multimeters

[123repeater]

I was riding my 1981 550t yesterday and it just pooped out, no lights nothing. Battery fluid levels were ok and after charging for 20 minutes it started right back up, pulled the pos wire off of the battery and it died suggesting a stator problem. Second opinion from a little battery/alternator testor confirmed no charge going in. ok so now to the acutal problem, before going out and getting a new stator and/or reg/rec I would like to buy a multimeter to see better exactly what is wrong, but I am getting conflicting ideas on whether the cheap ones are ok or do I really need to go spend 100$ plus on a "better" one?
any answers appreciated and any side notes as well.

[simon kuether]

It's like everything.A cheap one will do but a good one will last you forever.Being a tradesman,I don't skimp on tools.Try a pawn shop for a good digital one.Cheers,Simon.

[Agemax]

fluke are good, even the bottom of the range ones are top quality. ideal for occasional use

[Fishman]

A $4 Harbor Freight model will do for a measurement like you're talking about. I've found mine to be repeatable to at least a tenth of a volt. When your looking for the difference between 14 volts or 11 volts, it will be fine.

I have 4 or 5 of them laying around, one in my truck, one in my camper, you name it. Very handy. And I got them on sale for about $2.50 each.

Good tools are really nice though. Just depends on how often you are going to use it and how accurate you need to be.

[jmanz6]

The cheap ones work find for driveway troubleshooting and will have all the features you need. The more expensive ones have more options and can do things that you will probably never need to do. I have a cheapo in my tool box at home and a nice Fluke 87 in my tool box at work. For what I do at home the cheapy works great.

[123repeater]

thank for the prompt info!! All greatly appreciated, now I just need to know how far I can go on a fully charged battery as my GS is my only transportation. OK, I guess I can wait until it's fixed. Thanks again.
Ben-

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!

Hi Mr. 123repeater,

I don't know exactly how far you can get on pure battery power. But one time I did have to commute for a couple of weeks while I waited to fix my charging system. I would put the battery on a trickle charger over night. Then I would commute 35 miles a day, with the evening leg at night (headlights on "bright" all the time). I'm sure I could have gone farther, but I don't know how much farther.

BTW, there's lots of GS lovin' on my website. Please stop by (link below). Here is your mega-welcome!

Let it be known that on this day you are cordially and formally welcomed to the GSR Forum as a Junior Member in good standing with all the rights and privileges thereof. Further let it be known that your good standing can be improved with pictures (not you, your bike)!

Perhaps you've already seen these, but I like to remind all the new members. In addition to the carb rebuild series, I recommend visiting the In The Garage section via the GSR Homepage and check out the Stator Papers. There's also a lot of great information in the Old Q&A section. I have some documentation on my little BikeCliff website to help get you familiar with doing routine maintenance tasks (note that it is 850G-specific but many tasks are common to all GS bikes). Other "user contributed" informational sites include those of Mr. bwringer, Mr. tfb and Mr. robertbarr. And if your bike uses shims for valve adjustments, send an email to Mr. Steve requesting a copy of his Excel spreadsheet that helps you keep track of clearances, shim sizes and other service work.

These are some edited quotes from one of our dear beloved gurus, Mr. bwringer, with ideas on basic needs (depending on initial condition), parts, and accessories.

***********Quoted from Mr. bwringer************
Every GS850 [and most other models] has (or had) a set of well-known issues that MUST be addressed before you have a solid baseline for further troubleshooting. It's a vintage bike, and it's quite common (as in, every single GS850 I have had contact with) that there are multiple problems that have crept up and slowly gotten worse over the years. It's not like a newer vehicle, where there's generally one problem at a time.

These common issues are:

1. Intake O-rings (install NEW OEM or Viton only - common nitrile O-rings will quickly deteriorate from heat)
2. Intake Boots (install NEW -- these cannot be repaired)
3. Valve clearances (more important than most people think)
4. Carb/airbox boots
5. Airbox sealing
6. Air filter sealing
7. Petcock (install a NEW one)
8. On '79 models, install new points or Dyna electronic ignition (or at least verify that the old points are working correctly)
9. On all models, it's fairly common to have problems with the spark plug caps. These are $3 or $4 each, and often worth replacing if you're keeping the stock coils/wires.
10. Stock exhaust with NO leaks or holes -- good seals at the head and at the junctions underneath.

Carburetor maintenance:

Replace the intake boot o-rings, and possibly the intake boots. Here's the procedure:

http://bwringer.com/gs/intakeorings.html

Here's an overview of what happens with this particular problem:

http://cycleorings.com/intake.html

You'll also want to examine the boots between the carbs and the airbox. There's a good chance these are OK, but check them over.
And finally, if things still aren't exactly right, you'll want to order a set of o-rings for BS carbs from the GS owner's best friend, Robert Barr:

http://cycleorings.com

Once you receive these rare rings of delight, then you'll want to thoroughly clean and rebuild your carburetors. Here are step-by-step instructions that make this simple:

http://thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm

OEM Parts/Online Fiches:

I would definitely double and triple the recommendations to use Cycle Recycle II and Z1 Enterprises as much as possible. These guys are priceless resources. Z1 tends to have slightly better prices, CRC2 has a wider range of goodies available. If you're near Indy and can bring in an old part to match, CRC2 has a vast inventory of used parts.
http://denniskirk.com - Put in your bike model and see what they have.
http://oldbikebarn.com - seems to be slowly regaining a decent reputation, but it's still caveat emptor. They don't have anything you can't get elsewhere at a better price anyway.
http://www.babbittsonline.com/ - Decent parts prices. Spendy shipping. Don't give you part numbers at all. Useful cross-reference if you obtain a part number elsewhere. Efficient service.
http://bikebandit.com - Fastest. Middlin' prices. Uses their own parts numbering system to obfuscate price comparisons -- can be very confusing for large orders. Cheapest shipping, so total cost usually isn't too bad.
http://flatoutmotorcycles.com - Slow. Cheapest parts prices, crazy shipping costs. Don't expect progress updates or much communication. Real Suzuki part numbers.
http://alpha-sports.com - Exorbitant parts prices. Different type of fiche interface that's quite useful at times, especially with superceded part numbers. Real parts numbers. Shipping cost and speed unknown due to insane, unholy pricing.

Stainless Bolts, Viton o-rings, metric taps, dies, assorted hard-to-find supplies and materials, etc:

http://mcmaster.com - Fast, cheap shipping, good prices. No order minimum, but many items like bolts come in packs of 25 or 50. Excellent resource.
http://motorcycleseatcovers.com - Great quality, perfect fit (on original seat foam), and available for pretty much every bike ever made. Avoid the textured vinyl -- it's perforated.
http://newenough.com - You DO have riding gear, don't you? Great clearances, always outstanding prices and impeccable service.
***************End Quote**********************

Additional parts/info links:

GSR Forum member Mr. duaneage has great used upgraded Honda regulator/rectifiers for our bikes. Send him a PM.
New electrical parts:
http://stores.ebay.com/RMSTATOR or http://www.rmstator.com/

http://www.ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/index.php

http://www.electrosport.com/

For valve cover and breather gaskets, I recommend Real Gaskets (reusable silicon):

http://www.realgaskets.com

Carolina Cycle

http://www.carolinacycle.com

Ron Ayers Motorsports

http://www.ronayers.com

MR Cycles

http://www.mrcycles.com

Moto Grid

http://www.motogrid.com

Salvage/Used

http://www.ricepaddymotorcycles.com

http://www.ozpowersports.com/

If all else fails, try this:

http://www.used-motorcycle-parts.org/

Used bike buying checklists:

http://www.amadirectlink.com/roadride/Riderresc/checklist.asp

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/buying-bike.html

Lots of good info/pictures here:

http://www.suzukicycles.org

http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Motorcycle_Wiki

http://www.bikepics.com
Basic motorcycle maintenance/repair:
http://www.dansmc.com/mc_repaircourse.htm
Online Clymer manuals:
http://search.ebscohost.com/ Click on "Small Engine Repair" then "Motorcycles". User=library, password=library. Note: This link may not work if you are on a school campus.


Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed of your progress. There's lots of good folk with good experience here.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
(The unofficial GSR greeter)

Click here to visit BikeCliff's website.

[bonanzadave]

If you switch your meter to AC, stick the probes in a wall socket and measure 120 VAC thats good enough to check the stator. If you set it to DC and measure a battery (9v, D cell, Bike battery) thats good enough to check your bikes RR output. Its nice to have good test leads that have clips on them and no breaks or frays in the leads. While youre in there testing, spray all the Bike wire connectors with electrical contact cleaner.

[Zook]

The problem is you rarely see 120vac at the outlet.

Get a cheapie for what you want to do.

[Macmatic]

I have an old Micronta that I leave out in the garage for general use and a Fluke 87 I keep in the drawer but I also recently purchased item # 95670 from Harbor Freight and find it gives readings as accuate...or the same anyway... as my Fluke for 12v applications. And it only cost me about $20 on sale! If you get one make sure to test it out at the store, my first was a POS with lots of issues but the replacement has been fine for the last couple of months.

/\/\ac

Edit: I wanted to add that this HF unit also has a rubberized housing around the actual multimeter and a tachometer pickup attachment. It has a thermocouple too but I don't really know what the heck I'd use it for.

[hikermikem]

I use the cheap Radio Shack digital muti-meter (about $18), the battery for it cost $7.

Works great & seems to be quite repeatable & accurate.

[mf70]

I checked the Harbor Freight $2.50 special against a Fluke, and it was less than .01 volt off. Close enough for me. I've got three, I think. I lose count. The batteries do go bad, and the voltage readings get screwy.

The Fluke does have cool features, and is probably better fused. However, having the luxury of an accurate digital meter EVERY place I want one is enjoyable. Now, if I could just get Snap-On to produce screwdrivers that easily. .. or socket sets.

[don_gibb6512]

Check the weekly ads from Sears. They usually have this model:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_03482146000P

or something close to it on sale for about $15. That'll work and I like the benefit of the rubber around the case. Helps to insulate the meter if it falls.

[lurch12_2000]

Check the weekly ads from Sears. They usually have this model:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_03482146000P

or something close to it on sale for about $15. That'll work and I like the benefit of the rubber around the case. Helps to insulate the meter if it falls.

This is what I bought on sale for $17 at the local Sears and it's been working great for over a year on both of my GSes and other car and home related things.
Diagnosed r/r, stator and battery problems just fine. Paid for itself 10 times over already. Still using the same cheap replaceable battery it came with.

[rustybronco]

any answers appreciated and any side notes as well.

you could always post, where in the mitten you are...