post accident help please!

facio57 · November 30, 2005, 02:48:36 AM

hey all, after hearing that i might be liable for the accident i was in (read: i changed lanes into his car) i am so mad about this u all have no idea! :x anyway, i started to work on my bike. nothing too bad really, all damage is to the left side. gear shift lever and footpeg i tried to hammer, bend back into place. she started up and and ran ok. i was riding her home tonight for school and then she just died. seemed like fuel starvation, she kinda hobbled forward and back, and then all the electrical went out, and them came back on. i'm wondering if anyone has any ideas what may have been damaged internally from the bike being layed down on the left side. thanks for the help guys, i really want to get back on two wheels ...

~facio

JamesG · November 30, 2005, 03:35:10 AM

Sounds like a short in the electrical system. Probably with the main power or ignition circuits as both the engine and lights went out.

Check the wiring harness for any nicked or crimped wires, especally around the forks and where they go into the frame. Check to make sure all the switch pods are ok and that the connnectors are still firmly er.. connnected. Look under the seat at the battery and all the wiring under there.

good luck

sledge · November 30, 2005, 07:03:04 AM

The safety switch operated by the side stand is the 1st thing I would look at. Its mounted right up underneath the bike near the stand pivot. It kills the ignition if the stand is down and the clutch is pulled in. Good chance it got damaged when your bike went down as that is in the area where you say all the damage is. According to my manual there is a green and a black/white wire leading to it. Its a fail-safe circuit in that if it develops an open-circuit under a fault condition it prevents operation, the switch should make with the stand up so it wont do any harm to short the two wires and try to start the bike. If this doesnt work its time to start tracing the wiring as James correctly says.

sledge · November 30, 2005, 07:13:10 AM

This link will take you to a posting of a Colour Schematic for a GS wiring system but its lifted from a UK bike spec manual there may well be differences between this and your bike, hope it helps.

http://www.gs500e.co.uk/wire.jpg

sledge · November 30, 2005, 07:35:27 AM

After looking closely at the diagram I would also suggest you check the rear brake light switch out as the sidestand relay is fed from it. Again the switch is in area where the damage was centered. The problem could be anywhere in the electrical system but I think it makes sense to first check out the parts which you know could be damaged.

Badger · November 30, 2005, 07:53:51 AM

Quote from: sledgeThe safety switch operated by the side stand is the 1st thing I would look at.

But an open circuit there wouldn't cause "all the electrical" to quit, just the ignition (the lights should still be on). Of course, if there is a short there, that's a different issue..

sledge · November 30, 2005, 09:13:25 AM

Badger,
Good comment, I would really need to study the drawing for some time to be able to say exactly what parts of the electrical system would be affected and exactly what symptoms would show and where assuming the switches and/or relay are faulty. However my logic is to first check the parts which you suspect could be faulty in this case as a result of the accident, the standswitch, the brakeswitch and relay as they are all located in the area where the bike suffered damage. It is true that the fault could be anywhere in the electrical system, It could be in the ignition switch which would relate nicely to the total loss of the electrics or maybe there could be more than 1 fault. I would describe this fault as non-specific, bascially a fault somewhere in the whole system unlike a specific fault which can be pinned down to a single section or part such as a non functioning horn or brakelight. I was tought that the first tools to use when approaching any sort of mechanical or electrical problem are your eyes and if I was in the position Facio is in I would be looking very closely at those components before taking the panelwork and tank off diving in with the multimeter and making the job bigger than it has to be. 2 mins spent checking the parts mentioned could save 2 hours further down the road.

facio57 · November 30, 2005, 05:15:44 PM

thanks for the help guys! well i basically did an all in one, i checked the wiring and found some to be crimped, found out that indeed the sidestand now hangs a bit loosely and doesn't hit the switch that keeps it from turning off. i also recharged the battery and checked all other connections ... she started up just fine! i'm not sure exactly what it was that was wrong, but by killing all the birds, i got her to run again, what a champ she is! thanks again!

~facio

Badger · December 01, 2005, 08:24:13 AM

Quote from: facio57but by killing all the birds

I was wondering where they had all gone.

pandy · December 01, 2005, 08:29:50 AM

Quote from: facio57hey all, after hearing that i might be liable for the accident i was in (read: i changed lanes into his car) i am so mad about this u all have no idea! :x ~facio

So why would YOU be liable!? :dunno: :x

facio57 · December 03, 2005, 01:00:03 AM

i don't even know how i am liable. this guy has gotten in plenty of accidents so i'm sure he has some real shady insurance people. anyway i am calling my agent tomorrow to be sure. i have progressive and i am really not happy so far with the job they are doing ... :x

~facio

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post accident help please!