Had a small get off need to check some switches.

[user11235813]

OK I was going up the driveway which is very steep and very off camber with lots of loose gravel and a blind corner. It requires a lot of concentration but if I ride up it choosing my route carefully, it's not problem. However as I was coming up it today just as I get to the blind corner, where I'm going as slow as it is possible to go without falling over, I see a car. I'm still going at about 2km/hour looking straight at the driver, and praying for them to stop. Which if they did I would have been OK, but they did not stop, due to them being distracted.

So I had no choice but to grab the front brakes and pray some more. I could not hit the back brakes because that would have been like hitting the front brakes going downhill and I'd have the bike on top of me pretty quickly dragging me down the driveway. Mind you I didn't really have time to do that anyway because the front wheel locked as it is bound to do, but it's so steep and off camber that I'm now sliding backwards due to the tank being empty and no weight over the front wheel, and praying some more. It was not going to stop but I was able to gather myself and let her go and get out of the way, so I didn't get caught under the bike which would have been very unpleasant. As it is I didn't get a scratch.

Not too much problems with the bike, bent clutch lever which is now cactus because it was a trick CNC, and a hole in the alternator cover emblem. Which is just $20 and sticks back on. Got a new CNC lever coming. However in the meantime I put on my old emergency clutch lever.

But, when I was finished the bike would not start, lights were on, and I did have it going after I picked her up, which was also very exciting if you see the driveway. So I'm trying to work out which switches this would be. I see that there is a little plug near the clutch which I thought might be the horn so I unplugged that and the horn still worked so I'm thinking maybe that was the problem. I sprayed it with contact cleaner inside and put a bit of dielectric grease on the contacts and wiggled it a bit, it did not start black and yellow wires. By that I mean, nothing happened at all. but all the lights were working.

So I found another plug on the brake side sort of underneath with red and black wires, contact cleaned that and another bit of dielectric grease on that too, that's the red and black wires.  I pressed the side stand switch a few times and it seemed to be OK.

Put it in and out of gear and swore at the idiot who did not stop, who actually lives here and expressed surprise that a bike would be coming up the driveway. Yes fancy that. I thought it was a visitor at first but when I saw it was a resident, I was not happy.

So apart from having a bit of a whinge I'm wanting to know if these two plugs in the photos are in fact part of the ignition circuit, because if they are not then I'll investigate further.

After some more random wiggling, she suddenly decided to start and everything has been good since. However I'm now a bit nervous that she could stop working again because I never really identified where the problem was.

TL ; DR what are these two switches in the photo Red and Black is under the brake lever side and the Yellow and Black is on the clutch side.

Also any other clues as to what may be a bit loose as to cause the starter motor not to fire would be helpful.

[Meukowi]

OK I was going up the driveway which is very steep and very off camber with lots of loose gravel and a blind corner. It requires a lot of concentration but if I ride up it choosing my route carefully, it's not problem. However as I was coming up it today just as I get to the blind corner, where I'm going as slow as it is possible to go without falling over, I see a car. I'm still going at about 2km/hour looking straight at the driver, and praying for them to stop. Which if they did I would have been OK, but they did not stop, due to them being distracted.

So I had no choice but to grab the front brakes and pray some more. I could not hit the back brakes because that would have been like hitting the front brakes going downhill and I'd have the bike on top of me pretty quickly dragging me down the driveway. Mind you I didn't really have time to do that anyway because the front wheel locked as it is bound to do, but it's so steep and off camber that I'm now sliding backwards due to the tank being empty and no weight over the front wheel, and praying some more. It was not going to stop but I was able to gather myself and let her go and get out of the way, so I didn't get caught under the bike which would have been very unpleasant. As it is I didn't get a scratch.

Not too much problems with the bike, bent clutch lever which is now cactus because it was a trick CNC, and a hole in the alternator cover emblem. Which is just $20 and sticks back on. Got a new CNC lever coming. However in the meantime I put on my old emergency clutch lever.

