This was weird....

[PaulC]

Hi -
I've been lurking here since getting an '82 GS850L (with unknown maintenance history) back in September. Have used the knowledge here to diagnose and repair a bad starter, and the bike has really been a lot of fun to ride.

But tonight leaving work, started up fine, ran down a side street, stopped at intersection to main street, when traffic let me in, dumped the clutch and stalled. Grabbed the clutch and pressed start - nothing. Turned ignition off/on, nothing. Made sure I was in neutral, nothing. Eventually got to the point of jumping the starter relay, and starter cranks, but won't catch - like no spark (normally starts withing 2-3 seconds of cranking). Was fortunate in that this happened less than 100 ft from the only bike mechanic in the area. Went over to him and he gave me new fuses to try. Tried them one-by-one, and all together, still nothing. He has it now and said he'd look at it tomorrow.

So just looking for thoughts. When I dumped it, it really seemed to "clunk" and lurch forward, so I feel like maybe "something" was knocked loose or came apart (have heard that the bullet connectors aren't great after 25 years). Like I said - weird.

Thanks.

Paul

[marvinsc]

Had a Similar Thing Happen Once, Check the Kill Switch.

[Nicholaschase29]

does the starter motor sping and not turn the engine over? or is the engine turning over?

[PaulC]

engine is turning over, when I jump the relay - else nothing when try start button

[PaulC]

Fix result: mechanic cleaned fuse contacts and inserted new fuses - started right up. Guess after 25 years the contacts had "some" coating.

[Pearson]

Fix result: mechanic cleaned fuse contacts and inserted new fuses - started right up. Guess after 25 years the contacts had "some" coating.

I've seen many suggestions here to go thru the old bike and clean all the connections. I haven't yet seen any suggestions on how to clean them, for example inside a molex connector? What do you guys use, an acid brush and cleaner or something?