Weak spark

[tom203]

Solenoid makes starter motor crank. Stator charges battery ....a fully charged battery doesn't need stator right away.
have a look at this wiring diagram, it's similar layout to your 1980 gs550. It's a real slow loader,and takes awhile to clear up for
viewing, so be patient

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AISwHvS1M2me58A&cid=2370B62DDF9F0C6B&id=2370B62DDF9F0C6B%211369&parId=2370B62DDF9F0C6B%211030&o=OneUp

[OldVet66]

You will not get an electronic ignition to start the bike with that low of a voltage on the battery. Try with a fully charged battery and if voltages are still that low run a temporary jumper directly from the battery + (fully charged) to the coils bypassing the kill switch. If it tries to start, your voltage loss is switch and harness related. The major culprits are kill switch, ignition switch, possibly fuse holders and any multi plugs or bullet connectors along the path. DeoxIT D-5 is about the best contact and crimp point cleaner and re-conditioner, followed with a light coating of dielectric grease. The switches can be taken apart and cleaned but please use a clear plastic bag so you don't loose small screws springs and tiny ball bearings for detentes in the ignition switch. Once you start continue throughout the entire electrical system so you are caught up on many years of harness maintenance. Then you need to check the charging circuit. You will find factory manuals and wiring diagrams here: (http://gsarchive.bwringer.com/) good luck.

[ZombiePotatoSalad]

We are looking at weak spark issue here, so ,at the moment, don't worry about starter motor or stator (the gizmo that charges the battery when bike is running). The ignitor is a little box that tells the ignition coils when to fire - it gets a signal from the signal generator coils mounted on right end of crankshaft.
Fix your connections and repeat the voltage tests, both before cranking and during cranking.

How would I test the ignitor?
Does the ignitor also affect the strength of the spark?

When I touch the multimeter probes to the ignition coil spark plug caps for coil 1, it shows 0.04 while cranking when set to 20 volts. Coil 2 will briefly jump to 0.12 on the first two cranks, then show nothing.

[ZombiePotatoSalad]

You will not get an electronic ignition to start the bike with that low of a voltage on the battery. Try with a fully charged battery and if voltages are still that low run a temporary jumper directly from the battery + (fully charged) to the coils bypassing the kill switch. If it tries to start, your voltage loss is switch and harness related. The major culprits are kill switch, ignition switch, possibly fuse holders and any multi plugs or bullet connectors along the path. DeoxIT D-5 is about the best contact and crimp point cleaner and re-conditioner, followed with a light coating of dielectric grease. The switches can be taken apart and cleaned but please use a clear plastic bag so you don't loose small screws springs and tiny ball bearings for detentes in the ignition switch. Once you start continue throughout the entire electrical system so you are caught up on many years of harness maintenance. Then you need to check the charging circuit. You will find factory manuals and wiring diagrams here: (http://gsarchive.bwringer.com/) good luck.

Where exactly on the coil would I attach the jumper clamp to? If you look at the picture of the coils themselves, there are two contact points, positive and negative.

[tom203]

Where exactly on the coil would I attach the jumper clamp to? If you look at the picture of the coils themselves, there are two contact points, positive and negative.

Each ignition coil has one lead that connects to a common orange/white wire in the Suzuki harness .(please look at that wiring diagram)..CAREFULLY use a jumper from this connection to battery positive. This bypasses all switches and fuses to see if your spark improves doing this.

[ZombiePotatoSalad]

Ok. I also went and got a spark plug tester.
Coil 1 has no spark, coil 2 has weak spark. 20190831_170936.jpg

In the wiring diagram, which is the ignition coil? The blue box with coiling lines in it? How do I tell which is positive and negative?

What "harness" are you talking about? All the wires that are bound together that run around the frame? The cluster of wires in the headlamp? Remember, you're talking to a person with autism who has never owned nor worked on a motorcycle before. You have to explain in detail.

And looking at that hurts my eyes. Some colors pop out, others seem to recede. It's literally causing me pain.

[ZombiePotatoSalad]

The issue is that spark is getting to coil 1, but doesn't seem to go through it to the spark plug. I tried connecting the loose wires with spade connectors, but I still got no spark. Back when they were bullet connectors, they got some spark, intermittently. Coil 2 still uses bullet connectors, and gets spark.

[OldVet66]

Are you sure the spark plug has a solid ground to the motor? I apologize for the first link I provided for the factory manuals, that one seems to be dead : (http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/). Use the center column for your factory manual, and they contain wiring diagrams that are not in color. They also have a wire color code key for the wire colors that you can match to your bike. I would suspect the spade crimps to be bad then. Remember I said electronic ignitions will not work properly below a certain threshold. The positive battery terminal should be connected to the Orange/White wire connected to the coils. That wire should split to feed each coil +12 volts. It goes through the ignition switch and through the kill switch, then to the coils. Those are two places where it is common to have a voltage drop. The contacts in those switches get covered with a green patina with age and use that needs to be cleaned and brightened up so voltage doesn't have to fight to get through to the contacts.

[ZombiePotatoSalad]

I laid the spark plug directly on the block, even held it against it. Still nothing. I bought some bullet connectors, I'm going to try them tomorrow. The wiring was exposed, and exposed wiring acts like an open circuit.

I cracked open the kill switch and blew some electric contact cleaner on it. I saw no green patina, though. Perhaps the ignition? I checked the orange/white wire and the white wire with a multimeter, and it was reading 11.46 volts, and would drop to 9.30 or so while cranking.

So is the white/orange wire positive, or is the solid white wire positive?

[tom203]

" I checked the orange/white wire and the white wire with a multimeter, "

check from orange/white wire to good ground, like battery negative....not the white wire.

in the wiring diagram, the ignition coils are at top of layout with4 spark plug figures shown running out of them.

[OldVet66]

I bought some bullet connectors, I'm going to try them tomorrow. The wiring was exposed, and exposed wiring acts like an open circuit.

The crimp tool you use is just as important as the connector you use. Double action crimpers of the proper type are very important. Exposed wiring is just that, exposed and subject to shorts, nothing else. It does not act as an open circuit unless it is not joined together and opened. It is not insulated, that would be correct. The orange/white wire is the positive wire for the coils.

[ZombiePotatoSalad]

Orange/white to battery negative reads 12.33.

What sort of "jumper" would I use?
Coil 1 still gets power flowing (0.04 while cranking)
15673575893296354973443420701021.jpg

[OldVet66]

Is that the voltage present at the coils through the switches? That is outstanding if it is. What is the voltage from orange/white to the motor case near the starter motor. Do you see where I am going with this?

[tom203]

What is voltage at this same point when cranking?

[ZombiePotatoSalad]

When I turn the ignition to On, and touch the probes to the power and trigger contacts on the coil, it reads over 20 volts. Setting the multimeter to 200 has it read 07.3.