Batterey/charging problem!

[mike7283]

Hi I'm new to the forums and a proud new owner of a 1982 GS1100E!

Anyways, I tried doing a quick sear for charging problems but since I don't know much about motorcycles, I thought i'd just post my issue. I just bought the bike on Friday and it ran like a champ all 190 miles home! Made a few stops along the way and it started back up just fine. Got it all the way home and rode it around some more on Saturday before stopping at a bbq. Started it up a few more times for friends to see then left itr for a few more hours. Went back to ride it home later at night and the battery was dead. Popped the cluth and got it goin again. Rode it for about 20 mins home, turned it off and triend to start it again and it was just dead. The gauges and headlight come on but there just isn't enough juice to get the thing goin.

The guy I bought it from said he put in a new sealed battery last year, but I'm not sure if he took it out or not over winter. It prolly isn't a bad alternator right since the bike contues to be able to be push started so what is it? Bad battery/stator/rectifier?

Thanks for reading guys

Mike

[duaneage]

Could be the regulator/rectifier, corroded connections on the battery and the wires leading into the regulator, or even the stator itself.

There are troubleshooting tips for the stator on the home page of the gsresources, go through and see if you have a bad stator or regulator.

If the regulator turns out to be bad, I offer a Honda regulator replacement kit that is very popular. Stators can be had from an outfit known as Rick's or from Electrosport. Z1, bike bandit and a few other retailers have them as well. The dealer is way too expensive for these parts. These retailers also offer aftermarket regulators as well if you want to go that route.


I would start with cleaning contacts and check the specific gravity of the battery. A weak cell can ruin a complete battery, sometimes people add tap water and it contaminates the plates.

[bonanzadave]

Cant add anything more to what Duane has just stated except do it. Clean all the connectors with a good electrical contact cleaner. Find the RR ground point and jumper that to the - terminal on your battery. Spend the 40 bucks on Duane's RR. Get familiar with removing the seat, fuel lines, tank, tank support, and the airbox. Thats how you get to the battery on these beasts !

Show us some pictures and Welcome to the GSR EZ Boyez club. Red or that sh!ty silver color ?

Mega Welcome. From Cliff. Hes on vacation

[spyug]

Welcome. You are not alone with electrical issues as they are the achilles heel of old Jap bikes. I'm going through it myself and had similar issues with my XS and before it my Virago.

As the guys state many of the problems can be narrowed down to 1) corroded connectors 2) bad grounds 3) fried wires 4) defective batteries. The stators can be bad and the R/Rs are weak compared to those that Duaneage refurbs (Hondas).

I'd start by getting that battery load tested. Most auto stores can do that for you. If the battery is crap you won't be able to test and sort any other issues so start there. You might also want to get a 1.5 amp trickle charger to keep your battery topped up when it sits. You'll need one to keep it in shape over the winter anyway.

Next, before you delve into stator or R/R testing you should clean up all connectors and grounds. As BonanzaD says you should also run a seperate ground lead from the ground wire of the R/R (black/white wire) directly to the negative terminal of the battery.

To check things further you will need a decent multimeter and a crcuit tester and I find it helps to plumb in a voltage meter so you can see that you're charging (or not) as you are working on her and when riding along. Most auto stores will have something cheap enough.

Once you've got a decent battery and cleaned up all the connectors you can find if still not charging start in on the Stator Papers and see what parts you may need to change out.

Good luck with it and keep us informed of what you find.

Cheers,
Spyug

[mikebgs1100e]

Hey guys, for some reason my old user name can't be logged in and after resetting my password 3 times it still wouldn't let me in, so I've made a new user name with a different email address.

So here's what I've done. Went out and bought a 1.5 amp charger for the battery and charged it over night. Put it back in the bike earlier this afternoon and the bike ran just fine but something weird happened. When idling low at a fresh start the engine would die and all the lights and gauges just went blank, like the battery just completely lost power. Then maybe a minute later the lights would come back on and then I'd be able to start it again. Revved it a couple times and it stayed started for about 10 mins.

A friend came by about an hour ago with his multimeter/voltmeter and we were starting to go through the R/R tests. Got through the 1st test and the voltage stayed at a constant 12v. So went on the try testing the connection to the RR output. Turned the bike off for a sec and tried to turn it back on but the battery had run out of juice = / so Ihave it back on the charger now. I took the battery to autozone but they said that their battery tester was more only for car batteries...

