Wires?

[Jebus23]

Its been raining here in New York and will be for some time and I think a new problem may have presented itself with all of this moisture. I have recently brought this bike back to life with a carb cleaning, new o-rings, petcock rebuild, and new plugs. It now seems that the bike is very sluggish in the low end rpm's and then all of a sudden catches on and is healthy. Could the wires be cracked causing arching? Im not sure if it would be a relating problem but my battery has been draining as well.

Thanks for the help,
Steve

1980 GS 550E

[Nessism]

Sorry to sound like an A$$ but please be more descriptive with your title. Yes, I'm grumpy.

Charging system problems can be diagagnosed with the help of the Stator Papers... http://www.thegsresources.com/garage/gs_statorfacts.htm

Read it, learn it, love it! Standard reading for ALL GS owners.

Regarding your bikes issue, wire arching could be the problem but it's hard to say. The wires are not replaceable under normal maintenance but some people change them out using wire splices or diging the old wire out of the ignition coil. The search function has lots of info on issue of changing coil wires so you may want to do a search to learn more.

[Jebus23]

I assume people know I am talking about spark plug wires. Old bike Barn has a set.....are you saying I cant just replace them by unplugging the old and plugging the new? The battery drain is the least of my worries. I'm more concerned with the lack of low end power.

[Nessism]

Old bike Barn has a set.....are you saying I cant just replace them by unplugging the old and plugging the new?

Yes

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Petcock rebuild? I don't like the sound of that. In my reading of the forum over the last couple of years, I'd say waaaay less than half of the petcock rebuilds actually work.

Have you tried new plug caps? Have you cleaned every electrical connection and ground on the entire wiring harness? Have you checked your voltage at the coils? Have you tried the coil relay mod? Have you cleaned the connections in the fuse box? Have you cleaned the connections in the ignition switch?

It's possible that your spark plug wires are arcing. Have you taken the tank off and run the bike in a dark room to see the arcs?

Have you vacuum synced the carbs? Are you using an inline fuel filter? Are there any leaks in the air intake system? Are you using a stock airbox and a lightly oiled air filter? Have you adjusted the valves? Have you read your manual? Are you really sure your carbs are really, really clean? Clogged pilot jets will wreck havoc at low rpms.

There are even more variables that I don't have time to reference. Perhaps I've given you a few things to think about and you can carry on your own research. START BY CLICKING HERE.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Steve]

I assume people know I am talking about spark plug wires.

Well, sorry, but you just can't assume.

Not counting all the jokes about the word, besides the spark plug wires, there are wires that carry electicity all around the bike.
AND there are the early model bikes with WIRE WHEELS.

At one time or another, each of these has been the topic of discussion. So, as you can now see, spark plug wires CAN not (and SHOULD not) be assumed.

.

[Jebus23]

All I want to know is that if I buy a new set of wires, can I simply unplug the old from the coil and plug in the new or are they fixed? This morning before work I quickly pulled the tank off to see if I could unplug them and they were not coming off. I was rushed, they were in an akward spot, and I didnt have the time but I'm trying to order them as soon as possible seeing how I need to get this bike to Boston shortly.

Save the lectures, I am aware of reasons why the bike may be sluggish but increased sluggishness in damp weather tipped me off to electrical problems. I know what Im doing with mechanics but I'm unfamiliar with this bike and I'm even more pressed for time these last few weeks. So posted answers and guidance can be really usefull for me from people that may have corrected a similar problem this way. I've searched and I am searching but I have barely enough time to eat these days.

[Nessism]

All I want to know is that if I buy a new set of wires, can I simply unplug the old from the coil and plug in the new or are they fixed?

As mentioned already in this thread, two times, the wires are not removable. NGK sells wire splices that some people use, and other people dig the wire out of the coil and stuff a new wire inside and glue it in place. Tons of info on this subject in the archives which can be discovered using the search function. http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...earchid=948965

[Skateguy50]

There is a ton to read and learn on here, and it sounds like your in a rush BUT its better to learn as much BEFORE you replace things that might not need replacing, or even worse replace them the wrong way.

The way I always work is start with the easiest solution and work my way up from that, I doubt replacing the wires is the easiest solution so I would say take the time to read what you can and diagnose the issue more. I would say wager the battery draining issue is related cause if your running at low voltage you wont be getting a good spark even with new wires. My bike had that same issue and I got a used r/r but read some people use other model ones that are a bit more beefy.

So I would say start with getting your wiring diagram, basscliff's link should get you to a manual with a nice chart, then check and clean all contacts and grounds. its a free fix so start with that and see how much it helps, if you still have an issue check the link for the charging system diagnosis and if needed replace the r/r. The guide posted here helped me a lot and found that was my issue. I also did the referenced coil relay mod to get maximum charge to the wires while running.

Good luck but take your time and research rather than rush.

[Zooks]

My apologies for the grumpy old bastards that are giving you a hard time Jebus.

Welcome to the GSR, (usually) the friendliest place on the internet.

Please post a few pics, that usually placates them a little.

[Larry D]

My apologies for the grumpy old bastards that are giving you a hard time Jebus.

Welcome to the GSR, (usually) the friendliest place on the internet.

Please post a few pics, that usually placates them a little.

Grumpy ?? Just wait until the other 6 dwarfs get here........

[Steve]

My apologies for the grumpy old bastards that are giving you a hard time Jebus.

HEY, I'm not that grumpy.

Not usually, at least.

Some of us "old" guys were just trying to show the "new" guy that a better choice of title might have been "Can spark plug wires be changed?"
That way, we would have known that we were not launching into another discussion where he's trying to fit WIRE spoke wheels on his Katana, or something like that.

.

[Zooks]

Yeah I realise why the grumpy attack. I was just extending the hand of friendship s'all.

If you guys are grumpy I must be the handsome Prince.

[Steve]

Actually, I have always thought of myself as one of the other dwarves.

(I think his name was Nasty.)

.

[rustybronco]

Save the lectures, I am aware of reasons why the bike may be sluggish but increased sluggishness in damp weather tipped me off to electrical problems. I know what Im doing with mechanics but I'm unfamiliar with this bike...

the wire are checked the same way as an automotive wire, resistance per foot. the bike has an added resistance in the spark plug cap and it is around 5k in value.
the wires can be dried off and coated with an moisture dryer, such as wd40 or crc5-56, to eliminate them from the equation.

don't discount barometric pressure or air temperature as a cause of your running condition.

good luck,
Sleepy