Bike is dead electrically - was fine 24 hrs ago...

[Anonymous]

so when i cam eback from the gas station last night it was fine.....
i messed with the petcock (stiff..need to pull it out and rebuild it)
i took of the seat....don't even remember why..and put it back on right away..

20 hrs later i put the key in and nothing..no neutral light...dead...
i checked the battery and it has a charge..(i would expect something even if the battery was almost dead)

where do i begin...any obvious places to check for juice..?
the fuses all look ok.....

i know this is a pretty wide open question but any starting point guide lines greatly appreciated......

i thought maybe i nicked a wire putting the seat back but i dont see anything obvious

Phil

[Anonymous]

starting point

check your ignitions switch connection then go to the cables maybe neeed cleaning or a loose wire it dont take much for a wire to short out and poof no electricity another spot is your starter relay check and make sure your positive and neg are on good and clean but it could be bad.

[Anonymous]

I did this

Silly question but do you have and are you using an old key. I did the same number a few months ago where I went to take the seat off after working on some electircal. I pulled the key straight out and it had no resistance so I though nothing of it. I put the seat back on and walked in from the garage, that's right you guessed it with the lights on. Next morning dead bike. To make matters worse when i got the bike started and went around the neighborhood to juice her back up the keys fell out of the ignition. New key and no problem. However first thing I would check is the condition of the battery. Does it have any bulges in the side, If not then check the electolyte level in the battery. If it is low fill with distilled water only. Do not and I repeat do not use tap water because you will kill that battery. Now if your battery has gone that quickly without prior notification of any type then it could be the regulator/rectifier, That is the unit that maintains a constant voltage to the battery regardless of speed. If this goes bad then you will affectively cook the battery.
If you have found that to be your problem check out your stator. They are a notorious problem in the GS line. If you do find fault with the regulator/rectifier I owuld replace the stator also. It is expensive don't get me wrong but it will give you trouble free riding for a long period and you won't regret it.
I still have the invoices of my repair and the parts cost me,
156.18 Regulator/Rectifier
426.12 Stator
24.33 Battery

Having a reliable running bike, Priceless.

[Anonymous]

Happened to notice this and if you need them you better jump on this deal

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2428507622&category=35594

[Anonymous]

thanks for the tips...i'm heading to the garage right now...hopefully i will know one way or the other before the nights over....

[Anonymous]

well 20 mins of rummaging through the wiring, a small amount of electrical tape and i'm up and running...

the battery was sat at 12.6 v so i'm hoping the charging system will last a while longer

the wiring i'll need to replace in the not to distant future is the group of wires coming out of the fuse box into a "plug"..anybody know if that is a something i can swapout or will i need to get a whoel new fuse box rig

Phil