaning. the previous owner told me that he had done this prior to storing it, but as everyone knows, never believe the PO. As it turns out, the carbs are immaculate. The rubber seals are not brittle or cracks. the bowls and interiors are are clean and i sprayed carb cleaner in all the passages to make sure nothing was lodged. The diaphragms are still rubbery and all the moving parts appear to work fine. The PO told me that he stored it dry 3 years ago, and the tank, carbs and petcocks verify that.

@ mike....say not more...i'm on it. I did a quick search on the ether and found that tons of people run the tractor relay setup. All say the same thing, just make sure that the relay you purchase looks the same as the one you replace. Running to pick it up now, will report back soon.

[bighamms]

More great news. I went to Lowes and picked up a tractor solenoid. The model they carried is made by MTD and meant for use with all of their brands of garden tractors. I was a bit skeptical, so before committing to the purchase, I ran to my local farm and feed which sells real tractors. As it turns out, there replacement solenoid was the exact same as the MTD model. Bought it at Lowes, paid $14.00. Hooked it up and viole, turns right over. Now I'll put the carbs and tank back on, supply a little petrol and see where that gets me.

[chuck hahn]

welcome to the world of the true motorcyclist. Wrench..ride..break..wrench..ride..break..repeat as necessary

[chuck hahn]

well... did you get that beast fired up yet????

[terrylee]

yeah is she running or not! terrylee

[bighamms]

Gents,

Sorry for delay... It turns over, sounds strong, but have not reinstalled the tank or carbs. Was actually considering blowing off my dear old mum on mothers day just so that I could stay at home and work on the bike. I'm addicted. Everything will be put back together this week. Will definitely let you know when it fires up for the first time.

[chuck hahn]

well Terry no word.. so either it didnt run or hes just out riding all the time.

[chuck hahn]

Anyone ever find out of the guys bike runs?? Was interested in seeing the final result once we figured the engine wasnt seized.....