Feel like making my bike a boat anchor.....

[79-GS550-L]

Ignitor... hmm, I have points so I'm not sure. But I would assume the ignitor would pass all 12.whatever volts to the coils, no? All I can suggest is to try measuring voltage drop across the wiring harness (measure from battery negative to the ignitor output, then from battery negative to the coils).

Also, when my battery was bad, putting it on the charger did not help. The charger does not supply enough current for sparks (and I used a 3 amp charger too, which was twice the maximum size for that battery!) Although if I had stock coils it might have. I don't know.

Oh, you could try jumper cables to a car. Disconnect the motorcycle battery completely and clamp the jumper cables straight to the battery leads. That should provide plenty of power

[RMC]

My battery is brand new.......but from Wal-Mart.

[Suzuki mad]

Workshop manual only say to replace coils and plugs for bad ignition....not really a lot of help there.

Charging system seems to say that there is an open circuit....e.g.a short either from the reg rec or in the generator.

This seems to be way past what the manual was written for originally.

Maybe its time for a dyna ignition kit.

I thought that with a points system you didn't have a CDI box? That was only on electronic ignition units as you can't use early points ignition with the later electronic models as the coils were different.

suzuki mad.

[RMC]

I'm pretty sure that being a 1982 that it's electronic ignition.

The thing that's so frustrating is that it was running awesome just a few weeks ago.

[Suzuki mad]

Pain in the butt when things happen like that. Do you have a spare CDI box or coils to change that can be changed to see if that improves the ignition problem?

Are you running a stock reg/rec, honda amendment or a electrex modern replacement?

Workshop manual (GS1000, GS(X)1100) talks through the voltage and electronic ignition if that would help you to test them.

I'd be happy to post the details of how to as per the book....

Removed plugs No 3 and 4.
Remove cover and unplug signal generator lead wire.
Connect Suzuki Pocket tester (X1Oohms?) + side to the blue wire and the - to the green wire. Then watch the plugs. You should see No4 spark when you attach the cables and No3 spark when you remove one.
If that doesn't happen then the CDI/Singal generator is duff.


Testing the generator+reg/rec you need the engine runing at 5,000rpm. If it wont the book doesn't help you.

Basically, turn all the switches off apart from the headlight and remove the headlight fuse from the fuse holder. Connect to the battery +to+ then -to -. Its says if you have 14-15.5 all is OK. If you have more that 15.5v the reg/rec is faulty and if you get less an 14v the generator is faulty.

the book also shows another test for rectifier, generator, regulator and it also talks about the coils also.

Suzuki mad.

[79-GS550-L]

ok so after re-reading the thread, it looks like your battery and charging system are fine. But you said you didn't have any extra plugs laying around. I'd pick up a brand new set of plugs, connect them all to the coils without putting them in the engine (leave the old plugs in to seal it up) and turn it over. My bike is REALLY picky about the condition of its plugs. New plugs work better for me than used plugs that have been cleaned.

[RMC]

Pain in the butt when things happen like that. Do you have a spare CDI box or coils to change that can be changed to see if that improves the ignition problem?

Are you running a stock reg/rec, honda amendment or a electrex modern replacement?

Workshop manual (GS1000, GS(X)1100) talks through the voltage and electronic ignition if that would help you to test them.

I'd be happy to post the details of how to as per the book....

Removed plugs No 3 and 4.
Remove cover and unplug signal generator lead wire.
Connect Suzuki Pocket tester (X1Oohms?) + side to the blue wire and the - to the green wire. Then watch the plugs. You should see No4 spark when you attach the cables and No3 spark when you remove one.
If that doesn't happen then the CDI/Singal generator is duff.


Testing the generator+reg/rec you need the engine runing at 5,000rpm. If it wont the book doesn't help you.

Basically, turn all the switches off apart from the headlight and remove the headlight fuse from the fuse holder. Connect to the battery +to+ then -to -. Its says if you have 14-15.5 all is OK. If you have more that 15.5v the reg/rec is faulty and if you get less an 14v the generator is faulty.

the book also shows another test for rectifier, generator, regulator and it also talks about the coils also.

Suzuki mad.

Okay.....bike...bone stock. I wish I had some extra parts, but the only extra item I have is an R/R.

My voltage, when the bike would get to 5000 RPM, was never over 14 at the battery....close, but never over 13.9. BUT....big BUT....the reading at the Stator wires was correct according to the Stator Pages.

Now, I did put the extra R/R I have on because the one that was on it had splices in it going to the plug. I figured it had more resistance than needed in those splices so I swaped it out. No change in bike function. My guess it that both may be bad.

I'm going to go crawl around and look at the connections and double check to make sure I didn't pull anything loose.

I have been sanding all the connections as I pull them apart.

I'm almost gun shy now to start it because the back fires are so loud!

Thanks,
Ross

[Suzuki mad]

It does sound like the generator is faulty with your readings.

You may just be unlucky and have two electricals go down at the same time. 2 and 3 are the same coil.

To check the signal generator (electric points) use a pocket tester on the lead wires as above post for No3 and 4 plugs. It should give a reading of between 290-360 (n like an upside rams horn) between BI-G (blue and green) If not its the signal generator thats at fault.

Hope that helps than hinders,

Suzuki mad.

Suzuki mad

[nabrams]

The ignition system is independent of the charging system!!
If you totally disconnect the charging system and disable the headlight circuit, you should be able to ride (on a fully charged battery) for several hours before depleting the battery (I did this for several weeks till I got a replacement R/R). This will remove the charging system from the equation - just in case it's drawing power from your battery (because of a short) instead of charging.

Here's some advice I gave someone else:

Before you start replacing one thing after another, use the "process-of-elimination" approach to narrow down the possibilities.

1. Disconnect the charging system altogether and disable the headlight circuit. Now, with a fully charged battery, start the bike or test for spark. The bike will run for several hours before depleting the battery. If there are any problems with the bike then it has to be your ignition system or fuel system, and move on to step 2 below. If there are no problems, then your charging system was at fault, and you need to diagnose using the stator papers - in many cases the R/R is faulty.
2. Use the search feature on this forum and the manual to diagnose the ignition components (pulse generator, ignitor, coils, plug wires/caps). If all checks out OK move on to step 3. ANY of the ignition components can "check out" OK with the "static" test while in fact they are faulty when in use (see many posts on this).
3. Verify compression. If OK, move on to step 4.
4. Verify the carbs are not messed up - this is very extensive - use the search feature. If all is OK here, move on to step 5.
5. Verify NO air leaks and no exhaust leaks.

[RMC]

It does sound like the generator is faulty with your readings.

You may just be unlucky and have two electricals go down at the same time. 2 and 3 are the same coil.

To check the signal generator (electric points) use a pocket tester on the lead wires as above post for No3 and 4 plugs. It should give a reading of between 290-360 (n like an upside rams horn) between BI-G (blue and green) If not its the signal generator thats at fault.

Hope that helps than hinders,

Suzuki mad.

Suzuki mad

Okay...not sure which side you'd like me test test, but one side Bl - G....332, the other side open.

[RMC]

The ignition system is independent of the charging system!!
If you totally disconnect the charging system and disable the headlight circuit, you should be able to ride (on a fully charged battery) for several hours before depleting the battery (I did this for several weeks till I got a replacement R/R). This will remove the charging system from the equation - just in case it's drawing power from your battery (because of a short) instead of charging.

Here's some advice I gave someone else:

Before you start replacing one thing after another, use the "process-of-elimination" approach to narrow down the possibilities.

1. Disconnect the charging system altogether and disable the headlight circuit. Now, with a fully charged battery, start the bike or test for spark. The bike will run for several hours before depleting the battery. If there are any problems with the bike then it has to be your ignition system or fuel system, and move on to step 2 below. If there are no problems, then your charging system was at fault, and you need to diagnose using the stator papers - in many cases the R/R is faulty.
2. Use the search feature on this forum and the manual to diagnose the ignition components (pulse generator, ignitor, coils, plug wires/caps). If all checks out OK move on to step 3. ANY of the ignition components can "check out" OK with the "static" test while in fact they are faulty when in use (see many posts on this).
3. Verify compression. If OK, move on to step 4.
4. Verify the carbs are not messed up - this is very extensive - use the search feature. If all is OK here, move on to step 5.
5. Verify NO air leaks and no exhaust leaks.

Okay....I know 3, 4 and 5 are fine.

To eliminate the charging system do I just need to unplug the R/R or the Stator plug too?

I did find a bad connection on one of the Stator wires I will repair first.

I had an idea while I waiting for the battery to charge. The last time it ran well....the battery was just out of the box. It'll be interesting to see how it runs after charging the battery. Right now if the take the charger leads off the battery reads about 14.5 vDC.