newb needs help with 82 GS 650 G

[roscoe G coltrane]

Hello all,
Man am I glad I found this site!! been lurking for a couple days and have learned alot so far but I 'm ready to take the plunge and post.
What I've got is a 82 GS 650 G that I bought for $500 off the internet.
the guy said it ran great until 3 weeks ago when he tried to put a new headlight on it and now it won't do anything. won't crank, click..dead.
when I turned the key on the headlight does come on both hi and lo beam, the gauge lamps work and the tail light. but no brake light,horn, oil,neutral
or shift indicator lights. the battery is brand new and fully charged as I have a battery tender hooked up to it. I jumped it off at the solenoid and got it to spin over and tried some ether, but its getting no spark at all.
could a faulty stator and or R/R cause it not to fire? I read some other posts about the funky clutch switches these bikes have and found a pair of used right and left hand controls on ebay for $25 shipped. I also scored a stator with cover for $10.50.(WOOT WOOT) yea I know its used and might be as fried as my old one but for the money, its worth a shot.
its got 28K on it and judging by the rust and the bolt heads and other pieces it looks like its never seen the inside of a garage. I really don't know much more about its past history, but when I got it home I happened to look at the inspection sticker it was punched at 2001:shock: but the guy said he was riding it up until 3 weeks ago.
I just bought a multimeter and a test light, so where should I start to find out why its not getting any fire? oh and does anybody know where I could find a NOS wiring harness? flatout cycle doesn't list one for my bike. nor does bikebandit. anybody ever had any luck with a used one?

[chiphead]

Welcome to the forums roscoe.
A faulty stator or RR will not cause it to not start.
Since the PO was mucking apart in the headlight, start there. Look at all the color codes and connection and make sure everything is correct. It might be something incredibly simple right there. Try and snag a manual too for the wiring diags. Good luck.

[Highcountry2000]

More of the "olden days"...

The funky "clutch switch" is another of those un-necessary things that were added to keep the "goobs" from starting their bike with it in gear running off a cliff! It is totally optional as long as you are smarter than your motorcycle. If you don't like it, just bypass it and take the responsibility.

Bruce

[Steve]

I agree with chiphead on this one. Start in the headlight area. Seems that just about everything but the starter wire runs through the headlight bucket, so it won't take much to kill the bike.

There are 50 or so connections in there. Check them all. Don't just LOOK at them, CHECK them. Yes, take it apart, look for corrosion or loose contacts, snap it back together. I would put my money on a connection that LOOKS like it is together, but it's not quite touching inside.

Another thing to check is your fuse box. Clean all the contacts, including the wires going in and out, and, now that you have a new meter, actually verify that the fuses are good. They have been known to fail under the metal caps where you can not see the failure. Ohm them out and you should see virtuall no resistance (might be a couple thenths of an ohm).

OH, and when you get it running, come back and let us know what it was. Expiring minds want to know. 8-[


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[roscoe G coltrane]

its alive!!!!

Well Steve you was right. I took the headlight out and streched out all the wires, pinched here and there and one by one all the lights horn turn signals and brake lights all started to work.:grin: hit the starter button and she fired right up!! yahoo!! luckily the bike came with a chiltons manual wich came in handy too. now I just have to wait for my ebay parts to get here before I can ride it, it still is just running off the battery. and I'm going to put a new R/R just for piece of mind. thanks for your help guys
I couldn't have done it without ya!!!! roscoe

[Redman]

Rosco,

Good to hear of the progress.

You asked if stator problems could cause the symptoms you mentioned (symptoms that cleared up with checking connections, so problem not related to stator).

Do you have reason to think you have stator problems?

Good that you are getting a multimeter.

Welcome to GSR.

PS: I had a 82 GS650G for 20+ years from new. And I wonder were it went.

[roscoe G coltrane]

sorry I forgot to mention the P.O. said he went through 2 batteries in just a couple months. said it wouldn't hold a charge.he took it to auto zone and they tested it and said it was only 70% charged and it was brand new. besides when I got it running you could tell it was just running off the battery. hey I only paid 10.50 for the stator with cover thats in alot better shape than mine. so I got nothing to lose.I'm sure if I dig around in that chiltons manual it should tell me how to test the stator and the R/R to see if its charging.I'll keep y'all posted...roscoe

[Steve]

Roscoe, here is another tip that might work as good as the last one I gave you:

Don't know about how Chilton covers the electrical, but you can't go wrong with "The Stator Papers" on this site. Here is a link:

http://www.thegsresources.com/garage/gs_stator_ref.htm

Follow them step by step with your new multimeter and you will soon know if you have a problem and where it is.

Again, come back for more questions or to let us know your progress.


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[roscoe G coltrane]

Sorry I haven't gotten back sooner, but I work 12 hr night shifts and its pretty much work eat sleep until my days off.But now its 3 days off so I'll have time to get something done.
Steve thanks for the link for the stator papers. what a wealth of information.from that and some keyword searches I was able to determine that my battery problem is NOT the charging system. its fine puts out 14.3 volts @ 5000 rpm. I found a thread that tells how to check for voltage draws with a multimeter. I will let you know what I find out.
roscoe

[omaharj]

Just a suspicion: Those kinked up wires may have been a short that drained those batteries. I suspect PO wasn't a dyed-in-the-wool motorcycle maintenance guy.:shock: If you haven't,get a battery tender(1 amp trickle charger) I got mine at Harbor Freight for under $10. It has an auto shutoff whenn your battery is fully charged. If you can get back to those wires and clean them and the connections,then coat them with Di-Electric grease,it'll make your life better in the future. A basic test with a multimeter to check for current drain is to set meter to volts,disconnect positive lead on battery,check voltage between pos battery post and the disconnected battery clamp. I found out I had a 1 volt drain using this method on a bike last year.
I may get a minor flaming on my quick check for a drain,but it'll get you info fast and easy. Then the hunt is on. Good luck RJ
PS Welcome to the forum.