Brand new rider and owner. No electrical working

[Guest]

Hi all,
I have recenly purchased my first bike a 1980 GS550 and all of a sudden I have no electrical ; starter, horn, lights of any sort. The only change to made was removing a small light attached to the previous license plate. All readings I've done point to a blown fuse but I just checked them all and they are still good.
The bike had run well with no issues up until this. I am hoping I'm just missing something. Any help is appreciated. Thank you

[Nessism]

Battery or battery cable problem?

[brickredroux]

I forgot to mention I did try and jump it with a jump pack before checking the fuses. What would I look for with a battery cable issue?

[Nessism]

You can get a manual here...http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

[cowboyup3371]

How did you check your fuses? If just visually and you still have the round glass tubes, than I recommend you use a test light or a voltmeter to check both sides as the fuses can break under the metal caps where you can't see them.

[brickredroux]

I did just a visual check on the fuses. I will go ahead and change them all out and see if that helps. Thank you!

[brickredroux]

Thank you for this link! I have been using a Haynes workshop manual till this point. Is there a general preference from forum members?

[Steve]

The three most common manuals are Suzuki, Clymer and Haynes. Suzuki is usually the best and most accurate, but is designed for trained professionals, so might omit a detail or two that is normally covered in their official technician training. Clymer and Haynes might point out a workaround for a special tool which might not be available to a home mechanic, but might miss a bit in accuracy in a measurement or two.

I have all three for my 850s, my order of preference is Suzuki, Clymer, Haynes.

.

[glib]

I forgot to mention I did try and jump it with a jump pack before checking the fuses. What would I look for with a battery cable issue?

I once checked my battery voltage without noticing that the negative cable was so loose it was not connecting at all. Not a proud moment. So yea, check those cables.

[Eule]

What would I look for with a battery cable issue?

Make sure the bolts holding the cables at the battery terminals are tight. Make sure the ring terminals crimped to the ends of those cables aren't super rusty/corroded. (They may not be totally pristine after 37 years, but they shouldn't appear to be 100% rust, either.) Follow the fat wires from the battery to their other ends - one will go to the starter relay and one will go to the engine case. Make sure those ends of both wires are tightly bolted down and the ring terminals aren't corroded. Follow the skinny wires from the battery to their other ends - there should be a red one that goes to the fuse box and a black/white stripe one that goes into the harness. Make sure those skinny wires aren't obviously pinched under something, broken in two, or disconnected.

CAUTION: When all is working right, nearly every piece of metal on the bike is connected to the battery negative terminal. This means that if you put a wrench on the + terminal at the battery, or on the battery connection at the starter relay, and then touch the other end of that wrench to the bike frame or battery box or anything else metal, a few things will happen: 1) there will be a very large spark; 2) you will need to get a new wrench; 3) you may need to get some fresh underwear. If you feel the need to put a wrench on either end of the positive cable, disconnect the wires from the battery negative terminal first, and make sure they don't flop back into position and touch the battery negative terminal again. Once you're all done messing with the positive cable, you can reconnect the wires at the battery negative terminal again.

I hope this helps!

Eule

[alke46]

Make sure the bolts holding the cables at the battery terminals are tight. Make sure the ring terminals crimped to the ends of those cables aren't super rusty/corroded. (They may not be totally pristine after 37 years, but they shouldn't appear to be 100% rust, either.) Follow the fat wires from the battery to their other ends - one will go to the starter relay and one will go to the engine case. Make sure those ends of both wires are tightly bolted down and the ring terminals aren't corroded. Follow the skinny wires from the battery to their other ends - there should be a red one that goes to the fuse box and a black/white stripe one that goes into the harness. Make sure those skinny wires aren't obviously pinched under something, broken in two, or disconnected.

CAUTION: When all is working right, nearly every piece of metal on the bike is connected to the battery negative terminal. This means that if you put a wrench on the + terminal at the battery, or on the battery connection at the starter relay, and then touch the other end of that wrench to the bike frame or battery box or anything else metal, a few things will happen: 1) there will be a very large spark; 2) you will need to get a new wrench; 3) you may need to get some fresh underwear. If you feel the need to put a wrench on either end of the positive cable, disconnect the wires from the battery negative terminal first, and make sure they don't flop back into position and touch the battery negative terminal again. Once you're all done messing with the positive cable, you can reconnect the wires at the battery negative terminal again.

I hope this helps!

Eule

+1 this is good information that needs to be done at the time of purchasing an older bike no matter what brand.