But, when I was finished the bike would not start, lights were on, and I did have it going after I picked her up, which was also very exciting if you see the driveway. So I'm trying to work out which switches this would be. I see that there is a little plug near the clutch which I thought might be the horn so I unplugged that and the horn still worked so I'm thinking maybe that was the problem. I sprayed it with contact cleaner inside and put a bit of dielectric grease on the contacts and wiggled it a bit, it did not start black and yellow wires. By that I mean, nothing happened at all. but all the lights were working.

So I found another plug on the brake side sort of underneath with red and black wires, contact cleaned that and another bit of dielectric grease on that too, that's the red and black wires.  I pressed the side stand switch a few times and it seemed to be OK.

Put it in and out of gear and swore at the idiot who did not stop, who actually lives here and expressed surprise that a bike would be coming up the driveway. Yes fancy that. I thought it was a visitor at first but when I saw it was a resident, I was not happy.

So apart from having a bit of a whinge I'm wanting to know if these two plugs in the photos are in fact part of the ignition circuit, because if they are not then I'll investigate further.

After some more random wiggling, she suddenly decided to start and everything has been good since. However I'm now a bit nervous that she could stop working again because I never really identified where the problem was.

TL ; DR what are these two switches in the photo Red and Black is under the brake lever side and the Yellow and Black is on the clutch side.

Also any other clues as to what may be a bit loose as to cause the starter motor not to fire would be helpful.

erm.. i had similar problem last summer, didnt fire at all except shortening the starter, without spark. Found the fault in the wire harness behind front light, guess it were from the ignition button or the key switch

[Bluesmudge]

That's the wiring for the brake light switch and the clutch momentary cutoff switch.

The brake light switch can't effect ignition but the clutch switch absolutely can (that's why its there).

Anyone who has ever changed their handlebars knows that clutch switch is easy to accidentally break. As a result, many people just end up bypassing it with a bit of conductive material. I wouldn't recommend that as the switch is a good safety feature but bypassing it is a good way to check if its your problem.

[Meukowi]

That's the wiring for the brake light switch and the clutch momentary cutoff switch.

The brake light switch can't effect ignition but the clutch switch absolutely can (that's why its there).

Anyone who has ever changed their handlebars knows that clutch switch is easy to accidentally break. As a result, any people just end up bypassing it with a bit of conductive material. I wouldn't recommend that as the switch is a good safety feature but bypassing it is a good way to check if its your problem.

from what model year got that clutch cutoff switch? amd what does it do? never heard of it

[Bluesmudge]

I don't have the wiring diagrams in front of me, but I'm pretty sure all GS500s have the clutch safety switch. It prevents you from starting the bike if the clutch lever is not pulled in. Its a minor safety feature and you wouldn't be totally crazy to bypass it (much safer than bypassing the side-stand safety switch). If your bike doesn't act this way and you are not the original owner, somebody has already bypassed the switch.


Make sure you aren't forgetting about the kill switch, side stand switch, etc. I've seen many a seasoned rider who can't figure out why their bike won't start and its usually one of these basic things. Clutch wasn't in while hitting the start switch, or side stand was down but the bike wasn't in neutral, or kill switch was still in the off position.

[user11235813]

OK, I have forgotten the kill switch at one time in the past, who hasn't. However what has got me a bit concerned is that I checked multiple times the kill switch, side stand switch and neutral indicator switch multiple times on a couple of occasions and it would not fire. Then suddenly it fired for no reason that was readily apparent. This has me concerned that there might be an intermittent fault in the clutch switch.

I replaced the OEM lever with what was supposed to be a replacement OEM lever which is what I have put on the bike as I kept it for an emergency lever after I installed the CNC lever and I was a bit annoyed at the time that it is missing the part of the lever that is on the OEM that contacts the clutch switch.
@bluesmudge

However I personally have not found it to be a problem (the CNC lever also missed this bit) because I always pull the clutch in out of habit no matter how I start the bike, even if I just put it in neutral I will still pull the clutch in, it just seems wrong to me to start the bike without holding the clutch in.

