GS450 Cafe / Fighter Style

[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...

 

[Guest]

Excellent stuff Collo! What was blowing the fuses?

 

[Collo]

Turned out to be the light for the tacho which I removed, but the prongs were touching. Then I blew some fuses by hooking up the power wrong. Anyway should all be good now.

Can I run the bike without a fuel filter? Its got the petcock filter right?

 

[Guest]

Cool, glad you got it sorted! That stuff can be a PITA.

You don't need a filter, the one in the fuel tap should be good enough providing your tank is clean.

Just downsized the main jets in mine tonight and the float bowls have only the tiniest bit of sediment after over a year in use now, and that's just with the fuel tap filter only.

 

[Big Rich]

It may have been discussed somewhere else, but if the petcock filter gets clogged, it can be a pita to clean. If an inline filter gets clogged, undo it and replace.

But there is the issue of the petcock itself getting clogged with no filter on top of it......

 

[Guest]

'Tis very true Rich... pretty sure Collo has lined his tank though, and mine's had the POR 15 treatment too... going by my float bowls tonight all is well

 

[Collo]

Thanks guys for the advice, I think I'll run the bike without the filter but check my tank first. Want some new lines anyway.

Having issues with the seat now, it doesn't fit since I've changed the layout of the electrics etc. Want to use the upholstered part but also won't fit. So, has anyone got any ideas? I'm thinking of not even having a cafe tail, just a slight rise over where the battery goes, keeping the whole thing upholstered.

If I get creative on the computer I'll have a go at photo shopping something and posting it

 

[Guest]

Well you've seen what I'm done with the stock seat pan and a custom tail piece using the stock duck tail framework...

Probably best if you can try to get some pic's of how it's not sitting right etc. now.

It might be easier to redo the electrics tray or something along those lines...

 

[Collo]

Hi all,

Had some great progress today and got the bike started. Here are some pics...

The paint job is nothing to rave about, but considering it was a bit rushed and a spray can job with no booth its not too bad. Just needs a polish now but I need to buy the buffing pad.

Rearsets are coming along okay, this is as best as I can get it for now.

In the pics you will see theres a fuse with a yellow wire connecting to the starter solenoid. It seems it doesn't matter if theres a fuse in there or not it still starts is that normal? Bike runs fast but may be the lack of mufflers or just the idle screw. Petcock doesn't run on "RUN" position but does on "reserve" ...weird.

And for those who want to know... the GS500 coils work fine, infact they may even work better but this hasn't been a clear comparison.

 

[Guest]

Nice! Glad to hear she's running again

I dig the paint job too... those twin stripes are good

If the bike runs without a fuse in there, then something is amiss.

Look at the wiring diagram and you'll see there should be one main fuse that feeds the whole harness from the battery via the starter solenoid, so if that fuse is removed then nothing should work.

At the moment it sounds like she's running with no fuse which will be bad if something goes awry and you get a short or too large current draw.

 

[Collo]

Hi all,

Got the seat back today from upholsterers and very happy with their quality of work and cheap $150 price.
I still need to make the seat secure to the frame and somehow rethink the rear brake light as it's a tight fit now.

Still no luck with the front brake so I will probably take it apart and start from scratch, cleaning all the bits as I go.