first of all hello
i have a problem. i was doing about 80 on the freeway, in top gear, and my 89 gs500ek began to sputter (for lack of a better term) i pulled off the freeway and couldn't start the bike again. eventually the battery completely died and i had no lights, no starter, nothing. i jumped the bike, rode home, and the battery was gone as soon as i turned the bike off. i have since recharged the battery. it seems to die as soon as i hit the start button. i can turn the ignition off and get the lights on again, but as soon as i hit start it dies again. what should i check? i have a haynes manual, but it does not help very much. i need to know if the alternator is my problem, or is it the stator coils, the condenser? the battery itself is only about 5 months old.
Wecome to GStwin!
Do the lights go off and stay off after you release the start button? If so you have a short that is being activated by something in the starting circuit. Either the starter solenoid, the starter gear solenoid (the one that engages the starter to turn over the eng.), or the starter (running it down until the battery dies is bad, 5 second bursts is all you need. If it doesn't start, it's not going to right away). This is all I can think of.
Anybody else have an idea?
Sounds like your charging system is ok, otherwise you wouldn't be able to roll-start the bike with a dead battery.
I would first check/clean the battery connections. Take the terminals off, clean them, then put them back on and make sure they're tight. Then check the other ends of the battery cables. Make sure the other end of the ground cable is clean (take it off, clean it with some sandpaper, and put it back on). Do the same for the positive.
What often happens with a bad ground is that the vehicle can pull enough current to run the headlight (or dash lights in a car), but when you put a load on it (starting), it arcs and carbonizes the surfaces, so that even though they're touching, no current will flow. A little bumping around and they'll work again until you try to start it again.
Finally, you might want to test the battery. I've seen many batteries develop a bad cell. They'll show 12 to 14 volts until you put a load on them and then they'll drop to zero.
I don't know why it would have cut out on the freeway though. Even if the battery was completely dead, the charging system should have kept the bike running... unless the battery developed an internal short and pulled the charging system down (but usually a battery never comes back after that happens).
I'm not intimately familiar with the electrical system on the GS... they're may be some component (relay, etc.) causing the problem that I don't know about.
Hi there. New member here (going to buy a GS500 tomorrow in fact).
I have the same problem with my current Yamaha Virago. However, even though the battery is connected properly, if I push firmly on top of the terminals everything springs back to life and all is rosy in the garden again. I don't know how accessible the battery is on a GS yet but next time it happens, give it a try.
Welcome, Woz!