No power?!

[Guest]

Howdy fellers. I decided the other day to pull my 82 gs1100ez out of the shed and do some maintenence; chain, sprockets, battery, and regulator. The battery was dead, jumped and started after a few cranks and drove it up to the house. Replaced the battery, and regulator (cheap ebay) now I have no power to anything...lights, ignition, handle controls...nothing.

- I did find 2 melted connectors and replaced accordingly (regulator plug, and kill switch plug in the headlight housing)
- I tested the new chineseum regulator and it is within the specs the manual gives
- Cleaned contacts in the ignition switch and kill/starter switch
- All fuses have full power
- Cleaned and double-triple checked all grounds
- I can jump terminals with my power probe and power individual items (starter, lights, etc) but when plugged in the the harness, no signs of life

Would a fried stator be the issue here? The only thing I could think of is it gave up the ghost on the short zip through the yard with a low battery...I am at a loss otherwise. There is a difference in resistance when tested, but no shorts to ground.

Any help is appreciated

[tom203]

How were bike things before this fun started?
I’d probably disconnect r/r and stator from harness, then charge battery up and test power at critical points . This diagram should offer clues.

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/GS1100G_1982_wiring.jpg

[Gorminrider]

So you can power stuff with jumpers but the key does nothing? You can disconnect the R/R's Red (output) and the rest of it too, to take it out of the suspect list*. Then, at the fuse box, put a jumper between red and orange. If it works, suspect the key switch and the length red and orange wires that go to it. If no go, put a jumper between battery+ and orange at fusebox....

* ebay regulator replacements are suspects- don't toss it yet -might be fine-but give it separate treatment...

[Guest]

Thanks for the diagram tom203, the colored wires help alot. The regulator has been unplugged, the reason for replacement I forgot to mention was dimming headlamp occasionally at night. I will try jumpering the orange and red wires and report back...

[rphillips]

Dood, a beautiful champagne colored "82" 1100 "E", sitting in a shed??? That just ain't right, it should be against the law. Get that thing sorted out & back on the road so you & others can enjoy it.... The more pictures the better... Oh yeah, Welcome & good luck.

[Rob S.]

Dood, a beautiful champagne colored "82" 1100 "E", sitting in a shed??? That just ain't right, it should be against the law.

No climate control? I'll call the Humane Society!

[Eli69]

If it's been sitting I'd check the key switch. Spray some pb Blaster into it.

[Guest]

I had the time today to jump the red and orange wires at the fuse box and the key switch, no luck either way. I am in the process of removing the harness from the bike and will pick through it in the coming days...I will have to check continuity and test individual components along the way as well. I must have a break or short between the fuse box and key somewhere. To have it happen so suddenly is what has me stumped ♂️

[Grimly]

I had the time today to jump the red and orange wires at the fuse box and the key switch, no luck either way. I am in the process of removing the harness from the bike and will pick through it in the coming days...I will have to check continuity and test individual components along the way as well. I must have a break or short between the fuse box and key somewhere. To have it happen so suddenly is what has me stumped ♂️

Many GSs develop a partial short or even a break in the harness wiring where it curves around the headstock. It gets flexed a lot over the years.

[Guest]

Found a handful of burnt wires, some have bits of tape wrapped around them...someone has been here before. Will spend time this weekend sorting, cutting, and splicing. Also...I want to know WHO and WHY thought it would be good idea to have a leg of the stator go all the way to the headlight, loop in a plug, and come all the way back down in a different color wire

[tom203]

As to The Who and Why stuff….older models had headlight on/off switch, and designers knew that if you ran with lights ”off “ ,stator output was excessive , so disconnecting one leg of stator was their solution. When our friendly gov decided to mandate headlight “on” at all times , on/off switch feature was not needed. They kept the existing harness and just looped the stator leg back…..save money!

[Guest]

I was able to pull the entire harness of the bike, unwrap it, and replace some melted/corroded wires and connectors. Installed harness back on bike, power to all the right places now, except the starter switch

My eyes hurt from tracing wiring diagrams and power probing for so long. Taking a break before I roll it down to the range for target practice

Not to mention I should have taken some pictures of a few connections, as my diagram from the fsm only matches up about 98%...so close but so far

[93Bandit]

I was able to pull the entire harness of the bike, unwrap it, and replace some melted/corroded wires and connectors. Installed harness back on bike, power to all the right places now, except the starter switch

My eyes hurt from tracing wiring diagrams and power probing for so long. Taking a break before I roll it down to the range for target practice

Not to mention I should have taken some pictures of a few connections, as my diagram from the fsm only matches up about 98%...so close but so far

Sounds like you're making progress. Progress is good! Don't give up!

[salty_monk]

Sounds like you're winning to me... in the home stretch

The Shindengon SH775 Series regulator is the best upgrade you can do on your electrics... I'd bin that Ebay one. It'll be shunt so hard on the stator & it will probably fail to overvoltage and you'll be back where you started with the loom melted.

[Guest]

There has been progress...work schedule has me beat so time for finishing it has been sparse. The only hang up now is there seems to be an issue with the "signal" circuit. My jumper box says there is positive voltage to the ground terminal when hooked up hopefully just a wrong connection somewhere