Lots of issues. Any ideas?

[Anonymous]

I'll list my issues in numbered listing.

1. Rough idle. Seems like I always need the choke choked just a little to get it to run right.

2. Head light goes dim then bright then dim and so on when idling. Seems like a genorator issue.

3. New battery, but when left sitting for a few days, not enough juice to start it. Will turn over just fine but not fire. As soon as I hook up the jumper cable to it and my truck, VAARROOOOOOM, starts right up. Seems like bike cannot generate enough juice to get good spark.

4. Front blinkers not working. New bulbs and grounding wire in place. Also checked main wiring and looks ok to me. I heard sometimes the contacts get gummed up for the bulbs (haven't checked that yet).

5. Engine has alot of oxidation (not sure of spelling) on it and nothing I do gets rid of it. I tried "mothers", course rubbing compound, fine rubbing compound and even chrome cleaner and nothing worked. Any ideas?


That's it. I am mostly in need of help with the idling and starting issues. I can live with the oxidation and using my hands to signal for now.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. Sorry for any bad spelling, I've had a few drinks today.

[earlfor]

What bike, year, model?

Earl

[Anonymous]

Re: Lots of issues. Any ideas?

I'll list my issues in numbered listing.

1. Rough idle. Seems like I always need the choke choked just a little to get it to run right.

A little choke is OK. Proper carb tuning should work that out. But you should probably focus on the other problems first.

2. Head light goes dim then bright then dim and so on when idling. Seems like a genorator issue.

You need to go through the stator papers. http://www.thegsresources.com/gs_garage.htm There is a handy-dandy troubleshooting chart. You may have some other problem, but it's worth looking at your charging system.

3. New battery, but when left sitting for a few days, not enough juice to start it. Will turn over just fine but not fire. As soon as I hook up the jumper cable to it and my truck, VAARROOOOOOM, starts right up. Seems like bike cannot generate enough juice to get good spark.

The ignition coils are common suspects. Also the spark plugs, their caps, and wires.

4. Front blinkers not working. New bulbs and grounding wire in place. Also checked main wiring and looks ok to me. I heard sometimes the contacts get gummed up for the bulbs (haven't checked that yet).

Squirt some electrical contact cleaner at the contacts. Could be related to your headlight issue. Do you mean that they never come on or that they come on but never blink? Your left/right switch could also be bad, or the turn signal box.

5. Engine has alot of oxidation (not sure of spelling) on it and nothing I do gets rid of it. I tried "mothers", course rubbing compound, fine rubbing compound and even chrome cleaner and nothing worked. Any ideas?

3M Imperial WetOrDry sandpaper. Start with 220 or 320 grit. Keep moving up the line to 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000, and follow with buffing compound. For each different grit, do in a different direction, so that you can see the scratches made by this grit as well as the one before it, in the other direction. Once the scratches from the previous grit are gone, move up a grit and switch directions again. Simple, but a LOT of work. And never use sandpaper on chromed parts. Aluminum only. And don't use steel wool on aluminum.

That's it. I am mostly in need of help with the idling and starting issues. I can live with the oxidation and using my hands to signal for now.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. Sorry for any bad spelling, I've had a few drinks today.

Have a happy and safe evening. Just remember not to drink and tinker. You'll wind up with a garage hangover. They hit the pocketbook hard.

Michael

[Anonymous]

What bike, year, model?

Earl

1982 GS850GL

[Anonymous]

Re: Lots of issues. Any ideas?

A little choke is OK. Proper carb tuning should work that out. But you should probably focus on the other problems first.

As long as it runs I am good to go for now.

You need to go through the stator papers. http://www.thegsresources.com/gs_garage.htm There is a handy-dandy troubleshooting chart. You may have some other problem, but it's worth looking at your charging system.

I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this. I am beond broke, and was hoping it would be something simple.

The ignition coils are common suspects. Also the spark plugs, their caps, and wires.

Plugs are new and gapped to manual specs. Wires I have not really looked at yet.

Squirt some electrical contact cleaner at the contacts. Could be related to your headlight issue. Do you mean that they never come on or that they come on but never blink? Your left/right switch could also be bad, or the turn signal box.

What I mean by front blinkers do not work is that when I turn on the blinkers, the rear light up but don't blink and the front don't come on at all. Would some cleaner help for this issue then?

3M Imperial WetOrDry sandpaper. Start with 220 or 320 grit. Keep moving up the line to 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000, and follow with buffing compound. For each different grit, do in a different direction, so that you can see the scratches made by this grit as well as the one before it, in the other direction. Once the scratches from the previous grit are gone, move up a grit and switch directions again. Simple, but a LOT of work. And never use sandpaper on chromed parts. Aluminum only. And don't use steel wool on aluminum.

I'll try that.

[snowbeard]

sounds like your electrical problems could all come from the same place? check on your stator/regulators, then go from there. they charge the battery as well as supply blinker power, I noticed when I had no battery (or dead battery and running bike jumped off the car) that my blinkers couldn't build enough power to blink, but with a new battery they do fine... start there and then fix the small things.


legal disclaimer: going on gleaned knowledge (and a beer or two) so far, please confirm before taking much heed!

[Anonymous]

sounds like your electrical problems could all come from the same place? check on your stator/regulators, then go from there. they charge the battery as well as supply blinker power, I noticed when I had no battery (or dead battery and running bike jumped off the car) that my blinkers couldn't build enough power to blink, but with a new battery they do fine... start there and then fix the small things.!

He should check his charging system. It's not necessarily bad, but he should check it. And I don't think that it's the reason the blinkers don't work. The blinkers work with specific current draw and will not blink if the load is incorrect. His front blinkers aren't working, so the load is off and it's no wonder that the back ones aren't blinking. Basically, check all your wires and connections for electrical conductivity (not just appearance). I think you'll find that you have a failed connection on the front turn signals. The both of them use one ground wire, (black with a white stripe I think) so it's the top suspect from here.

You should have a service manual but if you're beyond broke (like me, or close ) this will have to do: http://www.smokeriders.com/diagrams/...S850GT,GLT.gif The turn signals are on the right. Check the black and white wire connecting them. It will be in the headlight bucket on the bike. You will also need a multimeter. Check that it conducts the turn signals to the ground (frame or engine or negative battery terminal).

Michael

[Anonymous]

I do have a manual and have gone through the wiring diagram in it. Thats when I checked all the wiring in the head light case for my blinker problems. I did not however check the wires for current with my multi-meter. That will be my next step.

Question on that: If I hook my multi-meter to the ground wires and I have current in them, would this mean a short? In otherwords, what sort of readings should I be looking for in the grounds and leads?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I do have a manual and have gone through the wiring diagram in it. Thats when I checked all the wiring in the head light case for my blinker problems. I did not however check the wires for current with my multi-meter. That will be my next step.

Question on that: If I hook my multi-meter to the ground wires and I have current in them, would this mean a short? In otherwords, what sort of readings should I be looking for in the grounds and leads?

Thanks.

You want to make sure that your circuit is intact. For the ground side, leave the bike off and put the MM to the connectivity setting, where it shows an LED or makes a sound when you have a connection. Alternatively, just put it on a very low resistance (ohms) setting. Take the black probe and put it on the engine block. Put the red probe on the contact where the turn signal bulb plugs in. One of the contacts should read with a connection. If not, your ground wire is not connected. Move the red probe down the black and white line until you find the break.

For the supply side, switch the MM to the 20VDC or 50VDC range. Keep the black probe on the engine. Turn the bike on and activate the turn signal you're testing. Put the red probe on the turn signal bulb contact. One of them should read 12V. If not, move the red probe up the black or green wire until you find a point which does show 12V.

Your fault is likely on the ground side, given that it is the common point between the two front blinkers but not the back two.

Good luck,

Michael