changed the handlebar, now it won't start!

[Anonymous]

I am the proud owner of an '82 gs850 gl. I've had it about 7 months, it's run great and been a wonderful bike. The guy who I bought it from changed out the original bars with drag bars. I personally liked the stock bars better, so I decided I would attempt to change them back. I "successfully" got the drag bar off and the stock bar on...all the controls put back on and all that. I went to start it for a glorious ride of victory to celebrate my monumentous achievement only to find that when I press the starter button, nothing happens! No click, no nothing. I thought maybe I didn't put the clutch/starter interlock back on right, so I took it off, cleaned the connectors a little and put it back on, still nothing. I don't know if perhaps I jacked up some of the wires going to the starter switch or something? That's all i can think of...any ideas?

[Anonymous]

bars

Did you disconnect the battery before you started?? and did you hook it back up if you did??also check the fuses,did you take the controls apart or did you just loosen them and slide them off, if all these things are OK then go into the heaDLITE BUCKET AND LOOK FOR A LOOSE CONNECTOR, oopps cap lock 8O . if that is OK then bypass the clutch swich, BUT BE SURE THE BIKE IN IN NEUTRAL

[crayonjota]

It almost certainly has something to do with your messing with the bar controls. Unfortunately you need to go back and step by step find the thing that is disconnected or dislodged. Take your time as this is a most frustrating and labourious task. Electrical fault finding is plain dull.

As to the drag bars - do you want to sell them??? CJ

[argonsagas]

A multimeter will tell you if there is power available at the switches.

If it is blank, pull your wire pack from the headlight and check it out.

When you raise handlebars there is always a chance that you will stretch the wires a bit too far, and cause the connections to separate.

If you find this is the case, you will need to cut the wires and splice in an extra section to accommodate the new height, and the new length required when turning the bars. Solder all the new sections/splices.

You should check out all your cables as well, as they may be too tight, or limited in action, especially at full turn.

[Jackrp]

Re: changed the handlebar, now it won't start!

I am the proud owner of an '82 gs850 gl. I've had it about 7 months, it's run great and been a wonderful bike. The guy who I bought it from changed out the original bars with drag bars. I personally liked the stock bars better, so I decided I would attempt to change them back. I "successfully" got the drag bar off and the stock bar on...all the controls put back on and all that. I went to start it for a glorious ride of victory to celebrate my monumentous achievement only to find that when I press the starter button, nothing happens! No click, no nothing. I thought maybe I didn't put the clutch/starter interlock back on right, so I took it off, cleaned the connectors a little and put it back on, still nothing. I don't know if perhaps I jacked up some of the wires going to the starter switch or something? That's all i can think of...any ideas?

Since it was working before, I'd check the connections from the wires that originate from the control with the red kill toggle, I'd say probly just a missed or pulled connector during bar switch

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Might be the kill switch. Also, you may have shorted something and blown a fuse.

[mcycle-nut]

I had sort of the same problem with a 650 Yamaha I had. It was a Special, so it had those goofy-ass buckhorn bars which always hit my knees on it, so I switched to superbike bars. Unfortunately, they didn't conduct electricity too well, so I had to put a ground wire from the starter button onto a solid ground. Worked fine after that. The bike even did decent wheelies with those bars on it!

[Anonymous]

thanks!

So it turns out that it was the friggin' starter/clutch interlock...I thought the connections all looked dandy, but I bypassed it and the thing started right up! Thanks for all the help...today's high is supposed to be 65 in Lincoln, NE...I'm going for a ride!

[arveejay]

Hey, I'm in Lincoln Too. I was hoping for a ride today too. Get back to me if you want some company.

[Anonymous]

well shoot...wish I had seen that in time.

[arveejay]

I only put in about 30 miles, washed it and took it home.

[Anonymous]

ya, I went about 20 or so...but it was fun...pretty windy on Saturday..

[Anonymous]

I wood check the clutch and make sure the ignition switch is being pushed in. if you don't get it all the way down you know it will not work. I put on new grips and had to adjust the gap....