Bought 750e two days ago, now it won't start

[Guest]

I bought a 1981 750e two days ago. It was working fine until today. The bike will no longer start up. At first, the engine still cranked but would not turn over. Then, after continuous failed attempts, the battery was drained. and now, it only click-clicks when trying to start the bike. From previous experiences, this sounds like a rectifier/stator/battery problem. However, I need to jumpstart the bike in order to get it home. Where can i attach the jumper cables to? connecting the cables to the battery terminals require removing the airbox. Is there another place to connect the cables to?

[Nessism]

Starter relay?

[tom203]

I bought a 1981 750e two days ago. It was working fine until today. The bike will no longer start up. At first, the engine still cranked but would not turn over. Then, after continuous failed attempts, the battery was drained. and now, it only click-clicks when trying to start the bike.

Are you familiar with the correct use of "choke" on this bike? did weather change? Anyways, you must jump at battery with a non running vehicle to avoid possible over voltage to the bike's electrics.

[NickNoo]

Does the bike have a petcock which requires a flathead screwdriver to adjust it (ie no manual handle) ? They have a bad track record !
If so - check the carb reservoirs for fuel (unscrew the bolt at the bottom of each carb).
If all are empty, the petcock is the problem - or your fuel tank is empty !

[mrbill5491]

Here what I have to do to my 750 at times. Pop the petcock vacuum hose off the carb, suck on it to open it for some fuel to get to the (make sure the petcock slotted switch is horizontal) fuel bowels. You should hear/feel a slight thump, that means the diaphragm opened. If you get some gas in your mouth, the diaphragm is ruptured then ya got problems. These models of the GS are very cold natured as well, gotta use the choke. Make up your self a set of jumper cables for the bike. Use a good 4 or 6 gauge wire (mine is about 5ft long) and some good clip on ends. when I have to jump the bike i hook it to the starter relay and ground to the frame somewhere. DO NOT start the car or what ever to jump. A car battery has plenty of power to do it passively. The bike should start (if ya got gas) whether the stator and or RR is burnt out, just wont run for long depending how good the battery is.

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. dagreatgatsby,

Yes, you'll want to use the positive terminal on the starter relay and a good frame ground to jump your bike. However, if you jump from a car be sure the car is NOT RUNNING.

Once you get it home, check and clean all of the electrical connections and grounds on the entire bike, including the fusebox, ignition switch, blinker stalks, etc. Then go through the charging system using the Stator Papers, the stator and r/r guides on my website, and check the electrical section of my website for supplemental information to the Stator Papers (More On The Stator Papers, GS Charging System Health+Quick Test).

Now let me dump a TON of information on you and share some GS lovin'.

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", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Cleanup Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. This is what NOT to do: Top 10 Newbie Mistakes. 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

[razor02097]

Spark, Fuel, Air

Spark...
Most problems are electrical... Especially with old motorcycles. Old nasty plugs are the most common problem on a bike that started before then all of a sudden won't anymore. after trying to start the bike take out a plug and see if it is wet. If so replace the plug. A good test is to remove the plug, attach it to the wire and lay it on the head then crank the engine a little. You should see a spark from between the ground strap and electrode.

Fuel...
Remember that ether is your friend... take out the air filter element and spray some in then replace the filter element. Sometimes all the bike needs is a little kick in the butt. Make sure there is fuel in the bowls. On most carbs you have a fuel drain you can crack the drain screw to see if there is fuel in the bowls.

Air...
If your plugs are flooded with fuel you could have a clogged air filter element. Typically an engine will need at least 90 psi of compression to fire up and idle. Engines with lower compression may fire but they typically need a lot of help to stay running. A quick and dirty test I did is to take the spark plug out, attach it to the wire and lay it on the other side of the head. Then place my thumb over the spark plug hole while hitting the starter. The air should blow past your thumb no problem. If not then troubleshooting should commence...



Please remember never put jumper cables directly on a motorcycle battery... Place the negative to a solid ground like the engine case and the other on the starter relay terminal. This is due to the fact that many motorcycle batteries are hard to get to and the + terminal is usually close to the frame. Serious damage can occur if the jumper cable touches ground...

