Uncle Mike's BIKE Dead on Chicago Expressway - Coil question

[salty_monk]

Just a semi educated guess but I bet all those things are on the same multiplug under the tank by the coils... Probably one that comes off the ignition switch.

That might be too easy though!

O.K., we checked the wire the sense wire was connected to, it was dead. We then connected the sense wire straight to the battery (Mike, unplug the sense wire tonight so you don't run the battery down) and it charges correctly. Therefore, the R/R is fine.
His headlight works, but neither the tail light nor the brake light works. Bulbs look good. The instrument lights do not work, nor does the electronic tach.
All the connections inside the headlight shell look fine.
Conclusion:
There is some connector or wire down the line that feeds the brake/taillight and instrument lights that has failed or is not receiving 12V. Someone is going to have to debug the wiring harness.
Mike has in his possession the Factory Suzuki Service manual and a fresh multimeter, which is pretty much all that will be needed to troubleshoot. Someone who thoroughly understands wiring diagrams needs to give him a hand.

The very fact that I was able to accomplish everything we just did is testament to what a good teacher you are. I can't thank you enough.

Any electrical geniuses in the house?

O.K., we checked the wire the sense wire was connected to, it was dead. We then connected the sense wire straight to the battery (Mike, unplug the sense wire tonight so you don't run the battery down) and it charges correctly. Therefore, the R/R is fine.
His headlight works, but neither the tail light nor the brake light works. Bulbs look good. The instrument lights do not work, nor does the electronic tach.
All the connections inside the headlight shell look fine.
Conclusion:
There is some connector or wire down the line that feeds the brake/taillight and instrument lights that has failed or is not receiving 12V. Someone is going to have to debug the wiring harness.
Mike has in his possession the Factory Suzuki Service manual and a fresh multimeter, which is pretty much all that will be needed to troubleshoot. Someone who thoroughly understands wiring diagrams needs to give him a hand.

I will report Mike's status in the next post.

Mike,

While I'm not the expert that George is on this stuff, I AM available most of tomorrow, so if you seem to be getting nowhere by this evening give me a call and I'll bring out the box trailer to retrieve the bike and bring it out to my place. I have a softball game at 7-8pm tonight, but could make a "late night run" if you need it. My garage isn't as spacious as Joe's, but at least it'd be a dry place to work on the bike if we get any rain. You can, of course stay over tonight if need be.

I'll PM you my phone number if you need it...

Regards,
Steve

PS... I'm in the process of Evapo-rusting my receiver hitch so I can plug in the ball mount if we need it, hehe! Haven't used it in about a year, so wasn't surprised when it wouldn't go in to the rusty receiver.

Good, George knows his stuff...

Did you recheck the fuses? Maybe one finally blew and eliminated the short. Probably not, but it doesn't take long to check.

I'm up in my buddy's apartment charging my phone in preparation for a long conversation with George. Thankfully he used to be a teacher.

Once I've got that all set, it's time to dive back in.

[Baatfam]

I went through everything and found nothing rubbing, nothing exposed, nothing melted, nothing loose ...

George (koolaid_kid) is going to walk me through some testing once my phone is done charging. I'm going to need a babysitter on this one.

Good, George knows his stuff...

Did you recheck the fuses? Maybe one finally blew and eliminated the short. Probably not, but it doesn't take long to check.

16v sounds like a Regulator fault although perhaps on the Honda RR's it's to do with the sense wire not seeing 12v plus?

I am not familiar with those RR's so someone else could confirm...

16v could blow all the bulbs in the cluster & I guess the tach as well although I believe the tach picks up it's signal from the coils so that being dead is much more likely to be the screwing around you did with the coils yesterday I would think...

Is there a fuse for the cluster by itself? If so replace with a new one.

Well, it was all working just fine this morning, so I don't think it'd be from messing with the coils yesterday.

[salty_monk]

16v sounds like a Regulator fault although perhaps on the Honda RR's it's to do with the sense wire not seeing 12v plus?

I am not familiar with those RR's so someone else could confirm...

16v could blow all the bulbs in the cluster & I guess the tach as well although I believe the tach picks up it's signal from the coils so that being dead is much more likely to be the screwing around you did with the coils yesterday I would think...

Is there a fuse for the cluster by itself? If so replace with a new one.

Sounds like whatever was shorted out, is now burned out...
George is correct, you need to work through the harness...and inside the headlight...

GBW...Joe and I were saying the same thing about not getting any pictures at the side of the road...
Oh well...

I went through everything and found nothing rubbing, nothing exposed, nothing melted, nothing loose ...

George (koolaid_kid) is going to walk me through some testing once my phone is done charging. I'm going to need a babysitter on this one.

[Baatfam]

Sounds like whatever was shorted out, is now burned out...
George is correct, you need to work through the harness...and inside the headlight...

GBW...Joe and I were saying the same thing about not getting any pictures at the side of the road...
Oh well...

[gbw]

Mike - was great meeting you yesterday. Nothing like hanging out on the narrow shoulder of I-90 with Metra train roaring by to get to know someone. Can't believe we didn't get any pictures of that.

For those in the area, Mike broke down on the west bound side of I-90, just west of the Foster on-ramp on the inside (left) lane. He got very lucky. A mile or two back east and there is NO shoulder on that side.

Sorry you are still having trouble. I'll PM you my info in case you need the truck or I can be of other assistance.

I'd offer you a Battery Tender but there are places in Chicago to buy them and it would be cheaper to buy one new than the gas it would cost me to drive down there

Sounds like the troubleshooting is progressing. But if you're just sick and tired of that bike give me a call. It would look great in my garage and I'll come pick it up right now

Here are a couple of pics of the tire change. I've never seen a bead so hard to break. Guess those Sport Demons really are sticky . It took three GSers and lots of sweat to get the job done.

O.K., time to troubleshoot the harness et.al.

Did you check that connector in the headlight shell?

Wait! I was wrong. My gear indicator is dead, my tach no longer works, but the headlight is working and it starts. When I rev, highest charge I'm getting is 16v.

Charging system went and took out my cluster with it??

Swapped batteries with a fresh one - still nothing when I turn the key.