GS450 Cafe / Fighter Style

[Guest]

I had to shuffle things around a little with the electrics tray as the indicator relay was interfering with the seat pan where I had it initially.

How is your electrics tray laid out under the seat?

That's the other bonus of the Dynatek, no ignitor module to locate... it's wholly contained behind the timing cover and goes straight to the coils.

I reckon what you need to do with the tank if you're going to leave it mounted like that is to fibreglass on some lower edges so the bottom lines up with the edge of the seat. That would also disguise the seam around the bottom of the tank, allowing it to blend in even better with the shape of the seat pan.

Oh, as for the Dynatek price, I think it'll be well over $400 for the DS3-3C kit... but there have been some kits go cheap on eBay in the US for around the $100 mark...

Hopefully the 500 coils work for you though.

[Collo]

So been spending some time on the bike, getting a fair bit done. Have hit an enormous wall!

Bike won't start, has power, has lights, has neutral light, brake light...everything but an attempt to kick over.

Also, the right coil gets super hot but not the left, swapped them, swapped cables and same thing, its the right side wiring which is weird as both read the same voltage.

Anyway, have stripped all the wiring off again and will start fresh, can't believe the original wiring on this thing it's crazy!

Pete, the Dynatek is sounding better as it's one less thing to connect to.

As for the rest of the bike, the oil is back in, gaskets done and rearsets somewhat.completed.

[Collo]

One other thing, which may be more appropriate in the electrical folder is:
Does the Reg/Rec need to be grounded by it's frame or just the black ground cable from it? Cheers

[Guest]

Bugger on the non starting!

Does the starter spin the motor and then just not fire up? Or does the starter not even spin the motor?

Could be a simple starter solenoid issue... either not grounded properly or buggered. Also make sure that big fat ground cable from one of the crankcase bolts has a good connection back to battery negative.

When you turn the ignition on on these, one of the coils will typically turn "on" and start charging, so if you leave the ignition on for a while, one will heat up.

Unless you've turned the motor over it will always be the same coil being turned "on" so will explain why it's always your right one.

That's not to say there isn't an issue, but if that's all that's happening, then it isn't an issue...

As for the R/R, you should be able to ground it just by the ground wire.

[Collo]

Thanks Pete you're always a big help and I think your right about the coil it seemed too weird to be wrong if that sounds right lol.

My grounding is a bolt through the frame under the seat, same as last time but I feel it may not have been enough, and no, the starter motor wouldn't even turn over. Used jump starter and same deal.

I'll try again soon, but re-wiring the harness seems like a good idea too. Lost the spring that goes in the neutral indicator, sprung out and never to be seen again. Have improvised with a pen spring but it's not quite right.

[Guest]

Cool, I think I know what you mean

You need a good chunky ground wire from the engine to battery negative as that's how the starter motor is grounded. It gets 12v from the solenoid.

If it's just the solenoid, then you should be able to short the two solenoid terminals together to kick the starter motor over. If that works, then your solenoid is toast.

If it doesn't, then either a ground issue, starter motor issue, or the unlikely scenario is that you have a starter clutch issue or seized motor. My money's on a ground going by your comment

[Collo]

Wow I hope it's not a seized motor :S

I'll try with the starter motor, can I spark it with 12v straight from the battery?
Wish it was kick start and I would do away with even more wires. I hate wires!

[Guest]

Actually I should've said you can rule out the seized engine real easy... take off the timing cover and spin it clockwise with a 19mm socket. Do that with the spark plugs out too.

Shorting the starters solenoid terminals is basically the same as 12v directly to the starter, so yep that should work.

A kicker would be very nice on these but don't even think about it, it's been discussed before and it would be an extremely large amount of work to fit the 400/425 kick start mechanism. You'd be better off sourcing a 400 or 425 engine...

[Collo]

I shorted the starter and it worked, so thankfully it's not mechanical but electrical. Although, that's of little comfort.

Is there any order for the 3 phase yellow cables to connect to the regulator or can they be connected in any configuration? My markings are now unreadable.

It feels good starting the wiring from scratch as I can now eliminate all those messy and useless wires. Someone before me had cut the gear selection wires and just left the neutral one which is fine. But now that's broken off too, is that needed to start the bike or can it start in gear theoretically?

[Guest]

Good stuff, probably a dodgy solenoid so that should be easy fixed.

There's no order to the stator wires, they can go any way.

The bike will start fine no neutral light, that's just for the idiot lights. However, you'll need to get that working to get a roadworthy certificate...

[Collo]

Cheers Pete, many thanks.

I'll try and reconnect the neutral light but glad it's not essential for starting.
I want to do away with speedo drive, is there a way to fit an electric version, maybe a push bike one (laughs), but something similar?

[Guest]

You mean like this (you don't need to make a dash like I did)?



You get electronic tacho as well so you can blank off the tacho drive:



I made a bracket based on the Acewell one you can buy, replaced one of the disc bolts with a magnetic one, lined them up according to the instructions and Bob's your aunty:



I got mine here:

http://www.s3performance.com.au/speedometers-c-1_25.html?osCsid=1uapsu24rj53gbemr1q0mk4gs5

I'm using the base model which is $179, and the only extra you will need is a suitable disc bolt with the magnet unless you do that some other way.

[Collo]

I bought the tacho drive plug and that looks better having removed one ugly cable. Thanks for showing the speedo drive, that's exactly what I was after.

I'll look into it.

[Collo]

Hi All,
Have some very exciting news...for me anyway. After going through about 5 fuses, the bike starts. Haven't tested to see if it runs yet as the tank needs paint but I don't foresee any issues.

Thanks everyone for your assistance. Will get the electrics tidied up then it's time to make another seat. I don't really want to throw away the one I had made so I will try and re-use the upholstery part and remake the fibreglass part.

[Collo]

Forgot to add the photo...