'80 GS450 twin, electrical issues

[pete]

A LOT more sense than it did before, thanks! The pics are incredibly helpful, I am a visual learner. I now have the points plate that was on the bike as well as the pickup plate that I ordered from Ebay (the one that FC said probably won't work -it came in but I haven't opened it, planned on sending it back for a refund but now wondering if I may need any parts off of it...)

forgive my total and complete newbish ignorance, but what if the oil pressure indicator just wasn't wired in? I mean it doesn't actually affect the performance of the motor, it's just a "dumy light" put there to warn you of trouble...right?

Once you get it unpacked, shoot pic's up of what you have.

To make it easiest, take a pic of each that includes attached wiring, including points plate, signal generator, both ignitors, and the Boyer igntion once it arrives (do the others you have now).

I'm also a bit of a visual/hands-on learner, which is why I'm having so much grief with the HEI setup, but I know I can get it to work if I persevere.

The problem with not having the oil pressure switch wired up is that if your oil pump fails you won't know soon enough to shut the engine down and prevent major damage...

[pete]

Actually I just went back to your intro. thread and found this again:



You can see that they kindly left the oil pressure switch disconnected for you, and I would definitely not be leaving it like that permanently.

Once I've done it, I'll share pic's of how I hook mine up independently so you can do the same.

Basically what I plan on doing is locating the oil pressure switch wire in the harness that goes up to the gauge cluster, and I will cut that on the gauge side and put a male and female bullet connector in, then I can make a lead that has a fork type connector on one end for the switch and a bullet connector the other end to connect to the gauges.

That way, I can choose between the stock wiring and the individual switch wire.

I hope that made some sense...

[Trevor76]

Yes, I follow you -in theory at least.

So here are photos of all of the parts that I have stockpiled thus far (with the exception of the ignitor box that came on the bike, because it allegedly doesn't work and we concluded that it was incorrect anyway)

Coils that came on the bike:




"new" coils. The numbers on the post-it note is all that is stamped on the coil



The ignitor box I bought, and probably won't need if this EI unit works out.

[Flaming Chainsaws]

What is that metal cylinder thingy on the coils in the top picture?

The coils in the bottom picture look exactly like my 1980 GS450's.

[Trevor76]

Here is the brand-spankin'-new Reg/Rec unit from Rick's motorsports:



The points plate and hardware that were on the bike...



...and the pickup unit that just came in the mail. I'll hold onto it until I know what I need to mount the EI unit, then the rest will go on sale in the classifieds.




In addition to the EI unit being shipped in, I also picked up a wiring harness for a good price off of Ebay. It looks to be in good shape. No telling whats been hacked off of the bike considering all of the changes that have been made, I think it's a good idea to start with a stock harness.

Also I will need to purchase a set of NGK boots rated for 5K ohms to handle the output from the EI unit, and I will replace the original glass fuse with a modern blade type holder.

And I have a new signal relay unit from Electrosport, leftover from the Honda build. I should probably replace the starter solenoid sooner than later but it sounds as if it's doing it's job for now...

Anyway, that's where I'm at for now. hopefully it will all be here by the time I have an evening of dedicated garage time.



And finally the correct gear cluster, with the gauges guaranteed to work by the seller. We shall see...

[Trevor76]

Oh hey FC, I missed your reply as I was preparing the second photo post. They are condensers I believe, and actually look stock when compared to the schematics drawing at bikebandit.com

[Flaming Chainsaws]

Oh hey FC, I missed your reply as I was preparing the second photo post. They are condensers I believe, and actually look stock when compared to the schematics drawing at bikebandit.com

Must have come off of a different model because I know that the 1980-1982 GS450's don't have them.

A stock wiring harness is a good start. So... You have an igniter, coils, and an R/R. Still not sure about the pick ups you have right now. And you need a fuse. But other than that, I think you'll be good to try and start it up again with the stock parts, that is if the igniter works.

[pete]

Ok, first off, I just posted an update in my ignitor thread that will help you out in terms of running a separate wire for the oil pressure switch with the Boyer Bransden setup.

Now as to what you have currently...

Firstly, the coils with condensors are there for the points setup and are necessary because of the points.

The other coils are definitely good for electronic ignition, although I believe you could use the ones with condensors if necessary.

The trick will be to measure the resistance between the pins on the harness connector and if they measure the same (3 to 4 ohms from memory) then all should be good.

Next up, the signal generator and rotor you got off eBay will suit the ignitor that is currently mounted on the bike.

In theory, you could mount the signal generator, put the rotor on the end of the crankshaft, hook it up to the ignitor and Bob's your uncle.

The two parts to that equation I don't know is if you need a plate to mount the rotor to (I expect you will as it should have timing marks on it) and if the ignitor is actually good or not. If they were using that ignitor (the one on the bike now, not what you got from eBay) with the correct (for that model) signal generator, it wouldn't have worked whether or not it was faulty.

I believe that R/R will be good going by other's experience on here...

Good call on the wiring harness and inline blade fuse, I did the same to replace the dodgy glass one.

With the wiring harness, regardless of how good it looks give every connector a good clean with contact cleaner. It's still 30 odd years old...

[Trevor76]

Again, many thanks to you guys for taking the time to help me work through this.

Although I'm tempted to try patching it together now, I think I'll wait for the EI unit and wiring harness to come in. I can't really do anything for the next few days anyhow as I watch my son in the daytime and he's too little to take out to the garage.


I will check what you posted in regards to the wiring of the oil switch.

[Trevor76]

http://www.bikebandit.com/1980-suzuk...6029#sch264025

[pete]

Yeah that's the stock signal generator which is mucho different to what you got off eBay.

What you have from the fiche is this:

[Trevor76]

I'm glad you got where I was going with that, Pete. I was trying to upload the actual image but I had to go to work.

I am going to return the pick-up I bought, there's nothing I can use there. I'll take what is left over after return shipping and put toward the correct one.

[pete]

Cool, at this stage I'd probably head towards using the Boyer Bransden. It should work providing you follow the instructions to disable the mechanical advance etc.

A lot of the stuff I'm doing with the Dynatek should help you out, although I don't need to do anything to the advance mechanism as the Dynatek still uses it.

Actually I just had a thought... do they say in the Boyer instructions what the timing advance is set to?

The stock points setups seem to be 20 degrees BTDC below 1650 RPM and 40 degrees BTDC above 3500 RPM, whereas the electronic ignition ones are only 10 degrees BTDC below 1650 RPM, with the above 3500 RPM the same at 40 degrees BTDC.

That says to me that at low rev's, if the Boyer's setup for the points ones, then it's built in advance curve may have it too advanced at low rev's, but the spec's should tell us that to be sure.

[Trevor76]

I will look into that for sure. At this point I have everything on order to hook the bike up to stock specs, so if the B-B unit won't work around the oil indicator, or has it's advance curve set too soon, I can always fall back on that.

Today I set about separating the existing wiring loom from the parts that will be wired into the new loom -starter motor, signals, handlebar controls, etc.

Also removed the old (incorrect) gauge cluster and bolted in the new, working one.

pics tomorrow, I've got to shower and go to work!

[pete]

Cool, you'll get it sorted I'm sure

Looking forward to see how you're going...