Here you can see what looks like an OEM lever but it's not connecting with the switch.

If I'm not using the switch would it be a good idea or easy to remove the switch completely and connect the wires together?  Or is this not the right way to by pass this switch. You see because I couldn't work out why the bike wouldn't fire and then it would, it now makes me think it might cack out on me at the wrong time.

[Meukowi]

idk if ive got the clutch switch, i do have to press the clutch but only in gear, in neutral it starts without clutch.. But yea, i bet it is just a On/Off switch, have you checked the wire harness? so theres no broken wires, mine wires  were loose and they managed to move to lower triple clamp, where they got damaged, they were like between the clamp and frame, and everytime i turned the steering they got 'squeesed' up, until one wire got broken inside, took  awhile until i found the broken wire, it looked perfectly normal but the copper inside was stripped.

[Bluesmudge]

If I'm not using the switch would it be a good idea or easy to remove the switch completely and connect the wires together?  Or is this not the right way to by pass this switch. You see because I couldn't work out why the bike wouldn't fire and then it would, it now makes me think it might cack out on me at the wrong time.

There is more than one way to do it, but the easy way is jamming a U shaped piece of wire in the end of the wire connector. Then tape it up so its out of the way.
I think there is also a way by taking the switch apart and reversing it so that it is stuck closed.
Or you could follow the wires all the way back in the harness (probably to the headlight area) and completely remove the wires from the circuit. That was how I decided to just bypass it rather than repair it.

idk if ive got the clutch switch, i do have to press the clutch but only in gear, in neutral it starts without clutch

Sounds like yours is already bypassed. If your handlebars are not OEM, more likely someone broke the switch when trying to swap everything to the new bars.

[Meukowi]

If I'm not using the switch would it be a good idea or easy to remove the switch completely and connect the wires together?  Or is this not the right way to by pass this switch. You see because I couldn't work out why the bike wouldn't fire and then it would, it now makes me think it might cack out on me at the wrong time.

There is more than one way to do it, but the easy way is jamming a U shaped piece of wire in the end of the wire connector. Then tape it up so its out of the way.
I think there is also a way by taking the switch apart and reversing it so that it is stuck closed.
Or you could follow the wires all the way back in the harness (probably to the headlight area) and completely remove the wires from the circuit. That was how I decided to just bypass it rather than repair it.

idk if ive got the clutch switch, i do have to press the clutch but only in gear, in neutral it starts without clutch

Sounds like yours is already bypassed. If your handlebars are not OEM, more likely someone broke the switch when trying to swap everything to the new bars.

nvm, didnt have to use clutch even on gear, lol. had to test it. But thing is my bike were full OEM, nothing modded or anything more or less, so i think early 90s didnt have that feature? Or european models didnt.. idk, could be cool and safe feature

[Bluesmudge]

nvm, didnt have to use clutch even on gear, lol. had to test it. But thing is my bike were full OEM, nothing modded or anything more or less, so i think early 90s didnt have that feature? Or european models didnt.. idk, could be cool and safe feature

Yes, I think it is a USA required safety feature (cars and motorcycles. Not specific to Suzuki). I don't know if it was adopted later in Europe.
Are you saying you don't even have the wires for such a switch? If the wires are there, the switch can be bypassed but look 100% OEM.

[Meukowi]

nvm, didnt have to use clutch even on gear, lol. had to test it. But thing is my bike were full OEM, nothing modded or anything more or less, so i think early 90s didnt have that feature? Or european models didnt.. idk, could be cool and safe feature

Yes, I think it is a USA required safety feature (cars and motorcycles. Not specific to Suzuki). I don't know if it was adopted later in Europe.
Are you saying you don't even have the wires for such a switch? If the wires are there, the switch can be bypassed but look 100% OEM.

no wires, not a place for the switch either on the clutch lever.