my first bike, wont work

[bobzilla850]

Well i got a 99 gs500 about two and a half weeks ago for $1000. The day before he sold it to me someone knocked it over in his parking lot at work, it busted of the signal generator cover (right side) and cracked the connector under it, and bent the handlebars. i got a new cover and a new battery, i have spark plugs waiting to be put in, and a fresh tank of gas with a little seafome. i can get the bike to start with the choke on, but the rpm's are at around 1500- 2500, till i hold the throttle higher. it stays at the higher rpm momentarily before dropping back down and eventually dying. When i tun the choke off with the engine running the rpm's drop till the bike dies, and when i let of the throttle after revving it it backfires viciously. now it keeps blowing the fuse coming of the positive battery cable whenever i turn on the power. help please! I just Wanna Ride! 

[bassmechanicsz]

Sounds like you have a wire somewhere touching something that it shouldn't be touching causing a short.  Seeing as it was dropped on the right side i would start looking at the wires on that side of the bike first until i found a wire that has a bare spot.

[bobzilla850]

Yeah i tried that today. nothing i could find. Maybe the rotor of the signal generator? The po said he thinks it needs a new Stator.

[simoniz]

If you can post a pic or two of the signal generator, we may be able to recognize what's not right about it and give you some clues........or just let you know if it's OK, and the problem could be something else.

[bobzilla850]

okay ill get some tonight. i live here in sunny florida and there are people riding left and right right now. I want to too!

[tt_four]

Did you get to test the bike before it fell over, so you actually know this is a new problem?

[bobzilla850]

yeah but it wasnt this bad, only died once on me.

[Dr.Sparkie]

. it stays at the higher rpm momentarily before dropping back down and eventually dying. When i tun the choke off with the engine running the rpm's drop till the bike dies, and when i let of the throttle after revving it it backfires viciously.

ignition system was damaged in the drop, bike is running with retarded (the hurr-durr kind) timing or on only one cylinder. check the stator and rotor on that side: rotor for tightness, proper seating on the index pin, stator for proper placement (it only fits one way) and the pickup coils for proper resistence (which is something, but they both should be equal)

when the bike is running you should get a consistent .3~.5V rms from the pickups using the ac setting on a digital multimeter...as i recall, for a 1989 anyways. point is if one's not making volt-o's, then its busted and you need a new one. also happened to me. i think ive milked my ignition failures for all the advice it's worth tonight.

edit: good luck with the fuse... i hate intermittent problems.

[yamahonkawazuki]

. it stays at the higher rpm momentarily before dropping back down and eventually dying. When i tun the choke off with the engine running the rpm's drop till the bike dies, and when i let of the throttle after revving it it backfires viciously.

ignition system was damaged in the drop, bike is running with retarded (the hurr-durr kind) timing or on only one cylinder. check the stator and rotor on that side: rotor for tightness, proper seating on the index pin, stator for proper placement (it only fits one way) and the pickup coils for proper resistence (which is something, but they both should be equal)

when the bike is running you should get a consistent .3~.5V rms from the pickups using the ac setting on a digital multimeter...as i recall, for a 1989 anyways. point is if one's not making volt-o's, then its busted and you need a new one. also happened to me. i think ive milked my ignition failures for all the advice it's worth tonight.

edit: good luck with the fuse... i hate intermittent problems.

YUP what he said. need a closeup of hte damaged part/s as well with cover on, and off if you will please

[AccidentalF]

Running with choke but not without is classic "clogged pilot circuit".  The pilot jet is the smallest orifice (tee hee) so gums up first...i blame the gas these days, never used to have this trouble.  All the carbureted triumphs i deal with are prone to this, sometimes they only need to sit for a month without running.  A good cleaning should take care of it.

[bill14224]

Yeah, what they said, and I'll bet your blown fuse was caused by the ignition connector getting smashed in the drop.  Best of luck.

I know it's too late, but I wouldn't have paid a grand for a 10-year-old GS that just got dropped.  Should have made him fix it first.  Our beloved GS isn't worth a lot of money.  For a grand you should get one that runs good, even if it's old and has high miles.

[bobzilla850]

i got $500 off what he was asking, which ends up being $500 most on repairs.

[Chanse]

goats? ate up ignition? ummmmm kinda hard to diagnose without puttin hands on... Start with the cheapest thing and easiest to change then work your way up...

[intergalactic]

I am with accidentalF. The tipover might have stirred the crap in the float bowls, plugging the pilots.

Get a paper inline filter and clean the carb bowls and do the jets with a Buddha 40/125 jet and o-ring kit.

But if you can't wait, pull the tank, drain it, pull the carbs, drop the float bowls, clean them, pull the jets and spray brake cleaner thru them. Try to get o-rings locally if you can't wait for Buddha.

Reassemble and enjoy.

Get a Buddha jet kit and do it again to get the last of the crap out of the carps when you get the kit, and enjoy the much improved throttle response.

I think $1000 was a fair price, personally.