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As the weather is warming up I've had the opportunity to take the GS from the storage shed and take a couple rides. I've put maybe 100 miles on since I took it out. The battery was left in all winter and required charging when I took it out of storage. The battery was weak but was still sufficient to get it running as long as the temperatures were above freezing.
Two weekends ago I was out for a ride and stopped for 10 minutes at a friends house. When I tried to crank the bike over again it turned over a couple times and then popped. I assumed this was a backfire, as it frequently kicks back against the starter, but after this it wouldn't start. At this point all the guages were dark and it appeared that one of the cells in the battery had shorted. Out of desperation I push started the bike hoping it would run long enough to get me home, and it started instantly and appeared to be running strong. If the revs came down the guauges would go dim and the tach was jumping all over the rev ranges. It was at this point I noticed the headlight was out, but the tail light was still intact.
The bike ran for about 4 blocks until two cylinders dropped out followed by the other two. I got a battery out of my 1985 GS 700 and swapped them out. The guages were bright and clear now but neither the headlight nor tail light would come on. Also the starter would not engage. I had hot to the starter solenoid and could jump it, the bike would crank but there was no spark.
Last weekend after poking and prodding and probing and scratching my head, I found that there was no hot going from the ignitor to the RH handlebar switches. There was also no hot going to the coils. (I believe this is the same hot). If I supplied hot directly to the coils from the battery and jumped the starter solenoid to make the bike crank I would have spark. I traced the problem all the way back to the fuse block which appears to have shorted internally.
I replaced the fuse block with the block from my 700 and now the starter and ignition works, although the spark looked weaker than I would've liked. While I was this deep into the wiring I also did the coil relay mod. Even after the relay mod the spark looks weak to me.
The headlight and tail light are both blown. I do not know why the fuse block shorting out could cause this. I would think the only thing that would be able to blow these bulbs would be sufficiently high voltage, and I think the only source of this would be from a failing voltage regulator.
I had the tank off and only enough fuel in the bowls to start the bike briefly. But when I started it it would start, rev up, then die. I don't know if this was due to electrical or fuel, but during this time the tachometer would not register at all.
I am afraid that the fuse block being shorted was a secondary problem created by a primary issue that I have not fixed yet. I don't know how to test my tachometer to see if it has been blown out the same way that my headlight and tail light were.
When I had it running briefly I tested the voltage across the battery terminals and it peaked at 15 volts. Can I test the voltage regulator by itself?
Does anyone have an extra fuse block they want to sell? I'm really worried about a secondary voltage spike ripping through the system and causing the same, if not more problems a second time.
I know this is a long post but thanks for reading. If you have any questions or want pictures or clarification please let me know.
Two weekends ago I was out for a ride and stopped for 10 minutes at a friends house. When I tried to crank the bike over again it turned over a couple times and then popped. I assumed this was a backfire, as it frequently kicks back against the starter, but after this it wouldn't start. At this point all the guages were dark and it appeared that one of the cells in the battery had shorted. Out of desperation I push started the bike hoping it would run long enough to get me home, and it started instantly and appeared to be running strong. If the revs came down the guauges would go dim and the tach was jumping all over the rev ranges. It was at this point I noticed the headlight was out, but the tail light was still intact.
The bike ran for about 4 blocks until two cylinders dropped out followed by the other two. I got a battery out of my 1985 GS 700 and swapped them out. The guages were bright and clear now but neither the headlight nor tail light would come on. Also the starter would not engage. I had hot to the starter solenoid and could jump it, the bike would crank but there was no spark.
Last weekend after poking and prodding and probing and scratching my head, I found that there was no hot going from the ignitor to the RH handlebar switches. There was also no hot going to the coils. (I believe this is the same hot). If I supplied hot directly to the coils from the battery and jumped the starter solenoid to make the bike crank I would have spark. I traced the problem all the way back to the fuse block which appears to have shorted internally.
I replaced the fuse block with the block from my 700 and now the starter and ignition works, although the spark looked weaker than I would've liked. While I was this deep into the wiring I also did the coil relay mod. Even after the relay mod the spark looks weak to me.
The headlight and tail light are both blown. I do not know why the fuse block shorting out could cause this. I would think the only thing that would be able to blow these bulbs would be sufficiently high voltage, and I think the only source of this would be from a failing voltage regulator.
I had the tank off and only enough fuel in the bowls to start the bike briefly. But when I started it it would start, rev up, then die. I don't know if this was due to electrical or fuel, but during this time the tachometer would not register at all.
I am afraid that the fuse block being shorted was a secondary problem created by a primary issue that I have not fixed yet. I don't know how to test my tachometer to see if it has been blown out the same way that my headlight and tail light were.
When I had it running briefly I tested the voltage across the battery terminals and it peaked at 15 volts. Can I test the voltage regulator by itself?
Does anyone have an extra fuse block they want to sell? I'm really worried about a secondary voltage spike ripping through the system and causing the same, if not more problems a second time.
I know this is a long post but thanks for reading. If you have any questions or want pictures or clarification please let me know.
not a piece of wire.
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