Is my 83 GS 650GL charging?

[jwlawrence]

I have been working on my 83 GS 650 GL's carbs for some time. I have finely got it to fire right up, thanks to some good info on this form. some of the time the bike has been setting the temp has been 100+. The battery was under 12 volts so I put the charger on the battery, and it fired right up. For some reason I wanted to put a meter on it to make sure that the bike was charging, don't want to be setting on the side of the road on the cell phone calling for help I guss. Anyway, the meter showed 12.46 volts but slowly added some voltage, ie went to 12.47 etc. like a car would. In my manuel it didn't say a thing about this, or I didn't find it. I'ld say that it is charging, but like I said the side of the road don't sound like a place to be.

Thanks for all the good advice that I have gotten off of this site, this 83 had better looks than it had mechanical condition. It had sit for a while, and got gumed up, and the tires are shot, but it looks as good as it did 20 years ago. I'll have to get some pics posted. thanks for everything!:-D

[duaneage]

You should get around 13.8- 14.9 volts across the battery with the engine running at 2500 rpm or more. If not, I'd say you need a honda RR conversion and possibly a new stator.
Idling with the brake light off and no turn signals you should see around 12.8 or so depending on the battery condition
Refer to the stator papers on the GSR homepage fpor troubleshooting tips

[jwlawrence]

thanks, thats what I was thinking. Seems like it isn't charging as much as it should be. going to be wed. before I can get on it agine, but I'll get a copy to check the bikes charging out. Thanks agine!:-|

[jm_foote]

Same problem with my 78 750. It is most likely an r/r problem. This caused my stator to fry as well. Although I would suggest getting the aftermarket Suzuki r/r (link on the stator pages, also offered at bikebandit.com) as opposed to the honda part.

The diagnostics are easy to follow if you have a decent meter.