A few questions

[Do Little]

Been working on a 1982 GS550L for awhile, have some electrical questions.

First up, I'm having charging issues, and I assume it's my RR and plan on replacing it. Is that all that needs replaced, or are there other common things that can be bad as well? If anybody would care to link me to a good thread covering this that would be great.

And is it normal for a bad RR/charging issues to fry my battery? My battery would drain as I was firing it up and running it working on other issues, then it will not fully re-charge using a 2amp trickle charger, and the red problem light on the charger comes on. I've tried other chargers, and I can get the battery to the 9-11 amp range, but I can't get a full charge and my horn sounds really weak. I know the horn works because when I put a fresh battery in it works fine. I went through 3 batteries from Autozone, thankfully their 90 day warranty covered me. Could it be a defective charging system or some other random part draining my battery? I've had dead batteries before, but I havn't seen one that would not recharge when it's still fairly new. A good guide to electrical systems would be great, I basically understand how the system works, I just don't know how to use the settings on a volt meter or what kind of readings I'm looking for.

Third, I have what I assume is a ground wire that just hangs loose around the front of the seat/back of gas tank area. It is not attached to anything, and when I ground it the bike will not start. I have looked it up in my wiring diagram from my repair book, and the wire that I'm assuming it is does not appear to be hooked up to anything, no ground sysmbol next to it or anything. It's black with a white stripe and has an eyelet on the end. What is this wire, why is it there, and what do I do with it?

Thanks

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. Do Little,

Let me dump a TON of information on you. It will answer most of your questions. See "The Stator Papers" for a charging system education. Then find any post from a member named posplayr. In his signature file are links to advanced tips and troubleshooting regarding the GS charging system health. Let's get started.

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", the Carb Rebuild Series, and the Stator Papers. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Steve]

First up, I'm having charging issues, and I assume it's my RR and plan on replacing it. ...

First of all, welcome.


Next, DO NOT ASSUME ANYTHING.
(yes, my voice was raised a bit, just wanted to be sure it was heard)

Look on BassCliff's site, there is information found in the Stator Papers that will help you diagnose the charging system.
There is a small possibility that the only thing you might have to do is clean and tighten some connections,
but you need to MEASURE, NOT ASSUME.

.

[Jagir]

1. look at every connector and ground connection on the bike, even the tough to get ones inside the headlight and everywhere else. Clean each one (soak in vinegar and blow dry with compressed air works well). You will have to remove the contacts from those neat little plastic plugs to clean and inspect them all. If you need to replace any, you can get the same stuff here: http://www.vintageconnections.com/. When you put each connection back together smear on a bit of dielectric grease to protect the connections from corrosion.

2. Replace all of your bulbs, or at the very least, test them all.

Until you do all of this, any results from testing that you do will be questionable. Also, keep your new battery charged so that when you get around to the stator papers, you will have one less variable.

THEN pull out the stator papers and do your tests.

Good luck, electrical gremlins can be tricky, but you can get em.

[Do Little]

Thanks for the advice. My RR is bad because I performed the test my repair manual told me to do and it failed. I just bought another bike with a new RR on it so hopefully I should be good there. I'm just not sure if anything else in the charging system is bad. The new bike I just got only has a firing problem according to the previous owner. I havn't had a chance to look it over real well yet, but it has enough new/nice parts to make it worth the cost regardless if I fix it or not.

I'm planning on going through and checking out the whole electrical system soon, if it ever cools down. I'm not very patient in 95* heat with sweat drippping off my forehead. I prefer to use IPA (isopropyl alcohol) to clean electrical stuff with. With a good brush it'll clean most gunk off, and it evaporates quickly so you don't have to worry about drying it. I understand the mechanical aspect of electronics like good connections and all that, I just don't understand the technical aspects yet, like how many amps something should show and what exactly all the electrical componets do. Hopefully with a little practice I can figure it all out.