Also remember when jumping a motorcycle leave the jump vehicle off. The current generated by alternators can fry most of the electrics in a motorcycle as they aren't designed to handle a high capacity charging system. That said please don't try to charge the motorcycle battery with a car/truck for the same reason.

Make sure if you do long crank sessions to keep them in about 5 second bursts and let the starter cool off after 3 or 4 sessions before trying again. This will help prevent heat related failure of the starter.

[posplayr]

I bought a 1981 750e two days ago. It was working fine until today. The bike will no longer start up. At first, the engine still cranked but would not turn over. Then, after continuous failed attempts, the battery was drained. and now, it only click-clicks when trying to start the bike. From previous experiences, this sounds like a rectifier/stator/battery problem. However, I need to jumpstart the bike in order to get it home. Where can i attach the jumper cables to? connecting the cables to the battery terminals require removing the airbox. Is there another place to connect the cables to?

This sounds like the bike I just sold, I already told Alex how to:

• connect a charger,
• how to check for spark,
• the battery was bought new in January 2012.
• The charging system would charge at 14.25V at 3000 RPM when I last checked it in early Jan 2012
• The bike was running perfectly,

the only thing I can imagine is that the ignitor went out;he needs to get the battery charged and check for spark.

Gas tank was acid etched, new Z-1 petcock, carbs were disassembled, cleaned, balanced, rejetted................. and there is an in-line filter, engine cases were just split and new rings with lapped in valves it had 150 psi compression cold.

Dead cold, with 1/2 choke the bike fired instantly

[posplayr]

Hi Mr. dagreatgatsby,

Yes, you'll want to use the positive terminal on the starter relay and a good frame ground to jump you bike. However, if you jump from a car be sure the car is NOT RUNNING.


Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

That is what I told him already, the red terminal cover is already even pulled back, which I showed him on Sat.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

That is what I told him already, the red terminal cover is already even pulled back, which I showed him on Sat.

Bad igniter? Ugh. That would be most inconvenient. Sorry to hear that. Sounds like you've got everything covered there, Jim. So I guess Mr. dagreatgatsby lives on the coast near you. Cool. I'd like to ride out and visit you and Bill one of these days. I'll let you know.

All the best to you and yours,

Cliff

[posplayr]

Hi,



Bad igniter? Ugh. That would be most inconvenient. Sorry to hear that. Sounds like you've got everything covered there, Jim. So I guess Mr. dagreatgatsby lives on the coast near you. Cool. I'd like to ride out and visit you and Bill one of these days. I'll let you know.

All the best to you and yours,

Cliff

They are from the Bay area; On sat the drove down to SB got my bike and continued on to San Diego to check out that ESD which they passed on. rode all the way back home. Long day I would say.

[dagreatgatsby]

I didn't want to risk damaging the electrical system in any way so I decided to put the bike on the back of the truck and haul it back home. Better to be safe then sorry, right?

I found out what the problem was; a blown "power source" fuse. I changed out all the fuses (even the ones that weren't blown), checked all the electrical connections for any shorts, trickled the battery, and it started right up. I'm really glad that it was just a cheap fix instead of the stator/rectifier/battery or ignitor.

[dagreatgatsby]

They are from the Bay area; On sat the drove down to SB got my bike and continued on to San Diego to check out that ESD which they passed on. rode all the way back home. Long day I would say.

Yeah, my brother and i spent nearly 18 hours on the road. The 10 hours to get to your house to pick up the GS750 was definitely worth it. The other 8 to drive to San Marcos to see that ESD in such a sad state was not.

[cowboyup3371]

I would start looking over your wiring and clean connectors to ensure you don't have problems in the future.

[posplayr]

I didn't want to risk damaging the electrical system in any way so I decided to put the bike on the back of the truck and haul it back home. Better to be safe then sorry, right?

I found out what the problem was; a blown "power source" fuse. I changed out all the fuses (even the ones that weren't blown), checked all the electrical connections for any shorts, trickled the battery, and it started right up. I'm really glad that it was just a cheap fix instead of the stator/rectifier/battery or ignitor.

which fuse blew? Was the old the correct amperage?