Battery Charging/Draining Problems

[jacob92icu]

Hey everybody!

I was having some veryyyyyy frustrating problems  with my 1989 GS500E not keeping any battery charge. For the longest time I thought that it was because of this bootlegged job that the previous owner did by changing out the headlight and splicing various wires together. I thought that this poorly done job was causing a short in the harness that was draining my battery. So I looked in the headlight group and sure enough there were lots of wires exposed and grounding out. I patched them all up with electrical tape and low and behold, still had the same problem... Soooo 

I decided to check the stator AC output with a multi meter. Got about 80V at ~ 5000 rpm, dont know, tach is broken, so that seemed fine. I then proceeded to check the DC voltage coming out of the regulator rectifier, and it was only 5.5V at the same rpm. So I figured I found my problem, bought a Caltric regulator rectifier off of ebay for 60-70 bucks, now my charging system works like a charm! 

I just thought I would post this for anyone else having irritating battery drainage. If you are, I wish you the best of luck, I know its extremely frustrating.

[jacob92icu]

Bump!

[jestercinti]

I had an old GS450L once that is similar in electrical design to the GS500.

The charging system on the GS500 is quite anemic, and can be prone to error after a while.  To complement what you stated above, some things to consider:

1.  The stator is rarely the issue.
2.  The battery or the regulator/rectifier is most likely the culprit after checking for shorts/power drains.
3.  Having a QUALITY battery cause far less issues.  Wal-Mart and no-name batteries should be avoided.

[jacob92icu]

Yea, now that I have been through this experience I find what you said very true haha. I dont know if you have ever heard about it, but I bought a brand new battery that seems to work fine so far from budget battery in Washington. I also got a 0.75 amp trickle charger from there that works well.

[adidasguy]

A good battery doesn't need a charger.
Where are you in Washington? Anywhere near West Seattle - home of the West Seattle GS500 club and the GS500 Bike Cave?

[jacob92icu]

Never heard of those organizations, but I would like to know more about them. I live in Renton, but I go to school in Ellensburg. I'm basically down to ride anywhere though. I only really got the trickle charger cause it was cheap and I could charge my battery up while trying to fix the problem and not have to worry about it draining. It will also be convenient for when the battery has been sitting over winter and I can just charge it up! 

[adidasguy]

Its more of an unofficial collection of GS500 people who get together for wrenching, beers, riding and stuff. Pretty much any GS500 parts is here. You can see my threads in the project section. We've built engines, swapped things around, rebuilt forks, built a bike and about everything else GS500 related.

Up from Renton, the ride north along the lake on Rainer ave S then to Beacon and across the WS bridge. Or cut west to Ambaum and go north to Delridge. Both are pleasant street rides with curvy streets to get to West Seattle. Sometimes a short 1/2 mile on I-5 to 599 then West Margional Way for high speed but little traffic and good roads.

I avoid I-5 whenever possible. There are sections where the bumps dug in by studded tires match the resonant frequency of a GS500 and shakes the crap out of me.

Probably wrenching this weekend. PM for directions if you want to ride to West Seattle and pay a visit.

[jacob92icu]

Most likely won't make it to anything during winter. But yea id say you have your selves a new member. I know what you mean about I5, i ride a lot on 405 its pretty  nice. I really wanna go on a ride through highway two to Leavenworth this summer, can't wait to do that. I'll make sure to post something on here when i do

[jacob92icu]

By the way, you wouldn't happen to have any Speedo parts would you? Like the cover for instance.

[adidasguy]

By the way, you wouldn't happen to have any Speedo parts would you? Like the cover for instance.

I don't think there are any parts we do not have.
We work on a co-op basis. If you need parts, you can leave extra stuff you don't need that someone else can use. Or if you need parts, you help others with their work. We're pretty easy going. Help others, donate spare parts, beers or pizza and everyone gets their bikes all fixed up. Oil change? Bring oil. Use what parts and tools you need. Extra oil left over: leave it for someone else. That's kind of how it is. Money sometimes exchanges hands, but usually it is more of an in-kind type of sharing.

[jacob92icu]

Sounds nice, I'll have to check it out sometime. Be sure to keep me updated on when you guys are meeting. I have been looking at a cover (the backing) for my instrument cluster on cheapcycleparts.com and turns out I could get everything I need for just under 90 bucks shipping and handling included. I am thinking about doing it but not totally sure yet, trying to see what kind of deals I can get from other gs500 riders. The tachometer and speedometers are ridiculously overpriced.