Here's the odd thing I found though...I unscrewed the cover to the fusebox and found a fried up melted green fuse in the main fuse location kinda plugged in diagonally...(Maybe this was lose and was causing the the power to blip on and off?) Not sure what amps a green fuse is but it was pretty melted and it proceed to melt a bit of the opening where you plug in the fuse. I grabbed my wrench and pulled out what was left of the fuse and it pulled out the connector inside too =/ so I took the connector and jammed it back in the fuse box =p touched the voltmeter to it and there is a current going to it so it should be connected alright but I guess I'll have to buy a new fusebox somewhere? (Any suggestions? someone said something about bikebandit.com) What would cause the fuse to get so fried? Is a green fuse a wrong one to be used in the main fuse location?

Thanks again guys.

P.S.: I have the "sh!tty silver colored one" but personally I like it over the red =)

Bike has 11,000 mi on it, bought it for 1500

[mikebgs1100e]

bump! I need the bike for the weekend!...hopefully =/

[bonanzadave]

Mike, mike, hello.... mike

You had three reply's to your first post and I believe we all said something like start by CLEANING THE CONNECTORS. No one said F the corroded connectors and just charge the battery ! Corroded connectors cause electrical resistance. Electrical resistance is friction. Friction causes heat which will melt your connectors, wires and fuses as you now know. I dont want to be a hard arse but the guys here at the GSR have learned the hard lessons on old bike maintenance. They dont BS.

Cleaning the electrical connectors is easy plus youll get a closer look at the rest of the components that make a solid well running Bike. Go to Radio Shack and buy a can of spray electrical contact cleaner. Take the headlight out and remove the seat and fuel tank. Pull apart each connector, one at a time, and give them a good blast of cleaner. Pull the fuses and clean that too. Once thats done your Stator and RR will have a much better path to keep your battery charged.

[jwhelan65]

I have this same bike and had the same problem, the wire leading to the regulator was loose, I tighten the nut at the connection and the problem was solved..

[duaneage]

I bathed the 3 connectors on my 650 under the seat with DeOxit spray and it left a coating that keeps corrosion away. That was three years ago and they are still clean.

Get a kit of male and female bullet terminals and a quality crimping tool. When you find an old corroded brass connector replace the male and female ends. Eventually you'll have all nice clean connections. I still have a few to replace on mine but eventually I'll get to all of them.

[mikebgs1100e]

From what I saw none of the connectors were dirty. I guess I'll go to the store and spray em down but right now the slot for the main fuse is melted, and that's the only thing I see wrong at the moment. When I looked at the manual it says that all the fuses should be 10A and the main 15A but on mine all of em are 15's and I'm guessing the green is a 20A?

[duaneage]

From what I saw none of the connectors were dirty. I guess I'll go to the store and spray em down but right now the slot for the main fuse is melted, and that's the only thing I see wrong at the moment. When I looked at the manual it says that all the fuses should be 10A and the main 15A but on mine all of em are 15's and I'm guessing the green is a 20A?

might have been "overfused" by a previous owner. Not good, that can melt stuff in a hurry. The bike really shouldn't draw more than 10 or 12 amps running normally with lights and a turn signal on. The regular circuits draw no more than 5 or 6 amps individually with the coils drawing the most through the ignition fuse.

If the fuse box is really melted you might want to ask in Parts Wanted on this forum for another fuse box, plenty of people here have parted bikes and someone is bound to have one. I would also inspect the ignition switch connector (inside the headlight bucket, usually a green square connector) and see if it is melted also. Potential safety issue if that shorts out since it has a ground lead along side the orange and red power wires.

Fuse the bike properly and see if the 15 pops. If is does the first culprit is the Regulator Rectifier (saw this in January on a bike I assembled) so disconnect the Regulator and try another 15 amp fuse. If it holds, the Regulator is shorted inside, or at least bad enough to pop the fuse. The main fuses the output of the regulator just before entering the wiring and going to the ignition switch.

After the ignition switch the other fuses are powered on and go to the lights, igniton (coils) headlight and other accessories. A blown or melted Main fuse is a serious matter and because of the high currents can cause a small fire () if overfused.

I can help with more troubleshooting, I've done quite a bit of work on bike electricals from several manufacturers. PM me and we can exchange phone numbers.