Help please guys

[Guest]

my 83 GS1100esd started yesterday stalled and then no lights or power played with it for a few seconds power came on and bike started , today went
to start it and nothing , battery fully charged as I did test on it, I did the screw driver trick on neg and pos and it turned over , I checked for loose wires and could not find anything , what do you suppose it could be, brian

thanx in advance guys for any input

[Agemax]

have you checked the fuses?

[sedelen]

Could be any number of things, sounds like a loose connection somewhere's. It could be a ground wire, or a hot wire (12 volts), keyswitch etc. I would start checking around your battery box first and work your way up to the harnesses under your frame and under your headlight. These problems are hard to troubleshoot when they're intermittent, a hard fail is the ideal time. Might be in that area "you play with."

[chef1366]

Wiggle the fuses around. Can be a bad fuse, dirty fuse block or even both.

[posplayr]

yes something on the main power line. See if there is voltage to the coils with key on and voltage to the solenoid when start button is pushed. If not then work backward toward those components

[harley10]

I did check fuses , thanx everyone I will keep on looking ,Brian

[recycled64]

Ignition switch?

Do you use a single key or one on a ring with other keys, or does/did the switch area around the handlebars show signs of wear from that? I've known of key switches failing or functioning sporadically because of that circumstance.

[spyug]

Last year I was riding along on the 550 and suddenly all the electrics went out but the bike was still running. When I stopped and turned off the ignition switch, it wouldn't start back up. Dead as a doornail.

getting back to the garage on a trailer, I started checking everything from the fuse block on out ( a circuit test probe is essential for this along with the wiring diagram) and it turned out I had a faulty ignition switch. The switch is a plastic housing attached to bottom of the ignition lock. It is pushed on to the lock housing and can be pried off. One of the connections on one of the wires had failed. Resoldering fixed it. This is the switch from a good working ignition. there are contacts inside this and they can get dirty too and should be cleaned:



As mentioned, it could also be in the area of the starter button/kill switch as connections get dirty and or things can break from use. Be careful in this area as there are some small contacts and springs that can go missing when the module is opened up.

It should not be difficult to find the problem just follow the flow of juice from the battery, through the fuseblock, down to the switch and ignition and back down to the solenoid.

Let us know what you find.

Good luck with it.
Spyug

[harley10]

Hey Spyug , just so i know is this under the key ignition mechanism, brian

and really thanx for your help ,Brian

[spyug]

just so i know is this under the key ignition mechanism

Yes it is. Two screws hold the ignition lock to the upper tripple tree. the lock will slip out easily but you may have to remove the headlight. With everything still connected and using your circuit test probe, you can touch the contacts to see if you have power.

The idea with using the test light is to see where the power travels. Somewhere along the path there is likely to be an interruption , perhaps a corroded connection or a break or short in a wire.

You will need to follow the wirring digram of course to know the pathway from battery through switch to the controls and back etc.

Good luck with it.

cheers,
spyug

[SweetP]

A similar thing happened to me awhile back while riding my 550 Kat back home from having new tires put on...Complete shut down...zero, nada, nothing..upon pulling over I just started checking all the connectors and wiring. Turned out to be a loose connection in one of the harnesses under the right side panel. I Zip tied it together together to get me home. Then of course went through and cleaned up the connections.

[harley10]

thanx i will tackle it this weekend and let you know , i may have some questions, LOL,Brian