Battery Brands/Sizes

[verde]

Anyhow I have some wire spools and connectors coming, and have gathered up some wire strippers, snips and a nicer crimping tool.

Going full rewire job then? Some recent threads to reference, and some more if you search.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=187527

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=184355

The stator tests good, but I may put in a fresh one after my re-wiring job here and not take any chances with it.

If it passes all the tests laid out in the stator check pdf then don't waste your money.

The stator has been routed directly into the r/r unit currently, it is not going through the factory wiring. So at least that's OK.

I have the negative battery terminal grounded to the battery box, but the R/R unit's ground has been spliced onto a new eyelet connector on the battery terminal currently. Actually the negative battery box ground dead ends there. Should I remove it or keep it as is?

Just my preference, I like to run the positive lead straight from the R/R through a full size inline blade fuse to the positive ternminal of the battery, and the negative cable from the R/R to the same engine grounding bolt that the large battery grounding cable goes to.

I can say that none of these conditions are the case.
Currently I will start to over charge on idle, drain running a load on the engine, and discharge within 5 days having the bike off. Do you get more than 5 days of charge off your battery with the bike "sitting"? I sure don't right now. IE a fresh battery will drain unused in the bike at 60 deg F in under 5 days. You will not be able to start the bike up.

I do believe you have a more serious problem, but is there any chance some rubber or foam insulation is missing from the battery box? If it's just sitting on bare metal that can zap a battery too. Side note: If storing a battery out of the bike, set it on a block of wood rather than directly on the ground or a metal shelf.

Who knows when tearing out the factory harness, maybe I will find something
Tomorrow... The tear down begins on the old electrical system...

Good luck and keep us posted.

[mothra]

Well I did find some issues…

I do believe you have a more serious problem, but is there any chance some rubber or foam insulation is missing from the battery box? If it's just sitting on bare metal that can zap a battery too. Side note: If storing a battery out of the bike, set it on a block of wood rather than directly on the ground or a metal shelf.

I actually looked and there are no pads on the bottom of the battery box, so thanks! Nice tip to look for that. I think that was contributing to the problem of draining the battery, usually the battery sits on my workbench which is wooden when not in use connected to a tender. Otherwise it’s in the bike.

So I discovered that the rear brake light switch is partially worn, it works intermittently so I will fix that. Also missed its bullet connector which was corroded, OOPS

Here is my wiring diagram for hooking up the rear turn signals. I fabricated this since there was no rear turn signals installed, all I got was an assembly of one that was somewhat damaged and no wires hooking it up. I went ahead and measured grounds out and created this. Is there any better way to handle this? I also noticed that the chrome fender and the assembly holding the rear lamp all come into a common ground.





I bring that up because as you can see looking at my fabricated turn relay ground loop, the wire on the wire splice has gotten quite hot for the load and melted, shorting this to the frame ground. [Also I have to say that this was my first attempt at splicing automotive wiring using the “crimp” splice connectors, which I will be removing, and just soldering the wires together and then adding heat tubing per usual. ]





As you can see the main harness is in quite a state of disrepair. Here are some melted wires on the harness that I discovered, they could have been damaged with a heat gun as they are near a spliced wire, however there is visible copper around in that area. I will also have to double check that these connectors are run appropriately and there are no other problems with the components these connect to.

During the week I will unwrap the harness and inspect and test each wire individually and fix those issues with the main harness. I hope that there are not a lot of frayed or melted wires in there.

One last item was my wiring to the front turn signal. I have an aftermarket which has 2 grounds, one coming from the lamp and ties into the bulbs ground point, and then the chassis ground (which I added to get the relay to trigger), all connected into the main headlamp areas ground. At first the direct bulb ground didn't trigger the relay on that side (Stayed on, and didn't flash), so I tied in using an eyelet connector to the frame ground, and combined that. Should I have just gone directly to the frame ground and not the ground inside of the headlamp. (Pic of the right turn signal with lamp removed).


