ELECTRICAL PROBLEM getting me down.

[bikechump]

bike: 82gs 400

scenario: replaced o-rings in intake boots, reassembled, fired right up, allowed her to warm up, died after a minute or two, attempted to restart, no lights..

The fuse holder was my first concern as sometimes you would have to press the fuse in hard for it to make a proper connection. So off i went and replaced the holder and WOW it worked, great. I then decided to solder the connection, note i was using the hot iron kind and found the insulating plastic around the wire to somewhat melt. I then turned the key and nothing:shock:
(fuse was still intact)

telling myself it was something simple and not knowing much about electronics i figured i had put too much heat into the fuse holder, so off i went to buy another one. and guess what? nothing, zero.:x

I probably wouldn't be as upset if i hadn't just payed for registration, bought all my gear, and had a deadline for the bike. I have roughly two weeks until I move to Vancouver from Victoria and the whole plan was to use her as my mode of transport to and from school.

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated [-o<

vince.

[Eli69]

sounds like it's not charging, that could be a few different things. first thing i'd do is take all the electrical connectors apart and clean them. most are under the seat and behind the headlight. i spray some pb blaster on them, it's good stuff. check all grounding connectors. if that don't help you're gonna have to start checking voltage at the battery when off and when running to see if it's charging. hope this helps.

[Guest]

Sometimes old fuses look good but aren't. Make sure the battery is fully charged and DO check out all the connections. Follow the negative off the battery and check the ground on that one. Make sure your battery terminals are clean and the wires are good.
Also check out your kill switch. They sometimes need cleaned with some contact cleaner.

[nabrams]

I'm assuming you get no power to anything at all.
Just for a sanity check do the following: Bypass the fuse holder altogether and see if your nuetral light comes on.
If yes, then purchase one of those in-line fuse holders and a brand-new fuse from any automotive supply store and use it instead of your fuse holder.
If no power even after bypassing then you've got to go through the arduous task of verifying every circuit in the ignition system (using a multimeter). This has been discussed exstensively in other posts.
In order to eliminate possible shorting issues, disconnect all circuits (charging system, lights, etc.) except for the ignition components - once again, this is discussed in detail in other posts.
It is most likely something simple.

[Hap Call]

1. Disconnet ground wire off of battery. Check voltage of battery. If in the ball park of 12 Volts, then clean connections on battery (both positive and negative). Reconnect battery and try to start.

2. If it still does not give you lights, check all fuses. If the fuses have been there for several years go ahead and replace them. Try to start bike.

3. If it still does not give you lights, follow the ground wire from the battery to where it bolts to the frame or engine. Clean the connection at the frame or engine and reconnect ground. Try to start bike.

4. If it still does not give you lights, lift tank off of bike and check all connectors to insure they are connected. It would not hurt to disconnect them, then immediately re-connect them if they are clean. If they are dirty, clean them with a electrical contact cleaner then re-connect. Try to start bike.

If none of this works, post again and we will go from there. We will look at the battery and other components.

Hap

[argonsagas]

I would have offered what Hap has already said quite well.

If you had success after replacing the fuse holder the first time, and nothing afterwards, it seems to me that the first place to look for problems is between the battery (BOTH negative and positive) and the rest of the bike.