79 GS1000 starter not getting power.

[dluszcz]

Bought a 78 GS1000E and discovered the engine was bad. Bought a 79 GS1000E motor complete with coils, starter, and wiring harness. It's been sitting since Thanksgiving. Anyway, I caved in and bought a garage heater and started trying to get it running today. Can't get anything to turn over. Check previous posts and checked all my connections, made sure they were good, and I still have no power to my starter. Can't even jump the starter. I was lucky enough to get my hands under the carbs to swap out the starters but no spark on either one. I bought this to learn how to work on bikes and I'm already stuck. Not sure what I have to or where else to begin. How can you check if a starter is bad? Any way to run new wires to see if it works? I do not have a battery installed as I used jumper cables hooked up from my car, which was not running. I just want to get the engine running for now and then I will put all the pieces back together when I start taping the deconstruction so I don't run into this situation again. Thanks.

[drejal]

Is your starter solenoid firing?

If I'm not mistaken, no solenoid movement = no power to starter. I'd imagine there is a way to jumper across the solenoid to check the starter.

Dre

[Steve]

Might sound like a silly question, but ... did you pull the clutch lever?

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[alocker]

First check to see if you have 12 volts at the solenoid post that goes to the positive battery post. If you do, then make sure you have 12 volts at the yellow/green wire when you press the starter button. Check back after you look at these things and let us know what you find.

I just re-read your post. We can offer help easier if you put a few paragraphs instead of one big block of text.

I would break down and buy the correct battery and install it. Jumpers will just add more connections and confusion when troubleshooting.

[chef1366]

If you have power to the solenoid and a good battery jumping the solenoid should of turned the starter.
You can check the starter with a set of jumber cables and a car battery. Put the positive cable on the stud where the positive battery cable hooks to and ground the starter at the round nub at the end of the starter.

[dluszcz]

The silly question might be the answer. Because I bought just the motor and all in a frame that can't be titled, I figured that if I hook up the gauges and make sure it's in neutral that it would start. I have a green light on the neutral switch and everything else, but didn't even think about pulling the clutch. Could it really be that simple? I hope so. Thanks for the advice to all. I'll give it a shot later and report later.

[Steve]

I have a green light on the neutral switch and everything else, but didn't even think about pulling the clutch. Could it really be that simple?

Yes, it might really be that simple. Suzuki wired a switch into the clutch lever as a "safety" feature, to prevent starting the bike if you happened to leave it in gear, forcing you to disengage the clutch to be able to use the electric starter. That way it does not matter if it's in gear or not, it will be "safe" to start.

Many of us have bypassed that switch so it's not necessary to pull the clutch, but you have to be sure that it's in neutral before pushing the starter button.

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[dluszcz]

Well, no luck yet. Maybe because I don't know exactly what I'm doing, I can't figure it out. Going back to basics. So, I took a picsof what I think is the starter. Not sure since I thought I had it all figured out and I'm 2nd guessing everything I've done. I have it installed but now I do not believe I've been testing it correctly and I do not think I have power going to it. I have the black cable that mounts to the outside of the starter(?) going to the frame of the bike right now. The green and yellow wire is still attached to the solenoid. Should there be power there?

[alocker]

The threaded post on the starter goes to one threaded post on the solenoid. The other big threaded post on the solenoid goes to battery +. The green and yellow wire gets a momentary +12v when the starter button is pushed.

You should be able to attach +12v to the starter post and ground the case to see if the starter motor turns.

[dluszcz]

OK. Now I am thoroughly confused. Is the picture I attached the starter? And, the solenoid, I can only see where the green/yellow wire snaps on. There are 2 bolts that I can removed but I do not see any other wires. Do I need to removed those 2 bolts to see the other wires? Even when I press the start button and I have the tester light on the green/yellow wire, no power.

I am not that mechanically inclined yet and I'm just looking at the internet and the Haynes manual (which doesn't show much). That could be 1 of the problems right there.

[dluszcz]

OK, just jumped the starter solenoid. Got the spark but no turn. What does that mean?

[alocker]

I think if the polarity is reversed it will not turn. To you make sure you had positive on the post? If you did, than the starter may be toast.

[dluszcz]

Starter is good. Apparently I can't follow wires too well when they are buried. I had the grounds mixed up. Switched them and just jumped the starter.

I even tried getting it running by jumping the starter. Poured a little fuel in the line to the carbs and tried to get it started but no luck. At least I got it to crank and that was my goal.

Any way I can figure out why I can't get it to turn over by pressing the button? I pressed the clutch in after hooking up the cable again and nothing. No power to the green/yellow wire either.