I also had some leaky gasket questions…
I have a leak in what appears to be the shaft that pulls out, that engages or disengages the clutch and it is linked to the lifter assembly and cable. When you squeeze it oil comes out from around the shaft and spews out all over, it runs down and burns off onto the pipe. That area was cleaned and found to be covered. It could also be the (neutral indicator switch?) May need replacement? What is that seal called, and where is it on the microfiche? Also do I have to split the case to get to it or can I replace it without too much frustration? Here is a pic I have taken from a blog that at least is similar enough that I can point to what I am talking about.


One last thing which I am dreading… This one looks like it needs a cylinder barrel gasket and o-ring set? It was recently cleaned, and engine runs OK, compressing is fine, but it weeps a bit around the cylinder barrel where it meets up with the transfer case. Here are some pics what do you think?



Oh and here is proof, that I do indeed have a decent multimeter.

[cowboyup3371]

Look under the clutch section of the parts fiche for part number 21 to find this:

OIL SEAL (6X34X10)
09285-06011

Also, there are pointers here in the archives that detail drilling a small hole to screw in wood screws into that seal. I had a hard time getting through the thin metal plate inside of it so I screwed up a kitchen knife and a couple of picks before finally getting it out. Put sealer on the new one before installing it (I have a tube of Hondabond)

[verde]

Well I did find some issues…

Ugh, you got your work cut out for you. 1st of all, if wires are getting hot enough to melt things there's something wrong, and if there are no fuses popping with these shorts that makes me think there is even more wrong.

You going to have to go over this wiring harness with a fine toothed comb and properly fix everything if you want a fully functional bike. If it were me I'd ditch any bells/whistles/blinkers/safety features and abandon the stock harness all together Probably better and more educational to revamp this harness though. Anyway, always frame ground the headlight(bad to let it try to ground through the head bearings). It's my preference to run the ground straight back to the frame, but I do believe the stock set-up has a ground within the bucket and a wire back to the main harness ground. If something goes wrong with the main ground in the stock set-up, it's back to it trying to ground through the head bearings. With just a frame ground it's either working or not(no gray area = good). There are one or two good candidate screws for a frame ground on the front end... horn mount maybe or one that holds a wire/cable guide. Make sure wires can't get pinched by the steering.

When you say "rear brake light switch" do you mean the one actuated by the pedal, or is it the switch on the brake lever on the handlebars that's giving you grief? Confusing because both light up the brake light on the rear of the bike, but only one is hooked up to the rear brake...

[mothra]

Look under the clutch section of the parts fiche for part number 21 to find this:

Ohhhhh, there they are! YEA! THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! I could not find the right one, I remember seeing them and then when I wanted to order them I could not find it.

I ordered some oil seals for the leaky clutch area, the neutral indicator switch, and the leak where the clutch push rod is. That will stop it from goosing oil while its running and burning it off by my foot.

I am gong to wait on the cylinder barrel, mainly because I have so many questions about it.... Like that will seriously be the first time I have seen a cylinder up close and personal, is there a tool or will I need to keep the cylinder rings together or can I just lift the barrel off with out worrying about the rings flying off. Also do I compress them before putting them back in, and how do re-fit the barrel back over the two limp cylinders. Also I should probably prepare to hone them and such? Remember I just barely figured out how to time the cams. Least its back together and still working, so I haven't broken anything yet.

When you say "rear brake light switch" do you mean the one actuated by the pedal, or is it the switch on the brake lever on the handlebars that's giving you grief? Confusing because both light up the brake light on the rear of the bike, but only one is hooked up to the rear brake...

Yes the foot pedal actuated break light switch was bad. It was just worn out and it had a dead spot on it past a point.

I took inventory of the connectors and wires. I have not dug into the original harness too much, but that will be this weekend. I unwrapped the top half of it to inspect it and the protected areas are looking better then the other exposed areas were. So far 6 wires are damaged. I will also test the components and see if there are any faulty, but I think that the r/r is the only thing fried on here that I have found so far, aside from the faulty break switch for the foot pedal.

