Help!!!!! MY 81 GS850G just died!

[Anonymous]

Problem History; 1981 GS850G 67,000 miles top end replaced about 18 months ago.
I purchased it about 7 months ago from a friend who owned it for the last 20 years About 1-1/2 years ago when on a ride the wring over heated he could smell the wire melting also the fuse box melted and had to be replaced. Some of the wiring had to be replaced mainly the battery cables. He has had a charging problem for years he says if he had to start it 3 or 4 times in a short period of time he would end up having to bump it to get it started. He had to repair the starter quite a few times He says he had to solder the wires on the starter motor and had to replace the battery every year. He had it in and out of the shop and they couldn't find anything wrong with the charging system. I rode it almost every day this last summer and it ran great with the exception of having to bump start it occasionally. I haven?t gone on any long rides yet mainly because of the charging problem. I am a year round rider as the days got colder the harder it was to start and it wasn't long till I had to replace the battery in the last few weeks I was having to put the battery on the charger every other day or I would need to push it. Yesterday after work I went out to the GS and it started right up I started for home but about 2 miles down the road it just quite I was going about 25 mph them it started again and went about 300 yards and then quite again and that was it I couldn't bump it to start, the starter wouldn?t even try to turn over it acted as if the battery was dead but the battery was fully charged when I turned on the key it had a bright green light. I don't have a clue what is wrong it must be an electrical problem but I don't no where to start.

Any Ideas will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

[Billy Ricks]

You've got something that isn't fuse protected shorting or bad connections in the fuse block. There's not many things that could be. R/R or stator could be shorting. You should be blowing the main fuse though if the charging system is bad. Have the fuses been replaced with higher values to keep from blowing them? If there are any non-stock wires on it they would be suspect.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure wither the fuses are correct or not I will have to check them. I did checked and they all were still good. the wires appear to be the right ones I beleave he got them from Suzuki.

[Billy Ricks]

The main fuse is usually a 15 amp and the rest 10 amp.

[Anonymous]

I checked and the fuses are all correct and none are blown. How do you check to see if the R/R or Stator is to blame if it won't start I am not getting any juice to the starter all of the sudden. Any ideas

[wizard]

Is the battery maintaining a charge? If the bike is failing to start, but the battery still has a full charge, the problem is between the battery and starter( this includes the ignition switch, kill switch, clutch interlock, and starter solenoid). Start with the basics. When not able to activate starter, is the headlight still bright? Do the turn signals, high beam, etc work? Maybe all you're looking for is a short or bad connection.

[argonsagas]

First, check the connections...all of them....at the battery, the solenoid and the starter.

Second, check the condition of the wire between the solenoid and the starter.

Third, check the condition of the wire from the battery to the solenoid.

Look for an abraded section which may be intermittently touching metal, such as the frame. This, perhaps combined with a failing solenoid, is likely your problem.

Everything else is fused, so if there is a short, you should be blowing fuses.


Charging system? Get a digital multimeter. On the left side of the bike, under the cover, you will find the lead from the stator. Three wires.

Pull them apart and get your meter ready. Set it to AC VOLTS.

Put one probe into a wire lead. Does not matter which one. Put the other probe into another wire lead. Start the bike and run the engine to about 5000 RPM. Check the voltage reading. While the bike is running swith the leads to the third wire from the stator It does not matter which lead you use.

If you do this and find the voltage is 50 volts or more (preferably 70 volts) your stator is not shot.

Shut down the engine and re-connect all three wires.

Start the engine. With the engine running.. You should have 14+ volts at 5000 RPM..

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you've got a loose wire or fuse. My 400 only has one fuse and when it slips out the entire bike is dead until I hit a bump. Then it comes on line again.

Your bike probably has a set of fuses for keyed power and always on power. If your lights don't go out you can eliminate that fuse. The fuse that supplies the starter button would be a good start. If you can find two things on the same circuit that stop working at the same time you're set. I've even found factory fuses in the headlight bucket of my 1100 that are very vaguley marked in the manual. It just shows a connection, not a current rating.

Steve

[Anonymous]

Thanks, to all for the excellent information I'm not sure of the cause for the bike shutting down but I did find out that the starter solinoid was stuck and now it up and kicking again. I did find one melted wire Yellow comng from the R/R it's possible that wire was touching metal. I think I am going to save up and purchase the Electrex Stator and R/R. How do you go about purchsing from them? chan we buy direct or do I have to find a dealer?

Again thanks for the help!

[wizard]

While you're checking the stator leads for AC voltage, shut the bike off. Set the meter to OHMS. Put the negative lead to ground and touch positive to each of those yellow wires. If resistance reads zero for any lead, your stator is shorted to ground and needs rewinding or replacement. Electrex would be a good choice.

[Anonymous]

One thing I just found out was that the R/R has already been replaced once before, when it had the wire melt down, and it still has the original stator. I have one question I read the stator papers and also saw the information on doing a stator rewind. what's the difference between the way electrex winds there's and the way suzuki does it? and is the rewind that is explained on this site different from the original? Does anyone no what the difference is? will the rewind fix the charging problem?

[wizard]

I've rewound my stator twice. It is time consuming and open to make a lot of errors. I recently acquired and installed the Electrex stator and R/R. My charging system has never functioned better. The biggest advantage to doing the rewind yourself is the low cost. It is extremely labor intensive. I did my rewinds before I knew about this website. Electrically, the rewind described will duplicate the factory performance.