No Spark

[Chris P]

New to bike owning and fixing
GS650E
Bike was riding fine for a couple of months, she stalled out one day after a ride around the block, and hasn't started since. She sat for three weeks, put her on a battery charger, tried to start, got a small rumble, then nothing. Just discovered I have no spark to all 4 plugs.
Any thoughts? or past experience would help

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. Chris P,

Start here: New Members, CLICK HERE!!

You have a 30 year old bike that probably needs 20 years worth of maintenance. In the "mega-welcome" you will find a couple of maintenance lists. You must properly address each item on those lists in order to have a safe and reliable motorcycle.

See the electrical section of my little website for ignition troubleshooting tips. Have you done the simple stuff like check all the fuses? What is the battery voltage at rest? What is the battery voltage when you push the start button? What is the voltage at the coils?

Start with these:
Testing The Ignition System
Igniter/Signal Generator/Coil Test
Igniter Repair/Testing (2MB PDF)

Welcome to the forum. Keep us informed.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[tom203]

Since it ran for a few months and suddenly quit, I'd suspect an electrical problem. As Basscliff said, this bike is likely long overdue for maintenance , so head his way to get this bike going again. If this heat keeps up, we'll be riding till new year in Northeast.

[Redman]

New to bike owning and fixing
GS650E
Bike was riding fine for a couple of months, she stalled out one day after a ride around the block, and hasn't started since. She sat for three weeks, put her on a battery charger, tried to start, got a small rumble, then nothing. Just discovered I have no spark to all 4 plugs.
Any thoughts? or past experience would help

Assuming it was running on all 4 plugs sparking, and now you have none, I would suspect some one thing that would effect all four. And that would be the ignition pickup (the electric thing in place of the breaker points on end of crank shaft). FInd a manaul, it will show a test to check it with a meter, and maybe a way to simulate it and see if rest of system works. Will need a multi-meter.
Other one thing is the entire ignitor (expensive) or power to it, or its ground.

Tell us more what you find.

>>
Other thought.
Maybe battery is weak, and so low that when running the starter the voltage is so low that cant operate the ignition.
Check fluid level in battery (if is kind that you can).
Leave battery on charger long time.
Try again.
.

[Guest]

Check the fuse first and then the ignitor.

[Chris P]

Thanks for all the help. I'm embarrassed to say this but it turned out to be a fuel issue not a spark/electric issue. After consulting with a couple of people about spark plugs I was informed that you cant always see the spark. So after spraying some ether into the air intake she started briefly (confirming that I had spark). So I removed the fuel line before the filter and tried to start with the fuelcock in the fuel position, It spit out fuel. It also poured fuel out in the reserve position, but did nothing in the prime position. After about 1/2 hour of trying to get her turn over, she finally did. I really had to spend some time playing with the clutch and throttle.
Thank you all again for your input, unfortunately Im new at all this and its going to take me some getting familiar with the inner workings of this bike. But when she got going it made it all worth it.

[Redman]

Good to hear the progress.
There now you know some more about it.

......
...........So I removed the fuel line before the filter and tried to start with the fuelcock in the fuel position, It spit out fuel. It also poured fuel out in the reserve position, but did nothing in the prime position. ......

Stock filter is in the tank as part of the petcock assembly. So not certain that is what you are refereing to. Maybe a fuel filter has been added by someone.

......
...........So I removed the fuel line before the filter and tried to start with the fuelcock in the fuel position, It spit out fuel. It also poured fuel out in the reserve position, but did nothing in the prime position. ......

PRIme position is what should let fuel flow even if engine not running. The ON and the REServe position should let fuel flow when engine is running and making vacuum, and shut off when engine not running. The position is determined by which way the little arrow on the lever is pointed. (if it is the type that has a lever. Some model petocks dont have a lever.)






.

[Redman]

650E 1982





You said 650E in original posting.
Put the Model AND year in Signature Line (goto UserCP) then that shows up in every posting, and we know more specifiaclly what bike you have.