Most of the problems stem from grounds in the main harness, I would expect that finding a lot of "floating" ground conditions (IE grounds with lots of resistance between ground point to ground point.) So that would create a lot of current and cause a lot of issues. Now that the grounds were exposed they shorted. The stator wires were also melted in the factory harness, which would explain the stator coil that was brunt to a crisp on one of the coils.

I don't mind going though the harness if I can keep my "accessories" iE turn signals and horn (They are helpful and any bit helps). I let you know at the end of the project if I still feel this way about it. So far though its not to bad, at least the electrical is relatively simple and pretty well organized.

[mothra]

Well I am waiting on seals and some electrical stuff.

While I was waiting I unwrapped the harness fully. Laid it out and went though the entire thing tracing it out. Talking notes about my findings and things to fix in my new harness. I am going to make a new one.



Parents weren't home so what a good use for the counter

While I was unwrapping, I got a little wet, yuck! What was that? Water had collected making a section brittle and cracked. Still it was better then the last time water had rotted wiring in something I owned.




Ill probably re-use some of the "odd" connectors from the original as they were harder to find. I labeled everything to trace it out, and it was helpful to remember where the connector came from after a week after it came off.



Then I went outside to check out the rest of the wiring. Found a bad rear brake pedal switch, and some bad wire in the tail section. Replaced some of those going to the rear brake light, and cleaned up the wiring in the rear. Created a harness for the rear blinkers too. Fixed the melted turn signal ground wire, and re-traced and tested the rear section. Oh look there is a chrome version of me in the fender!



The rear fender repair, here there was a break in the plastic wire wrap, so I replaced the worn wires and re-taped it. I should have gotten some more wire heat tube.



Went through the rest of the wiring, tested the ignition and the front wires up in the instrument cluster, and the headlamp area. Found all of the switches and what not. I added some heat shrink and some new connectors here and there, as well as replaced any wires that were needing replacement. Only found one that was damaged up there.


Next I fixed my hack job at the right turn signal wiring and got rid of my "solderless splice" connector with the plastic housing. Those were junk.


I think I went too cheep on the heat gun. LOL I ran it on high and smoke billowed out of it, I let it rest, and continued using it on low. It varied on fan speed but kept going. Never tried high again, but its probably going back at some point. $17 is a little too cheep for a heat gun I guess. You get what you pay for.

Well I guess that's it for this week. I ordered up a Superbike handlebar with some electrical stuff from Z1 for next week. I guess next weekend will be making a harness. WHOOT!

Anyhow thanks everyone for your help and answering my dum @$$ noob questions!

[mothra]

Hi!

Hey most of my parts came in this weekend, and it was another dog sitting trip at the parents house (who happen to have my bike in their garage. lucky me!), and they don't mind me working on things (used to "projects" like this LOL)


Started to go through and build up a new harness for the bike.


After about 5 hours digging though the old one with the schematic I got this far on the new one.


There were lots of wire splices wrapped in some old blue stuff. Then they "clamped them" in there with a little brass thingy. I was trying to avoid solder-less splices since they didn't work well in the rear and had created a few issues, in the end I just ended up soldering the wires together and heat shrinking them together.

Left the R/R ground wire to run to the terminal directly on the other side of the harness.


The stator wires were left alone for the time being, we will see how hot the connectors get when wires are not fused and shorting. Well its compatible with the stator connectors currently anyway, but I may put some blades on there I have plenty... I re-ran the stator wires directly to the R/R unit instead of having one go through the harness.


The R/R now has blade connectors on it instead of bulled connectors or melted plastic connectors on it. I ordered a few new connectors for the new harness, could not find two new ones, one "L" shaped that plugs into the turn signal relay unit, and the Ignitor big connector block. Those two I can recycle from the old harness though and fit new blade connectors in there. Don't mind the labels, they were to help me remember what connectors those were while I worked, actually pretty helpful to "undo" some interesting work...



All of the connectors have been soldered, non terminal connectors also got shrink tubing on them, so there should be no crimp issues, Hopefully the heat shrink tube along with fresh rubber insulation will protect them from the elements a little better.



