charging problem need help

[Anonymous]

I hope you all can help this old lady out.. 1980 GS850GL. was a mechanic in the military many years ago and i am at my ends wits with this bike problem .. I posted a couple weeks ago with a problem of my bike after a 100 mile or at least an hour run time when shut off ..if you tried to restart it it acted like the battery was dead.. the starter button would signal the solinoid but not enough juice to go any further.. all you would hear was the soliniod click..

Well I will tell you what I did and what I have now..

I replaced the:
Solenoid, battery, new ground for solenoid..
Due to the bike getting hot as all do I thought maybe the rectifier was getting hot and shutting off. So I moved it from the bottom of the battery box to under the side cover..

This is what I did when I did that..
I took a piece of braided stainless steel straping with grommets. I strapped it over the frame under the left hand side side cover, then to the bottom of the frame within what the side cover covers.. I wrapped it around and bolted it around frame to itself.. I tested to make sure it grounds as I did not scrap paint off. It grounded.. I fastened the rectifier to the straping which matched up the grommet holes to the mounting on the rectifer.. so it looks like it is suspended.. ran the ground to the negative terminal to the battery.. this all fits just in front of the fuse box.

Got a solenoid from lowes as all talked about and a new battery..
Well it worked ok going and too work about 40 minutes one way..

Went on ride with Christian group and bike seemed fine until the 3rd stop.. when I went to start the bike up the button acted like it was not working..only got click from solenoid..
Wiggled button and the bike started.. went about 2 miles and we stopped for gas.. now the bike will not start. Button acting like it is dead but I could hear the solenoid trying to do its thing but it was not very loud.. we ended up pushing it and popping the clutch and off I was as long as I did not stop..
After taking it home and parking it the next morning it started right up..(plugged in to battery tender). Road to work and took it to the garage (you know holiday weekend I want to ride) after two hours of searching out wiring and such..they couldnot figure out what is up..

So we crossed over the solenoid and got the bike started and home I went..when I got home the instrument panel was dim. Shut off and would not restart even crossing over the solenoid terminals. Plug into battery tender for the night and she started right up this morning.. no I did not bring her to work..
Before leaving I opened up all the wiring and see if something is shorting out but all looks and tests ok .

Doesn?t the rectifier control the voltage for the system so the battery is not drained..
Could I have gotten a new used that does not work rectifier.? Please help as I am exhausted and just want to ride now..
Sorry it is so long..

Charly cj

[Anonymous]

maybe your stator is bad or a wiring problem there.

http://www.thegsresources.com/garage/gs_statorfaq.htm#charging%20circuit%20is%20OK?

[Redman]

My expereince with charging/battery/rectifier problems is that quite often all the observations of what happend and all the observations of the symptoms can be misleading. So I think that when there is some problem it is best to go thru the test of everyting as described in the Stator Papers on this site, where you checkout the stator seperate from everthing else, and check out the rectifier seperate from everthing else. You will need a volt - ohm meter.

[redliner1973]

also try the Ignition and start/kill switch. :twisted:

[Anonymous]

hi all and thanks for the leads..
my switch button and kill is ok.
i did find last night that a couple connector on the stator where not good. but something else i found was i have two wires that are not connected and i can not find on the wiring diagram to where they go.. they were in the boot that had the rectifier wires in it.. all the rectifier wires are accounted for.. 3 for stator, one ground, one live power..
the color is white/red striped, white/looks to be green stripped or possibly blue.. i have to open the rest of the harreness to find where they go but i do not see any wires that are unaccounted for going to a power source.. any ideas?

[earlfor]

Not all lead in a wiring harness are used for a single bike model. manufacturers make harnesses that can be used on multiple models of bike.
Consequently, if your wiring diagram does not show the wires you have found, that would mean they do not go to your model of bike.

Earl

hi all and thanks for the leads..
my switch button and kill is ok.
i did find last night that a couple connector on the stator where not good. but something else i found was i have two wires that are not connected and i can not find on the wiring diagram to where they go.. they were in the boot that had the rectifier wires in it.. all the rectifier wires are accounted for.. 3 for stator, one ground, one live power..
the color is white/red striped, white/looks to be green stripped or possibly blue.. i have to open the rest of the harreness to find where they go but i do not see any wires that are unaccounted for going to a power source.. any ideas?

[Anonymous]

two unknown wires

you say it's a universal harness. I have found wires that do not go to anything is right. but my concern with these as they are stripped on the ends and the wire itslelf looks to have been attached to something.
my first thought was to each other (since it is two and both ends are stripped to be connected to another wire. but these both head towards the headlight.. i took a break and did not work on it last night as i am just tired and maybe over seeing something.. thanks for the heads-up on the harness.
cj

[Anonymous]

Those 2 wires used to be hooked up to headlight swith. The older GS's
had one leg of stator output that went to h/l switch so that when you turned off light you reduced stator output. The problem is that switch and all the connections can develop corrosion & reduce charging so most mechs will bypass this circuit & you end up with those wires disconnected.
Hope this makes sense.

[argonsagas]

You really DO need to print out the Stator Papers, take the printed copies with your volt-ohmmeter to the bike, and follow the instructions IN ORDER.


The battery should be fully charged before doing this.

When you have completed the stator papers check, you may already have the answer to the next, but I will give it anyway.

Back to your bared wires.

Because the two wires look as though they could be attached to each other is not enough reason to do so.

It is entirely possible that they do belong together, but it is also possible there may be one or more others not yet seen.


Where do the wires coming from the stator lead? You should see some of them attach directly to the leads for the Regulator/rectifier. At least one wire from your stator connects to another that runs into the harness.

From there, depending on bike model, it makes a loop and comes back to the rectifier, or it may continue on to the headlight.

Do not be afraid to open the harness. It is easy to work with. Start at the open end and cut carefully, then rip off ALL the tape back to where it splits from the main section.

This will let you know if the concerned wire is going farther, or looping back.

Is EVERY wire from the Regulator connected to something? They should go to a connector on the side of the bike. Pull apart the connector and check the wire colour codes leading away towards the front of the bike.

That action may solve your concerns about wire colours.

(Note that a previous owner may have spliced in a different wire at some time)


When taping the harness, use a certified electrical tape, not cheap vinyl tape. The cheap stuff will commonly deform with the heat, creating gaps, and will probably come loose.

To wrap it, start with two turns around the end to cinch the wires, cut the tape with scissors, then do the same part-way back. When you reach the main section take two more turns so that you wrap over and under the main section as well as enclosing the extended part. After that, wrap from the loose end toward the main section. Hold the tape roll tightly against the wire and push it around, overlapping as you go. That should give you enough tension to stretch the tape and ensure a good wrap job. At the junction, again wrap over and under, then take a couple of turns back toward the loose end and cut with scissors.

Note.....scissors are much safer to use on tape than a knife....less chance of doing damage to the wires themselves.

[Anonymous]

I agree, check with the Stator Papers! They saved me lots of trouble and frustration! Another possibility (but far fetched) is that you might have a bad spot in the starter itself! This happened to my old Ford Explorer. The symptoms were exactly the same as you've described!
GY