'85 GS450L gear position sensor

[Guest]

so, im browsing the clymer manual for gs 400-450 77-87 and it says there's supposed to be a gear position sensor inside the sprocket cover on the left side of the bike, but the gs450 wiring diagram from the same site doesn't say anything about such a sensor.

i just had that cover off the bike today to check the clutch pin and pin pusher thingy, and i saw nowhere to mount such a sensor.
searching for the item on amazon and e-bay shows that there is such a sensor for my model and year.

which is it? is there supposed to be a sensor, or not?

[Redman]

well, does a 450L have gear indication 1 2 3 4 5 ? (6?) on the instument panel?

Welcome to TheGSR.
Would be good for you to put year and model in your signature line (Goto User Control Panel), then that shows up in your every posting, and we all will know what year you have.

[Guest]

it does have a position indicator on the instrument cluster, so i guess the sensor is there somewhere.
is it maybe behind the sprocket?

[LAB3]

it does have a position indicator on the instrument cluster, so i guess the sensor is there somewhere.
is it maybe behind the sprocket?

To tell you the truth I never came across the actual sensor (switch) on my 450 and I went through it with a fine toothed comb. Pretty sure it pops out of the case somewhere on the left rear part of it, the only other wires that would need to be coming out of the cases would be the stator wires further forward.

[cowboyup3371]

If yours is like my 81 550T, the switch may be above the front sprocket as in these pictures:

Gear Selector Switch by Scott Baker, on Flickr

oil in gear selector switch by Scott Baker, on Flickr

Either way, look for the wiring coming from that section of the casing

[Guest]

thanks cowboyup, that picture helped. it was buried under a layer of greasy gunk i hadn't got to cleaning yet. pulled it and ran an ohm test on the terminals and wires. looks like i wont need to replace this particular sensor. now just gotta figure out why the dash indicators aren't lighting up. ran an ohm test on the bulbs and the board and that's all good too. must be something further in the wiring

[Rich82GS750TZ]

If you take the sensor off to clean it, be sure not to lose the pin and spring that go in the hole.

[Guest]

investigating further into the electrical system on this thing, i came across an odditiy

the oem parts diagram looks like this:
gs450harness.jpg
circled in red is where i THINK my turn signal relay goes. however, the relay currently on the bike has 2 pins, that fit on that L shaped connector.
however, it looks like theres a ground wire connector there too, and i can't figure out where that goes.it's just kinda hanging there. should i leave it as is, or connect it to the a frame ground?

[LAB3]

investigating further into the electrical system on this thing, i came across an odditiy

the oem parts diagram looks like this:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]63025[/ATTACH]
circled in red is where i THINK my turn signal relay goes. however, the relay currently on the bike has 2 pins, that fit on that L shaped connector.
however, it looks like theres a ground wire connector there too, and i can't figure out where that goes.it's just kinda hanging there. should i leave it as is, or connect it to the a frame ground?

If it's a black wire there's a good chance it goes to ground, any other color do some investigating!

[Guest]

its black with a white stripe.

the turn and brake lights have the same kind of wire for their ground. according to bikecliffs' gs450 wiring diagram.

so i should put a bullet connector on a piece of wire and ground it somewhere on the frame>?

[cowboyup3371]

That or look for a lonely connector nearby

[Guest]

there isn't one, which is why it flagged as odd.

[LAB3]

its black with a white stripe.

Right! That's a ground, seems to me I came across a black without the stripe somewhere on mine which was not a ground. I'm not sure that switch itself NEEDS a ground but if it's down there I'd more than likely see if there's a spot on the backside of that switch for it to mount to, look for a broken stub on a ring where the wire would go on a screw/bolt.

[LAB3]

P.S. I just looked at the wiring diagram and it DOES indeed show a ground for that switch and from the pictures earlier in the thread my memory was tripped and that is indeed the switch itself. My bet is the wires are coming out of the back of that housing which means you'll either need to tip the bike on it's side or raise it up high enough to get to them.