no responde

[ard]

Hi everyone, yesterday, I started my 1983 GS750E, and ran it for a short while with no problem. Then I decided to store it for the rest of the year, I put stabilizer in the tank ran it again for a short while, then shut it off. rolled on the trailer strapped it down and took it to my friends storage facility. I brought the bike down, I tried to start it it would not do nothing, I turn the key the lights come on squeese the clutch lever push the ignition button nothing, no grwling noise no dimming of lights nothing. where would I start in a case like this, what would have disconnected or moved. I only traveled about three miles the bike was running all the time so bad symptoms of any kind. I tought I should ask the expert GS world.

Ard.

[Anonymous]

start

Clutch switch ,starter solinoid, starter button on controls, battery connections, loose connections, work the control button around with your thumb see if that will work

[earlfor]

If you only rode the bike three miles, and had not previously been riding it enough to keep the battery charged, then you probably have a dead battery.
Starting it and riding only three miles would take more electricity out of the battery than the charging system could have replaced.
Check your battery voltage at the battery terminals. It should be a minimum of 12.5 volts. I bet it is less than 11. LOL Use a 1 amp battery charger and
take the battery out of the bike when you charge it. Leave it on the charger at a 1 amp rate for 12 hours if the voltage is less than 12 Check the water level in the battery befor charging. The water level should be between the two lines on the side of the battery that show correct water level.

Earl

[Jethro]

My 81 has a terrible starter switch problem. I think it's a loose connection or somthing.

[Anonymous]

Is it possible a three mile ride could drain the battery? I guess if it's really, really shallow. Anyway ard, this sounds like exactly what my bike does when the kill switch is off. I know it's a stupid thing, but I've spent like 30 seconds sometimes going "Oh no what's wrong with my bike" before I remember the kill switch, and I even use it routinely.

I'm sure that's not what's at issue here, but I figured for the sake of completeness I'd throw in my two bits.

[Anonymous]

My 81 has a terrible starter switch problem. I think it's a loose connection or somthing.

I experience the same thing. Push your kill switch just a teeny bit back toward off, not even halfway, just a fraction of an inch, then hit it and see if it fires up.

I don't know what sort of voodoo causes this, but once I learned how to do it, I haven't had an issue with it yet.

The battery, OTOH, is a different story.

[earlfor]

Yes, if the battery is almost dead to start with due to non use. Roughly, with the lights on and the ignition, it takes about 3500 rpm to "break even" or put back what youre taking out of the battery. 3500 rpm is about 65 mph on my bike. A three mile ride through town at 30 mph would be a drain.

Earl


[quote="trnpkroadwarrior1019"]Is it possible a three mile ride could drain the battery? I guess if it's really, really shallow.

[Jethro]

I experience the same thing. Push your kill switch just a teeny bit back toward off, not even halfway, just a fraction of an inch, then hit it and see if it fires up.

Yeah, I usually push and hold the button, then rub the button in a circle-like motion like it's a 'friggin genie in a bottle. The magic usually happens.

[oldschoolGS]

I experience the same thing. Push your kill switch just a teeny bit back toward off, not even halfway, just a fraction of an inch, then hit it and see if it fires up.

Yeah, I usually push and hold the button, then rub the button in a circle-like motion like it's a 'friggin genie in a bottle. The magic usually happens.

Lets see, we are talking about pushing and rubbing a little button and magic happening- are we talking about starting a motorcycle or something else?

[ard]

Actually, I had the battery off of the bike and fully charged, so when I attached to this bike it was fully charged I dont thinkl it is the battery. In fact I know it is not the battery, because I pulled the battery from that bike and used on my GS 1100E it worked so I think it is not the battery.

ard

[earlfor]

Well, that good! You would feel kind of silly if you pulled everything on the bike apart and found out it was a low battery. :-)
The next thing I would check would be fuses.
Then clutch switch
kill switch

Earl

Actually, I had the battery off of the bike and fully charged, so when I attached to this bike it was fully charged I dont thinkl it is the battery. In fact I know it is not the battery, because I pulled the battery from that bike and used on my GS 1100E it worked so I think it is not the battery.

ard

[Bolder Biker]

I suspect that it's the kill switch, clutch interlock, or some other electrical connection that may have got disturbed when you trailored the bike. Time to break out the meter, and see if you are getting juice to the starter motor....then check through the circuits, eliminating possibilities as you go.

BB

[ard]

Thank you for your follow up Earl, since I joined the GS group I learned a lot, you should be proud of me! I read just about all the threads that came on the thecnical info. saying this; I mean I checked the fuses also. I have one question; when I turn the key on and push the starter button, I don't hear the starter relay clicking, I dont hear any nioses, would that narrows the diagnosis? or not .

ard

[earlfor]

The starter relay is not fused. The large rear terminal on the relay is wired directly to the positive battery terminal. Take a multimeter and put the neg probe on the motorcycle frame/bare metal and put the red lead of the meter on the rear post of the starter relay. You should read the same as battery voltage. If you do, then there is power going to the relay. On the top of the relay, you will see a small wire soldered in place on the can. Applying 12 volts positive to this wire will cause the relay to close, completing the starter circuit. (make sure the bike is in neutral or on the centerstand)
Get a piece of wire and jump from battery positive to the small soldered wire. If the relay is working, (and not shorted out) the starter will turn over when you do this. If it does, then you know it is not the relay or power supply to it. The problem is the "exciter" lead which comes from the ignition switch. NOte the color code of the lead and then locate it at the ignition switch. Jump 12+ to the wire at the switch end. If the starter turns, you know it is not the wire and you have narrowed it down to the ignition switch end of the circuit. At this end, you have the ignition switch, the clutch safety switch and the kill switch. The clutch safety switch underneath the handlebar clutch lever has two wires. They run into the headlight shell. Remove the sealed beam and behind it find those two wires. They will be plugged into either a two prong plug or two single connectors. Disconnect the wires coming from the clutch safety switch. Put a jumper between the two wires they were plugged into. That will bypass the clutch safety switch. Try the starter, if it works, then it is the safety switch. if not, reconnect the safety switch. Now you know it is either the ignition switch or the kill switch Eliminate the kill switch as a possibility the same way. If still no go, then it is the ignition switch.

Earl

Thank you for your follow up Earl, since I joined the GS group I learned a lot, you should be proud of me! I read just about all the threads that came on the thecnical info. saying this; I mean I checked the fuses also. I have one question; when I turn the key on and push the starter button, I don't hear the starter relay clicking, I dont hear any nioses, would that narrows the diagnosis? or not .

ard

[ard]

Thank you Earl, I wont be able to get to the bike tomorrow, I have to go to NY. but at the end of the week I will get to it again, and I keep you posted. Thank you for now.


Ard.