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1979 gs750l

  • Thread starter Thread starter calebb75
  • Start date Start date
C

calebb75

Guest
Im in need of some help please. I bought my first bike (1979 GS750L) and love it! My moms brand new husband arched my starter solenoid while bike was running and then my battery wouldnt charge. Ive replaced the battery (because it was bad) and the rectifier. My battery still runs dead after a while of running it and a buddy of mine told me to take it to a shop which will be lots of money that I cant really afford plus, I like to do things myself. Does anyone have any ideas that I can do without having to take it to a local shop? Thank you very much.
 
Boy did you ever come to the right place! These bikes are fun and easy to work on. Don't let anyone else touch it or I promise you, you will regret it.

Your mega-welcome is here: http://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...ew-Members-CLICK-HERE!!&p=1689496#post1689496

Your service manual is here, along with many other tutorials: http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

Your introduction is here: https://www.gswiki.info/wiki/Suzuki_GS_Introduction

We'd love to see pictures of your bike if you get the chance. It would be a good idea to put your location in your profile. If you ever get into a jam, someone local may be able to stop by and help out.

Welcome!
 
Thank you guys so much for your assistance. Another symptom is when I have my headlight on, my turn signals will turn on however, won't flash. When I turn my headlight off, my turn signals start blinking as if the bikes battery is charging and power isn't being run down. I will check wiring and such however, I agree with the stator. I've got a brand new starter solenoid, brand new battery plus rectifier. When I press the hand break, the taillight doesn't go on however using the foot peddle, it goes on. Could my ground to my hand break be running the battery down for some reason? Thank you so much for the welcome and help again. I truly appreciate you guys and plan on restoring this bike with only 30k miles on it. What does it look like? I will post a picture for sure soon.
 
Welcome to GSR.

No. Do not take it to a shop.
Especailly not a dealer (if they would take it).

Sounds like you are trying to troubleshoot electrical problems with your eyeballs.
You need a multimeter. Just an inexpensive one will do, although I get annoyed if they have real short leads, you want leads about 2 feet, not 8 inches like some have.






calebb75 said:
........... Another symptom is when I have my headlight on, my turn signals will turn on however, won't flash. ......
Click to expand...
I assume you mean they turn on when you turn on the switch.
THis is symptom of low voltage.
(again, you need a meter)


calebb75 said:
...........When I turn my headlight off, my turn signals start blinking as if the bikes battery is charging and power isn't being run down........
Click to expand...
With headlight off, that removes a lot of load from the charging system/battery and allows the voltage to be a little higher, and then the blinkers work better.
(you need a meter to better troubleshoot electrical problems).

Both of these symptoms lead to poor charging system.

calebb75 said:
........ When I press the hand break, the taillight doesn't go on however using the foot peddle, it goes on. Could my ground to my hand break be running the battery down for some reason? .......
Click to expand...
Comnpletey separate situation.
Is just that the front brake swtich is not working.

When you say "ground to front brake swtich" ... that makes no scense .. is power wired to front brake swtich ... and the switch then puts the power to the bulb... the bulb is grounded. I
If your brake switch was grounded it would be blowing fuses.

OR maybe by "ground" you just mean "what-ever-the-problem-is-that-is-making-it-not-work".

No this is not at all related to your charging/battery problem.



At this point, I think you have two options:
- Keep spending money, replacing parts. THe stator would be next thing to try.
- Get a meter ($20), and do some testing (links provided by others above), and learn a few things along the way.
I suspect you will do testing and find the stator is bad. But in your testing you may find other things that need attention also (that you cant find with your eyeballs).


calebb75 said:
.................I will post a picture for sure soon.
Click to expand...
Please, we all like pictures.
 
Last edited:
ah . . . .
thought of something else.

calebb75 said:
..... ... . arched my starter solenoid while bike was running and then my battery wouldnt charge. ......
Click to expand...

Depending on what arced to what, that could cause different problem.
If just arched across the two big termonals, that would just run the starter motor. No problem there electricaly anyway.

If arched from main power terminal to the solenoid body (which is grounded to the battery box), that would run a lot of current to ground.
But battery box is not well mounted to the frame, and is a ground wire (black with white stripe) from wireing harness to better ground the battery box.
SO maybe have damaged that ground wire, like burnt it off, (either at the battery box end, or the other end on bike frame) and now your battery box isn't really grounded.
This grond wire from the bike harness is usally on the soleoind mounting bolt.
Your R/R is also mounted on battery box and its ground wire is also landed right there on the solenoid mouinting bolt.

If the battery box is not well grounded, your R/R will not work (even if it is otherwise good, even if you replace it with a new one).

You might say, "I have looked, and I can see those two wires there on the solenoid mounting bolt."
I will say "You can not troubleshoot electrical problems with your eyeball. You need a meter."


Two options:
- Verify that R/R ground wire is connected. And Try adding your own ground wire from that solenoid mounting bolt to battery negative.
- Get a meter, so can do the tests. One of the test is to determine if the R/R is well grounded.

If the problem is that your R/R is not well grounded... your stator could be okay ... and your R/R could have been okay ....
So.... (can you hear it coming?) .... get a meter and check some things out.


.
 
Last edited:
I wanna thank you guys very much!!!! I owe you guys one. After replacing my rectifier and everything that I posted earlier.....everything checked out as far as those components getting proper voltage however, it made sense about the battery box becoming neutral and no longer can be a ground. I had a black white stripe wire coming from the head light area and the rectifier grounded to the battery box so, I ran the rectifier ground to the battery and ran that wire to the starter solenoid. Now, battery stays charged and the headlight has never been brighter. Now, to check into why my electric starter isn't working and begin restoring my bike. I will post a picture of the masterpiece of a bike in the newbie section or wherever I can post it. Thanks again guys!!!
 
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