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Where in the world do all these wires go?

  • Thread starter Thread starter andtheacademics
  • Start date Start date
mrbill5491, thank you neighbor:-) btw, r u going to red river?
p.s. sorry for hijacking
 
MisterCinders said:
Or you could pull the tank, and trace the wires going out of the kill switch for a short. If the bike lights up without shorting with the kill switch engaged, then shorts when you disengage the kill switch, look at what is on the other side -- i.e., coils and ignition. The coils are just a short distance from the switch, so root through those wires.

Hell, before you go whole hog and build an entirely new wire harness, you could just rewire the coils/kill switch portion.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm thinking this is a good baby-step route, I suppose I'll be putting that on my tab... What I really need is a second motorcycle to ride while Betty gets her sh*t sorted!
p.s. would/could the coil relay mod affect my jury rigged ignitor system?

allojohn said:
Are there any forum members near you? At this stage it would be massively beneficial for an "expert" to have a look at your wiring. The mere fact that an earlier owner installed an ignitor means there could be a lot more going on.
Click to expand...

I'd love to get a second opinion! I think I signed up for a GSR map with a PM earlier in the week but I have to find that thread - is there a way to make an open call for a meet up?

Much like you make your bed before you have a lady over, I think I'd want to make sure betty at least has a carb synch and a valve adjust before meeting anyone with any expertise!
 
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Nessism and Basscliff are down in the LA area and I think Posplayer is in Santa Barbara. Just put a thread out in the GS Motorcycle area asking for help and make sure to 1) offer refreshments and 2) be willing to help.

Honestly, I'm sure they'd like the opportunity to show you things too if you aren't sure how to do them
 
This is one case (the intermittent connect / short) where an analog ohmmeter really comes in handy. You can probe & hunt while looking for the needle to deflect, rather than waiting to fry a fuse. Far less frustrating, and probably a little more repeatable. Brief intermittent connections to ground are far easier to spot and recognize with an analog than with a digital meter.

With the battery disconnected and a good fuse installed, hook one lead of the meter to one of the +12 loads that die when the fuse pops, hook the other to a good known ground, and probe away; squeeze, fondle and tug here and there and see what it takes to get the meter to deflect.

Just a suggestion. Obviously, since I'm about a zillion miles away, I can't drop by & lend a hand and/or a meter.
 
tom203 said:
"Install fuse, turn on bike (cluster lights up) disengage kill switch, and I can see the neutral light, surge, dim, die."

If you just leave kill switch in "run" position ( i.e. don't use it), put in new fuse, does fuse still blow? The "surge, dim, die" sounds like power is grounding out- kill switch guts to handlebar or farther down wiring.
Click to expand...

Wow I don't know why I didn't see this - I haven't attempted - I always turn my bike of with the kill switch.

Creature of habit since Motorcycle Safety School (THE BEST $300 I EVER SPENT)

Fuse has not blown again so I'm not messing with it!
 
Redman said:
...May not have blown then, but probably is going to again something. So lets find it now. Move that around some more and see more what you find.
Click to expand...

I will never ignore advice again! When I learned to work on basic stuff on my gs450l my stepfather often had the mindset of "meh, it's working so leave it alone" and we probably ended up doing some questionable work. (His 82' CB750 was so miserably unsafe I refused to ride it) ...after numerous hours of reading on here I'm seeing that this is not the motorcycle mechanics credo - and yesterday I learned why.

I've ridden Betty to the dmv, the gym, all over town every time I ride she idles better, and feels stronger.

Yesterday I get on the 101 southbound in San Rafael, a pretty miserable interchange before the Richmond Bridge. Got to fourth gear and at about 6000rpm everything blew. My single fuse went out and killed my motor, lights, everything!

I was able to clutch-in coast over to the shoulder at the Anderson Rd exit and begin tooling, but no amount of fiddling would bring her back. Luckily I have AAA and after an hour and a half wait I was able to get towed back to my garage.

So - back to the drawing board on this one. Printing the diagrams now.
 
Okay - pull tank off (to discover I have apparently misplaced my gas cap when I found 1/4 gallon of gas on my shoes).

Trace orange wire to coils and what to I find?
tumblr_m3tp2sPDwg1rv97qxo1_1280.png

This little bugger has been chewed bare by...
tumblr_m3tp1vNC3n1rv97qxo1_1280.png

This seemingly misplaced and no-longer rubber coated clip.

As soon as I pulled the clip back from contacting the wire - all my problems were gone.. except for:

I left the ignition on
I left the kill switch on (lights off to maximize battery, bike not running)
Left side coil is cool as a cucumber
Right side coil is very warm to the touch - not so hot it hurts, but like - hot cup of coffee warm.

Does this mean something bigger?
 
Yes, turn off the ignition.

If I understand correctly, the coils store power and release it to the ignition. With the engine not running and ignition powered, maybe one coil is ready to go, but the other hasn't powered up yet. But I am pretty dumb, so . . .

Do both coils function when the engine is running and not shorting out?
 
MisterCinders said:
...Do both coils function when the engine is running and not shorting out?
Click to expand...

Yeah the bike runs on all four cylinders - I've never really payed attention to the coil temp though - also I don't know how this wire is connected to the coil so I'm not likely to be cutting and reattaching anything I was just going to wrap it up and get rid of that clamp.
 
andtheacademics said:
............
Trace orange wire to coils and what to I find?

This little bugger has been chewed bare by...

...................

As soon as I pulled the clip back from contacting the wire - all my problems were gone...............
Click to expand...

Congratulations.

Dave

.
 
I'm not sure if this is relevant- I seem to remember from one of your posts that you were using 10amp fuses? This is just from memory after reading many other topics and posts. My GS450 uses a 30 amp main fuse. I'd guess yours is similar. Have you checked the schematic for amp rating for main fuse? If you have the correct amperage fuse- disregard. Just thought I'd mention it.
 
UPDATE:

BC - followed your tutorial on resoldering the coil connection - Wasn't as daunting as I had thought. I don't know if I'm imagining the bike running stronger or if it actually is... But I ill say that putty stuff sure smells odd.

I went out and bought a digital multimeter today - unfortunatly I neglected to get the necessary 9V battery! d'oh! When I have the bike idling @ 1100, after a night on the trickle charger my analog meter is showing me 12-12.5 volts @ the battery. I began the Stator Test as outlined by bikecliff. I believe I have the original wiring and the wires from the stator terminate at a 3-prong connector on the left side of the battery. I'm getting (on my analog meter) 2 ohms between each wire, one read 3 ohms for a second, then two, then three, then two then stayed at two so maybe I was bumping into something in the connector.

No signal on any of them when I touch (-) to ground.

I'm thinking I'd like to have someone help me to rev the engine while I do the final stator test (and also get a battery for the digital meter) so I'm going to wait on that one...
 
The wires that attach to the multimeter are called "leads". If you have leads with "aligator clips"- it makes it much easier to do testing (like reving up the engine while holding leads on connections)..just clip the leads on and hang the multimeter within eyesight with a wire-. Radio shack is a good source for aligator clips for leads. I like to have regular leads with the pointy tips as well as leads with aligator clips...just connect the appropriate leads to the meter depending on what type of testing is being done....
 
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