1980 GS850 Short to Ground

[Guest]

I have a 1980 GS850 that I got last year as a "mechanic special", in which turns out just needed a new fuse. So I got it running and rode it for the last couple months of season last year before pulling the battery and storing it for the winter. Yesterday I went out and put the charged battery in it, and once I got the negativity terminal hooked up I started to hear a sizzling sound coming from one rear LH side of the frame. So I disconnected the battery and checked the wiring and one of the turn signal wires was exposed and shorted its self to the frame. I went ahead and taped up the connection and the exposed wire and hooked up the battery again and heard the same sound coming from the same place. I disconnected the battery again and checked the connection and it was hot. So I pulled the battery, cut the harness open and traced the wires and there was no open connectivity or exposed wires. I even checked the cabling coming from the turn signal and again everything was fine, and nothing was grounding out. Im stuck on where to look and what to do next. Any Suggestions? Thanks in advanced!

[posplayr]

I have a 1980 GS850 that I got last year as a "mechanic special", in which turns out just needed a new fuse. So I got it running and rode it for the last couple months of season last year before pulling the battery and storing it for the winter. Yesterday I went out and put the charged battery in it, and once I got the negativity terminal hooked up I started to hear a sizzling sound coming from one rear LH side of the frame. So I disconnected the battery and checked the wiring and one of the turn signal wires was exposed and shorted its self to the frame. I went ahead and taped up the connection and the exposed wire and hooked up the battery again and heard the same sound coming from the same place. I disconnected the battery again and checked the connection and it was hot. So I pulled the battery, cut the harness open and traced the wires and there was no open connectivity or exposed wires. I even checked the cabling coming from the turn signal and again everything was fine, and nothing was grounding out. Im stuck on where to look and what to do next. Any Suggestions? Thanks in advanced!

In your dreams .

Go through GS Charging System health and while you are at it pull back all covers and physically inspect the harness for cuts and abrasion.

You know who to check for shorts? We need a sticky for this I think..........

[R3v413]

In your dreams .

Thats all it needed besides the carbs to be cleaned for it to run properly. When I stored it last year i didnt have any problems with it at all and it ran like a Champ. I am just wondering and curious how in the 4 months that it was in storage did this come about. The storage is a sealed unit where no critters could get in, and I am the only one with access to it. But I will tear into the harness tomorrow after I get out of class. I should be able to get it knocked out before I run out of daylight...lol

[R3v413]

I ended up tearing into the harness last night and about 10 min into it I found my problem. I had a slice in harness that allowed a couple wires to get out, and they were shorting in the frame. After finding this i went ahead a repaired the connections, and continued to inspect the harness with no other faults being found. Thanks Posplayr for your help, much appreciated!