omigosh!850 won't go!!!!

[Anonymous]

Just got back from the Canadian BMW rally to show off my 79 GS 850. No one really cared for some reason... oh well.... First time Ive taken high speed trip on my bike. Everything was fine until about 6 hours o ridin. Sure enough the charging problem Ive heard so much of on this site , tookeffect. I had to bump start for the rest of the day. The bike sat for the night, I drank beer and slept and in the morning it started up no problem (like the battery had charged o'er night)???? The next day fine. No sign of aforementioned problem. I got home at a reasonable hour, parked the bike for the night and in the morning.....!!! No start... lights and horn fine and not even a "click" from the solenoid!!,.... I checked wires near engine and no melt down ...contact cleaned the Yellow/Green starter wires/connections and no luck. Anyone know whats up? Or am I gonna have to go and buy a Beemer!!LOL.....

[Anonymous]

Just a single click for the solonoid? When my last battery died, the lights and everything were ok but when i hit the starter, I would here a single click from the solonoid and the lights would go dim... when I took my thumb off the lights would come back.

FYI - "Battery Recharge" is an interesting phenomenon. It has to do with the changing surface area exposed to electrolite and the changing chemical makeup. What it boils down to is that when a battery is nearly dead, there is less surface area for chemical reactions to take place which make new mobile electrons available... letting the bike sit will alow time for used ions to move out of the way and fresh electron rich ions to populate the limited plate area. This makes it seem that the battery has "recharged" when all that has really happened is that the chemical reactions that make power are being severly limited. This is also why a "full" battery will give better response than one that is slightly discharged even though they may give the same voltage readings.

You have a dead battery, but the only way to tell the reason it's dead is to test the charging system. If it's being charged properly, you can replace it and go about your riding, but if the charging system is failed you will have to fix that and replace the battery because it's probably been screwed up by improper charging.

[Anonymous]

pull the battery and check the fluid level - add distilled water only and recharge

It may have been overcharging a bit and cooked the water out because of the long trip (not as noticable in day to day riding)

[Anonymous]

GS 850 problem

no luck Now all the lights dim when I press the starter and nothing. Solenoid is fine.. I do know that my spark wires are in really bad shape. Can this effect the starting process? I also put regular (it might have been mineral water) in the battery. I did try anoyther batt. and still no go. Where to go from here?

[DJones]

check the stator papers and check your charging system. You might also check that your sparkplug wires are not shorting out. Check your solenoid too, it could be shorting out. Good luck! Get a new Batt first!

[Anonymous]

dead battery

Every time my bike has experienced this problem it was a battery that was crapped out. Check voltage of battery > 12.5v okay <12.5 no good. Since I live in Canada as well I just go to Canadian Tire and get a battery from them but don't let them charge it up for you. Take it home and put it on a battery minder type charger usually around 1 to 1.5 amps per hour charge rate and Bob's your uncle. If they charge it up for you they use the big charger for car batteries and cook the crap out of it. I bought my 850 in 97 and put a new battery in 97,98 and in 99 I did what I said earlier and still have the same battery. I cannot take credit for this advice as I read about it in a bike mag. Happy motoring.

[mcycle-nut]

STAY AWAY FROM IRANIAN TIRE!!!!! Most of the stuff they sell is crap! Ever tried to buy car parts there? I needed exhaust gaskets for my truck and they're asking me if it has air-conditioning??? 8O It will cost more, but find a motorcycle shop. The best would be a non-dealership type of shop, as you will have to pay for the fancy carpets and musak of a dealership. 8)