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'80 GS450 left hand control housing

  • Thread starter Thread starter Trevor76
  • Start date Start date
T

Trevor76

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Okay guys, I need to replace the left hand control housing on my 1980 GS450 ET. Problem is the units I see listed on Ebay don't look right to me. For one, the electrical connector should be a white 12 pin if I'm not mistaken, but most that I see on Ebay have a blue or green connector that looks to be a 5 or 6 pin.

Also, shouldn't the housing have a choke switch and cable?

Thanks for any insight.
 
Last edited:
The stock left control for an '80 doesn't have a choke.

'80 - '82 are the same and I specifically went to a new GSXR control to get a choke lever and I made up a bracket to hang off the left carb and attach to the choke actuator.

All that's on the stock one is the indicators/high beam switch and the horn button.

I have my old stock one here but I cut the connector off and used it for the GSXR one so I didn't have to modify the harness.

I'll have to try to look tonight at the connector to jog my memory on that, but I don't think it was white...
 
Pete, I'm just assuming it's a white twelve pin 'cause that's all I have left open on my wiring harness, everything else is accounted for.

I can live without a choke on my handlebars, I've gotten pretty adept at reaching down and switching it off in traffic thanks to my other bike.:eek:

Thanks.
 
I hate reaching down for the choke so I made the bracket and moved it :)

This is the old one:



The plug is a blue 9 pin (bottom of first pic) and it also has blue/white and yellow/white separate wires to bullet connectors:

 
Hmmm....I'll have to take another look at my harness and see where that would plug in. I'll post pics when I get a chance.
 
Don't forget mine's an '82, so there may be minor differences, and I think 3 or 4 pins of the 9 pin connector are unused now that I think about it...
 
'Kay, so here's the connector from the main wiring harness...

100_3767-1.jpg


100_3766-1.jpg


...And the Ebay switch that has what looks like the appropriate connection. I would venture to guess that this is an example of small differences in model years as you suggest. I'm sure that another switch could be modded to fit, much like you did with your gixxer switch, but that's the sort of thing I'm trying to avoid...

So I think I'll go ahead and buy this switch!


leftcontrolGS450.jpg
 
Wow ok that's completely different altogether, but it does seem to match the eBay one although it's a little hard to tell from that angle.
 
I have a similar question. The switch cluster obviously changed over the years, as they replaced the headlight on-off switch first with a locked one then eliminated it, to make it US-spec. My '82 450T has no on-off switch. I just ordered an '80 unit from Ebay that has the switch for the light. It appears to use the same connector as mine. So, two questions: how hard is it to get at the connector, which looks to be inside the headlight housing, and will the wiring harness on an '82 allow me to restore the on-off function (to save the headlight from starting power surges) or will the switch be dead?
 
On my 650 the left switch connector is found when you remove fuel tank- yours might be similar. If the 80 unit has same plug, you'll probably get the on/off action you seem to want.
as to this "starting power surges" stuff, be warned that these bikes have charging system issues that need addressing. Lots of info about this on forum, try a simple quick test as in this this link and report all your six results

http://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...System-QUICK-TEST/page2&p=1272192#post1272192

Put your bike/model/year in your signature
 
RE Charging System

RE Charging System

tom203 said:
On my 650 the left switch connector is found when you remove fuel tank- yours might be similar. If the 80 unit has same plug, you'll probably get the on/off action you seem to want.
as to this "starting power surges" stuff, be warned that these bikes have charging system issues that need addressing. Lots of info about this on forum, try a simple quick test as in this this link and report all your six results

http://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...System-QUICK-TEST/page2&p=1272192#post1272192

Put your bike/model/year in your signature
Click to expand...

Thanks. I know about the charging system. I'm gentle with my bike, so it tends to under-charge the battery - happily - instead of over-charging. I use a battery maintainer to compensate. As or the light control cable, I swear it enters the headlight housing on my '82. Does it pass through and go under the tank...?
 
My left switch wiring goes straight under tank- though clutch safety switch wires go into headlight bucket.
A 12 volt battery needs to be recharged at at a minimum of 13.2 volts by the bike's charging system. Using a maintainer is a band-aid and a signal that something needs attention. A properly charged decent battery can go weeks of idleness if all is well
 
tom203 said:
My left switch wiring goes straight under tank- though clutch safety switch wires go into headlight bucket.
A 12 volt battery needs to be recharged at at a minimum of 13.2 volts by the bike's charging system. Using a maintainer is a band-aid and a signal that something needs attention. A properly charged decent battery can go weeks of idleness if all is well
Click to expand...

The battery will go for weeks, but it always stays below full. I'm aware of the problem, but I only ride a a few times a year, and can't afford a charging system overhaul. The maintainer works great for my circumstances. A previous owner replaced the battery wiring ,at least. This year I'll be spending money to get the rear brake shoes replaced - they started to shriek as soon as I tightened the chain. ;-(
 
It's your choice, but what would you do if charging system failed on one of those rides one hour from home base? Once you have no charging output, you have less than an hour of ride. Are you new to this riding stuff?
 
Re: Charging System

Re: Charging System

tom203 said:
It's your choice, but what would you do if charging system failed on one of those rides one hour from home base? Once you have no charging output, you have less than an hour of ride. Are you new to this riding stuff?
Click to expand...

I've been riding since 1972, actually. I'm in poor health, and never get more then 30 minutes away from home anymore. I know my limits, and the limits of the bike, and would probably spot a failing battery in time to stop and call for a friend with little jumper cables. ;-) What if I replaced the usual suspects in the charging system, and one of the new parts failed when I was 35 minutes from home? Having taken 360 mile trips on old bikes when I was young, I feel ok with taking a 25 mile ride with a full battery and a charging system that is always working when I leave.

Anyway, to get back to the switch cluster. Assuming it really does run under the tank, is there anything I should know about removing said tank on this bike? The "shop" manual I have is one of those worthless things that tells you how to R&R a part like this:

* Remove part.

* Inspect and clean or replace part.

* Reverse steps for removal to reinstall part.
 
I checked the wiring route again this evening. The cluster is dangling off the handlebar, so it was pretty easy to pull on one end of the wiring cable while holding other sections. Unless the gods are playing with me, it does run into the bottom of the headlight housing. Maybe it runs back under the tank from there, but I suspect that the models with no headlight on-off switch may have a different harness. I'll probably be trying to R&R it this weekend, so I'll report back when I know.
 
"....is there anything I should know about removing said tank on this bike? "

tank removal is is easy,just disconnect fuel and vacuum line to petcock (and wiring to fuel sender if you have one). Remove mounting bolt(s) and pull tank back and off. Good time to inspect/clean wiring to ignition coils too.
 
OK, I started to replace the switch unit today. As usual, there is a snag. The cable does indeed run into the headlight bucket, which has more connections in it than a singles bar on Friday night. However, this year/model/region version, with no headlight switch, doesn't use the big white 12 pin connector. It uses a nearly square blue plug connector with a few wires (forgot to count them), a similar white one with a few more, and single yellow wire with a bullet connector. It looks very similar to the one described early in this thread, but not exactly the same. I took several photos and will post them another time. Meanwhile, I have two obvious questions:

* Does anyone have the actual unit I need?

* Does anyone want to buy the one I can't easily use? It's in good shape apart from the cable insulation being open for about 8" (it looks like it may have been uncovered to look at the wire colors). I'll take $35 shipped.
 
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