I tried searching but could not really find what I was looking for. I apologize in advance if this is redundant.
Anyways,
The starter button on my 2006 GS500F appears to not be operating, I purchased the bike cheap as a fixer-upper and this button is the last thing that seems to be the issue. I know that the starter works, I can get it to fire up by putting wires on either end of the solenoid and pressing them together. When I am pressing the starter button however, nothing happens. I am not sure if the switch is bad or not because when I press the button the headlight and the indicator lights (neutral light, oil light) dim but it does not turn over. Anyone have any suggestions as to what the issue could be?
-Jared
There is always the chance of it being something else but I recently encountered almost exactly the same problem on my son's GS,
I changed the solenoid & it is now starting perfectly. :thumb:
Luckily I managed to find a brand new genuine one for £15 on Ebay, a real bargain, there are many out there new & used for reasonable prices.
Today I even managed to purchased a used one locally (as a spare) for £1. :thumb:
Time to break out a multimeter. I had the same sort of issue, but it ended up being the clutch switch. The previous owner let the bike stay outside, and the contacts needed to be cleaned. Also to look at: kickstand switch and starter relay. If the lights dim when you push the switch, it would appear that the switch is functioning, so you may want to look at the relay.
I will also go for a sticky solenoid :thumb:
Thank you for the replies everyone. I ordered a new starter solenoid, it should be here on Wednesday so we will see if that fixes the issue. It makes sense that it would be the solenoid because if I bypass it using two wires the bike starts up just fine. Hopefully, this is it and thanks again!
I replaced the old solenoid with a new one today hoping that would be the fix I needed but it did not work. I am wondering if it might be the clutch safety switch that is the culprit. I tried to trace the wires from their place on the clutch but I cannot figure out what the lead to. I cleaned the contacts for the switch by the handlebars I am wondering if it is not fully seated on the other end?
The bike sat for a while, about 15 months and it was under a carport with a bunch of other junk so the bike did get a little weathering. What could the issue be here?
Also I noticed that the fuse by the solenoid is 20 amps but on the cord it states that the fuse should be 30 amps, I am guessing that the 20 amp fuse that was installed when I got the bike is the wrong size but I want to make sure before I fry anything.
-Jared
Remove the two wires from the safety switch and connect them with a piece of wire or touch the bare safety switch wires together and try to turn over your engine. If it works you know you switch is damaged.
Thank you for the advice!
I actually just got it to work, I popped the switch off by taking out the two small screws that hold it on upon looking at the inside I noticed that the physical switch was stuck to one side so I got it to loosen up a little bit, cleaned some of the dirt out with some isopropyl alcohol popped it back on and sure enough it worked immediately. Thank you all for your help!
Sweet, happy riding! :woohoo: