No Starting - Electrical Nightmare

[GSRider]

Info:

'00 GS500, all the good bits done to make it nicer to look at, and better to ride. 50,000 miles. Been in storage for 2 years.

Problem:

She won't start. (har dee har har)

I got the bike out of storage, and knew I needed a new battery. I got one in, charged her up, and the the bike wouldn't start. What I mean, is that the when I hit the starter button, I get nothing. In the process of diagnosing the problem, I have replaced the following:

- Battery
- sidestand relay
- diode
- new spark plugs

I replaced the sidestand relay and diode, because I wasn't getting an accurate reading when I was checking for continuity. I always replace spark plugs every season.

The grounding is sound - I checked them all with a multimeter, and all were producing the same voltage as if I were doing the battery alone.
When I jumper from the solenoid, the starter turns over, but the engine won`t fire up.

When checking for continuity on the sidestand wires (Green and white-black) I get a very intermittent reading. It comes...and then is gone as soon as the first reading comes up. Could this be the problem...

Any and all suggestions would be welcomed!

[mister]

Kill switch
Pull clutch in when starting and have in neutral


Do lights come on when you turn the ignition on? Horn work?

Michael

[joshr08]

sidestand switch should only effect starting if bikes in gear and clutch isnt pulled in.  if bikes in neutral and clutch is in stand can be up or down doesnt matter. have you checked clutch switch? take the two wires off connect them together temp. make sure your in neutral and your kill switch(run/off switch) is in the run position.  see what you get.

[DoD#i]

99 times out of 100 it's the clutch switch. Look in the headlight for yellow-green wires with barrel connectors. You can simply unplug the switch and plug the two wires that were going to the switch together to bypass it for a test. Since someone failed to get this when I explained it a few months back, no wires need to be cut to bypass the switch. However, failing to fire sounds like either more or different problems, as I started and rode mine with a dead clutch switch by shorting the relay. Kill switch not on or corroded? Check for power on the orange/white wire with the key on.

[GSRider]

I bypassed the clutch switch years ago.

Kill switch is good.

When turn the key to the ON position, the oil pressure light and neutral light comes on. No headlights/turn signals/horn.

[the mole]

Sounds like a faulty ignition switch then. Only some contacts are contacting!

[DoD#i]

No, it's more complicated than a bad ignition switch.

Oil & neutral feed off orange from the ignition switch, so that's getting power. But so do the horn and headlight (horn orange to black, headlight orange to yellow-white.)

My first instinct in a case like this is to clean up the ground connections, but ultimately it comes down to tracking down where power is and isn't, and then figuring out why it isn't where it should be. There's also the possibility that the diagram which is handy might not apply to the bike in question, though my overall impression is that little has changed with the wiring harness over the years...