Please Help Asap!!!!

[joshgs425]

Just bought my first GS. A 79 GS425L. I LOVE THIS BIKE. I have been out riding it every chance I get. BUT the worst has happened. As I was riding it, all of a sudden, complete electrical failure, everything died. Headlights, dash lights, everything.

Checked the battery, its fine. Checked the fuse, its fine. so Now I turn to you guys. HOPEFULLY you can help me. I have no idea of where to even start! there is no juice. I turn on the key, and nothing. OH, and there is no spark at the plugs either. So i'm wondering if its the rectifier? or what. please help...PLEASE [-o<

[pfallone]

check power

do you have B+ at both sides of the main fuse?

[joshgs425]

i'm pretty new to this, so im not really sure of the lingo. I know very little about electrical systems, but I did take a few courses in college about curcuits and such. I do have a multimeter too. So when you saw B+ what are you refering to

[pfallone]

battery positive

with your multimeter, check DC voltage at both sides of your fuse. One side to the fuse, other to a known good ground. looking for whatever voltage is present at your battery. (pos to neg terminal) if it is lower or no voltage is present at either side, check all connections at your battery and at fuse panel. look for corrosion, loose connectors/battery bolt, etc.

[Nessism]

Trace the circuit with your multimeter. Good thing is that you have no power to anything so it should be fairly easy to find.

[GS850_Coug]

When you say you checked the fuse, did you actually do a continuity test with the fuse removed from the holder? If not, check it properly. Those fuses are notorious for "blowing" inside the caps on the end. A visual check will not catch this. Also, if the fuse was tested in place, a false continuity is a common occurrence.

[bradleymaynar]

I had a similar problem a couple years ago. Check your fuse panel for corrosion. Check both sides. It can look clean on the fuse side but be completely corroded on the back side.

What cured my problem was to replace the fuses. Apparently they were original (20+ years old) and they had degraded enough to affect the bike.

Brad bt

[bikechump]

use your wire diagram as a guide when using a test light and multimeter. start from the battery and work your way through the circuit. I had a similar problem occur and with help from people on this forum and a lot of patience was able to track down the source of the fault. You'll learn a lot about the wiring on these bikes and nothing compares to the feeling you get knowing you fixed it. you'll get it. There are some very experienced people on this site, who'll be able to guide you through your troubles.