Damn newby, smoking wires, no turnover, Help please?

[JaNewb]

So I've just started work on my bike. Done a few things bought a few tools. I'm slowly working my way through the bike and ran into something.
I was running a stator test, couldn't get a reading with my meter so I turned it off to figure out my meter a bit more and take off the air filter so I could directly touch to the ground screw. No better reading then a direct touch to the ground right. Well when I tried to start the bike again my engine didn't turn at all, and there is a clicking sound. There is a white striped black wire coming off one of the starter relay screws that vibrates when I try to start the bike as well as grows hot and smokes. The wire is hot and feels like jelly when I feel it. I have no idea where it goes. My ground wire also looks like its taking some heat and there is a tiny hole in the insulating plastic where I can see bare wire. Any ideas?

Alright a little bit later bike started up again fine, I also forgot to add I took out the fuses for the head and signal while running the test. But it would still be interesting for me to know what happened.

[gs850cafe]

this site should help..i always check it when i have questions...98% of the time it helps

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

[koolaid_kid]

That sounds like a direct short. Please don't try to start it again without looking for that short. When a wire gets that hot, the next stage is ignition. As in flames. You have a direct short and need to track it down.
Sounds like when you removed the air filter you jostled something and now it touches the frame.

[JaNewb]

Is it possible for the bike to start and then during a bump of something the wire once again touches the frame and then turns to fire?

[gs850cafe]

Is it possible for the bike to start and then during a bump of something the wire once again touches the frame and then turns to fire?

yes it is...ive had it happen...had some LED's under my bike...hit a bump my bike wanted to die so i pulled when it acted stupid...turned the key on an poof i thought i was on fire..seeing what it was i ripped the + for the lights off..

dont risk it...is it worth 10-20 minutes to find a bad section of wire...or a costly maybe fatal mistake

[JaNewb]

Ouch, I hope not much got burnt on your bike bro. Thanks for the warning and advice you two. I'm pretty sure I found it, two small sections of wire were completely exposed. Put a good couple wraps of electrical tape on it. Should that be enough?
I will eventually get some new wires and replace most of this wiring, its kinda old and I don't trust it until I've either cleaned or replaced it myself.

[gs850cafe]

tape should be ok ..just make sure its not rubbing as well...or it will happen again

as for my bike i almost had a major accident...one wire went under my petcock..which used to leak...an the wire was red hot under it..

so if it wasnt for that small annoying drip being fixed...id say my bike might have went up

[850GT_Rider]

So I've just started work on my bike. Done a few things bought a few tools. I'm slowly working my way through the bike and ran into something.
I was running a stator test, couldn't get a reading with my meter so I turned it off to figure out my meter a bit more and take off the air filter so I could directly touch to the ground screw. No better reading then a direct touch to the ground right. Well when I tried to start the bike again my engine didn't turn at all, and there is a clicking sound. There is a white striped black wire coming off one of the starter relay screws that vibrates when I try to start the bike as well as grows hot and smokes. The wire is hot and feels like jelly when I feel it. I have no idea where it goes. My ground wire also looks like its taking some heat and there is a tiny hole in the insulating plastic where I can see bare wire. Any ideas?

Alright a little bit later bike started up again fine, I also forgot to add I took out the fuses for the head and signal while running the test. But it would still be interesting for me to know what happened.

That would be a ground wire. It sounds like you've lost, disconnected or broke the heavy ground wire going from the battery (-) negative terminal down to the engine, and the small wire is taking all the current from the starter motor.

As kool-aid kid said - DO NOT TRY TO START IT AGAIN until you've fixed this.

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. JaNewb,

Clean every connector and ground on the entire wiring harness from the headlight bucket to the tail light, the fuse box, the blinker stalks, solenoid, everything. Corrosion adds resistance which causes heat. There are a couple of maintenance lists in your "mega-welcome". If you skip any steps or take any shortcuts you will cause yourself much frustration and catastrophic failures. If you are a novice, prepare to spend a lot of time reading, learning, and fixing your bike properly before you can ride with any regularity.

Now let me dump a TON of information on you and share some GS lovin'.

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Cleanup Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. This is what NOT to do: Top 10 Newbie Mistakes. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...



Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff