Trip in 3 weeks and the battery is dead

[Scudder]

I am riding to the smokey mountian from Chicago in 3 weeks. Bike ran fine last Fall. It has been missing and has blown a couple fuses in the past few weeks. I thought it was carb stuff (I've dipped them and rebuilt them a couple times), but after I got home tonight from my commute, I went to the garage to adjust the throttle and the thing wouldn't start. Dead battery.

Over the winter, I installed a new stator and R/R. Every thing has been fine since it got warm enough to ride in Chicagoland (3 weeks) until today. I checked the Stator wires and the red one may have been a bit loose in it's connection. Everything else seemed in order.

I have a gs750 that gave me similar problems when I accidentally hooked the the stator up wrong. It was running rough and then eventually the battery died on me.

Any Ideas?

Scudder

[posplayr]

whew in doubt charge the battery and do a quick test.

A loose connection could have fried the R/R

[Steve]

It has been missing and has blown a couple fuses in the past few weeks. I thought it was carb stuff ...

Please tell me how THAT works.

.

[Scudder]

I know... blown fuses and carb issues don't mix. Initially sounds pretty stupid, but I believe I have a bit of both issues now. However, the one that needs immediate attention is the electrical.

Charged it over night. Gonna go start it now. No taking it to work today.

scudder

[rustybronco]

What model bike are you referring to?

[BIG_brother]

Better to happen now then later! Replace the stator and battery and call it!

[Shwartz]

Do we have sufficient grounding to not damage the new components?

[Scudder]

The bike is my 1980 gs850. I replaced the stator and R/R this winter. Hard to believe that they are bad. I expect the red wire that leads to the battery off the r/r was loose. Not sure, but I'm hoping that is it. What's funny is the old stator and r/r were not giving me any issues before I replaced them. I replaced them as a precaution before an extended trip. Perhaps I should have left well enough alone.

scudder

[Scudder]

I believe I had everything grounded properly. However, how will I know if I fried the new stator and r/r other than riding until the battery totally dies again.

scudder

[rustybronco]

First check stators resistance (disconnected- not running) and it's voltage output when running.

Because it's blowing fuses and if the R/R checks out ok, I'd put a different R/R on it.

[posplayr]

First check stators resistance (disconnected- not running) and it's voltage output when running.

Because it's blowing fuses and if the R/R checks out ok, I'd put a different R/R on it.

If the R/R connections are loose, then there maybe nothing wrong beyond that. HE Should ensure he has good connections and then doing a "Quick Test" to see if he is charging. Of course if he doesn't have a volt meter... there are the bubble gum and popsicle stick methods

[rustybronco]

Jim, checking for proper connections is a given.

[850 Combat]

Consider soldering the connections. Absolutely add some grounds. Run a jumper from the bolt on the solenoid that Suzuki used as a ground to the frame and also to the battery. I have made more than one GS charge perfectly just by adding the grounds and soldering the stator wires. from like 13.3 volts to 14.5 volts.

[Scudder]

Got a volt meter, no bubble gum necessary. I will run the tests this weekend.

scudder

[posplayr]

Consider soldering the connections. Absolutely add some grounds. Run a jumper from the bolt on the solenoid that Suzuki used as a ground to the frame and also to the battery. I have made more than one GS charge perfectly just by adding the grounds and soldering the stator wires. from like 13.3 volts to 14.5 volts.

Absolutely

With poor grounds and a very small amount of corrosion 0.1 ohms of resistance can loose you 1.0-1.5V .