Starter solenoid volt drop 79 GS850

[Guest]

Following all the good advice on the forum, the bike is coming around and getting a new lease on life. New Dyna coils, electronic ignition, clean all connections, new stator and R/R (Polaris). Everything seemed to be progressing nicely.
I did another charging system check just to make sure all was well with the new electronics. I realized I was loosing serious voltage-i.e. couldn't get over 13 volts at 5000 rpm. I started poking around on the wiring. There seems to be some modifications over time, including bypassing clutch starter safety switch and other patches. I was getting some continuity to ground where I didn't think there should be any--including the green/yellow wire to handlebar starter button. Further checking showed continuity between the contact point on the starter solenoid (where green/yellow wire attaches) and the mounting plate of the solenoid. Surely that cant be a good sign? time to replace solenoid? good source to buy one?

[Steve]

If you are showing continuity from the yellow/green wire to ground, that is GOOD.

It shows that your solenoid coil is intact and should putt the contacts into position when you push the button.

.

[Blue Falcon]

Check to see if your battery is shyte then check your meter against known voltage sources....on that note, what kind of meter are you using?

Known voltages - PC laptop cables( anywhere from 5 to 24 v DC check the transformer for the output) , PC power supplies ( gives 12v and 5v DC) and a house 110-120v (US) A/C. If you have a bad battery on the bike, it will give you a reading like this. also check meter battery, then do the charging system health check again.

remember a bad battery becomes a load on the system.

[knewel]

huh, good to know. (just saved me valuable time and money). Thanks!

[knewel]

new battery. there's definitely a leak somewhere. battery will be 12.6 resting voltage, bike off. Start the bike and voltage drops with bike idling. Rev up rpms, voltage goes up. Everything moving in right direction, just that about 0.8 volts too low across the board! time for more wiring checks, me thinks.