Finally after a weekend of catching up on sleep and wiring, I have about 90% of the new harness done. Still have to double check my work on here and inspect the rest of the bike for any more potential electrical problems.


I also got a new R/R unit, but I ordered one that was well big. It was a used Compufire 5502 (or something) I am not sure if it will work or not, or where I'd mount it. Maybe I will try again for something smaller. Oh well it was an e-bay special.

On my list is also the leaky clutch area seals, I have all three to put in clutch, neutral switch o-ring, the chain and sprocket oil seals if they need it, and some new fork seals as those are starting to weap again. They did swell up some but didn't stay good for long, probably original, fork oil oozing out was kind of milky. I also got some fresh fork oil, and I Probably should get those o-ring oil seals for the forks as well. Need something to measure the fork oil amount. Got a jack for the bike for free, but it was a but to tall. However you can just hoist the bike on it and it serves its purpose, to keep the front wheel off of the ground LOL.

[cowboyup3371]

Fantastic looking job, or at least 1,000,000 times better than I can ever do. Congratulations.

Did you do up a new wiring diagram for the next person to follow so they don't scratch their heads on the wiring colors?

[mothra]

Well I hooked it all up this weekend. I double checked everything two or three times, and connected it up.... No dice. I give up. This is now a parts bike. Officially. Anyone want it?

[koolaid_kid]

Yes. Please move to an adjacent state and I will trailer it home. Please.

[mothra]

LOL Well my parents are moving but I am stuck here for a bit

Have to finish getting my degree here. I have move and transferred to many times already! I have very few classes left to graduate, so I am stuck down here until that happens!

I am serious though, I just don't have any more time to try to figure this bike out. Also the garage space is going away very quickly and I have not found a spot that I can work on it. I have a full time job, and am a full time student at night and weekends. I just don't have any time crammed in to continue working on it. That and I am at my ropes end with the B#*$#*(U#$ blowing up every time you turn around.

http://denver.craigslist.org/mcy/2884430384.html

Devil bike needs to go.

[Nessism]

Sorry you can't see this one though. Enjoyed watching you tackle the harness rebuild project. Hope you come back once you have more time and money.

[mothra]

Oh yea, for sure. I will be keeping my eye out for a GS in a little better condition next time. It served its purpose though, I got a license with that bike, learned to ride it around, and learned to work on them somewhat. More importantly I learned that I need a garage Thought I could get by with out one. But no.... When I get out of school I will get another GS. There is just no way that I will finish this in time, and projects are not allowed at my complex. They will just tow it. Some one had a 80's Seca that they were piecing together. Guy went on vacation for a week, and they paved the parking lot, the workers came and even moved the bike off to the side and placed it back when they were done, trying to keep it out of the way. Anyhow the managers put a note on it and towed it while he was out. AFTER the work had been done, wasn't even a reason to have it towed. He came back and was furious! Then he moved shortly there after. Not sure if he got it back or not. But that's how that place goes down there. Probably go for a 550E or similar. Oh and now I have most of the tools to work on it. So there's another plus. Oh well I am addicted to motorcycles. I think I will get one that will get me to and from work and school reliably and snap up a project bike when things settle down here and I find a garage.

[verde]

That's rough man. You were taking a solid approach there too. You sure I can't convince you to get motivated enough to do a bare bones chop harness from the ground up? It wouldn't much time after all this recent experience you've gained.

[mothra]

Yea, right now I am completely fed up. I am going to have to go back through the entire electrical. Everything from the Ignitor to the instrument cluster. I think there may be a problem with the ignition section. Same area that had melted wiring poped with the new harness coming from the ignitor unit. I was pretty careful when I checked it. There may be a problem with the main harness that I made but I would be surprised. I started to add components one at a time, got the lights on OK, then moved to the instrument cluster which was OK off, then the ignaitor area and POP. Took a look and double check the components against the schematic.

Its been a while since I blew up an electrical project though.. LOL nothing like hours of work going poof. Ahh yes, the joys of electrical work.

I'm just about over it. In the hella angry kind of way. Out of cash time and energy for this bike.