1979 gs850 electricssuddenly die then come back to life Please help!

[Guest]

Hey all, my name is Andy and I am new to the forum, I have looked for this issue but not found it so if I have replicated please link me
So I have a 79 gs850 which has been converted to a trike due to me having a damaged spine, I brought it a couple of years ago and apart from a lot of cosmetic work and the obvious oil change etc the electrics remain pretty much the same as they were at the start (i have added a hazzard light system)
last year I was leaving a rally and as I pulled out into the road all the electrics shut off including the hazzard lights, it was as if I had disconnected the battery.

Thirty seconds later they all came back up again and I rode the bike home. A friend with a multi meter checked it over and I also had the battery checked, turns out the reg/rec had fried the battery so I replaced the reg rec with a superdream reg/rec and replaced the battery.

8 months later, due to illness, I pulled the trike from the garrage and drained the old fuel etc. re fuelled and started her up, all good took her the twenty or so miles to the mot station and about two miles away she died in a traffic jam. all electrics gone. again after about 30 seconds up they come again and off I went.
the ride home was thankfully un eventful but a short trip to town about 6 hours later saw the electrics do the same old thing 5 times.

I have cleaned and checked all connections/fuses etc and my mate with the milti meter says she is charging perfectly now so I am totally lost...Any help with this issue would be very much appreciated!

[tom203]

Replace the fuses,they might be fooling you. You might have a loose wire at ignition switch that randomly cuts off power. You might also have a damaged battery that cuts out after your r/r has been charging it, so make sure that your charging voltage stay belows 15 volts at all times

[gs850trikerider]

Replace the fuses,they might be fooling you. You might have a loose wire at ignition switch that randomly cuts off power. You might also have a damaged battery that cuts out after your r/r has been charging it, so make sure that your charging voltage stay belows 15 volts at all times

Hi Tom all fuses are new so is the battery, I have tested it over all rev ranges and I'm told the charge is spot on. I admit to being a bit clueless on that but the guy who checked it knows his stuff. it has done this both before and after the battery and reg/rec were replaced. ignition switch has been moved down onto the frame and is also new. I have checked the kill switch and when it happens no amount of playing with it makes any difference, not even a flicker of power. it all just comes back on in its own sweet time and nothing I pull, poke at or wiggle (that sounds so bad) has any kind of result

[geol]

When I was driving my last GS1000GL to get it inspected and registered (had not really ridden it much prior), the same thing happened to me. I looked in the area of the fuse box but didn't see anything amiss. It turns out that the old connectors for the red wire (main voltage) had not been fully seated and just needed to be seated firmly. It is often a bit difficult to see the seat on these connectors as the connector part are covered by the plastic meant to keep them dry and that plastic is often old and discolored. Go through the red wire connectors that connect the reg/rec, battery and main fuse box. If you had the reg/rec changed, one of these may be less than secure.

[tom203]

"....ignition switch has been moved down onto the frame "

while your sorting this problem out, get your electrical mate to install a jumper wire (fused from battery positive) to this switch which can be temporarily connected if power fails again - this would bypass fusebox and wiring flaws.

[celesboy1]

`IMO.... i just think of 2-3 culprits that makes your bike down for while (its temporary down right ?).....
- positive bettery wires has damaged or break inside
- ground wire from harness to frame
- ground wires from battery negative to frame

has u checked them yet ?

[gs850trikerider]

`IMO.... i just think of 2-3 culprits that makes your bike down for while (its temporary down right ?).....
- positive bettery wires has damaged or break inside
- ground wire from harness to frame
- ground wires from battery negative to frame

has u checked them yet ?

I have checked all three, I did sort a bypass wire from my battery + to the ignition like Tom suggested, I noticed the lights got very slightly brighter once it was connected but I haven't had time to take it for a ride yet...