Hey everyone,
I just recently purchased an 07 GS500 that doesn't run and I was hoping someone on here may be able to help me figure out how to fix out or just give me some good direction on how to proceed.
When I put the ignition in the on position the rear break lights and indicators work as well as the horn. The front headlight and front indicators however do not work. On clicking the starter there is dead silence :(. I cleaned out the carb and it was super clean already and air filters great.
Sparks plugs were old so I replaced them and tested for a spark but got nothing. Also I've charged the battery and checked it with a multimeter. Reads about 12.5 and drops ever so slightly when pressing the starter button.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Headlight and front turn signals not working likely means a ground problem at the front of the bike, or the left side control switch is screwed up. A bunch of wiring goes through the headlight bucket including turn signals. Sort this out first. You just need to get a wiring diagram (they are available all over the internet) and a meter and go tracing and checking. No other way.
If "nothing" happens (no clicking, no turning over) when you push the start button then likely one of the interlocks is preventing it (clutch lever switch, side stand switch, side stand relay), or there is some fault in the wiring from those interlocks. If everything there checks out (again, wiring diagram, meter, point by point check), you might suspect the starter solenoid. But that's unlikely IMHO.
If you get a click when you turn the key but the starter doesn't turn over, then that indicates the starter solenoid is working (thus the circuitry up to the starter solenoid is good), but the battery is too low to turn the starter. Could also indicate the starter is bad. One thing at a time.
12.5V is not a good sign for a fully-charged battery. Should be at least 12.8 and likely over 13v when fully charged.
You may have multiple issues but you need to sort out the electrical problem at the headlight first, then work back from the starting system and interlocks.
If you had a jump pack you could give yourself a level of confidence that a proper battery would have some effect.
Okay thanks, Appreciate the help. Would you/anyone know of any good resources for how to breakdown and diagnose electrical issues?
Also should the bike turn on if i put the key in the on position and connect the starter relay manually with a screwdriver. Because i tried doing this and not much happened. Does this mean the starter motor could be gone?
Quote from: bose_99 on June 22, 2020, 02:18:51 PM
Okay thanks, Appreciate the help. Would you/anyone know of any good resources for how to breakdown and diagnose electrical issues?
Shop manual.
Quote
Also should the bike turn on if i put the key in the on position and connect the starter relay manually with a screwdriver. Because i tried doing this and not much happened. Does this mean the starter motor could be gone?
Probably means your battery is too dead to turn over the starter. But the starter could have dead spots on the commutator, or dirty/corroded spots (mine did!).
if you don't have a battery charger, get one. A batter tender type charger is super valuable and I think should be a requirement for anyone trying to use a motorcycle regularly. Even on late model motorcycles, the charging systems often are really bad, so keeping the battery topped up is important. And they are only like $20-30.
You have wiring issues though, so you need to solve those first. The bike won't start with a bad battery, but it won't start with a good battery and a bad clutch switch, or a bad side stand relay, or a bad ground to either of those, or the diode pack disconnected, or a blown fuse, or a bad ground to the starter switch, etc. So you need to fix the wiring problems as priority 1. That requires a multimeter and a wiring diagram and you systematically go through and check stuff.
You just start with the wiring diagram, look at the starter on the diagram. Test the wires running from the starter to the next thing on either end (a ground wire, one from the solenoid). Good? Zero ohms? ok. Then go to the wires that connect to those components, check all of them, and then connect the wires from them to the next things, check all those things, then all those wires, etc. There are not that many wires in the GS500, and only a handful of things involved in the start circuit ... start switch, clutch switch, side stand switch, side stand relay, diode pack, starter solenoid, fuse, starter, and all of the wiring between them and ground and the battery. You just test them one at a time. No big thing.
OKay sounds good, I've got a copy of a haynes service manual so ill try to take a look at the wiring in order to fix the headlights. But in the meantime I did clean off the bolts on the starter solenoid and connected the bike to a car batter(while it was turned off) and try starting the bike and it started and was running but I did have to give it some throttle to get it started and i had to maintain throttle in order to keep it on.
This tells me two things for sure, I need a new batter and starter solenoid. But I'm wondering what the cause of the need for throttle is. Like i mentioned earlier, i cleaned the carbs during which I took off the TPS and didnt take note of exactly where I took it off so it's likely its position has changed. I was also thinking it could possibly be the idle setting?
Quote from: bose_99 on June 22, 2020, 09:55:52 PM
OKay sounds good, I've got a copy of a haynes service manual so ill try to take a look at the wiring in order to fix the headlights. But in the meantime I did clean off the bolts on the starter solenoid and connected the bike to a car batter(while it was turned off) and try starting the bike and it started and was running but I did have to give it some throttle to get it started and i had to maintain throttle in order to keep it on.
This tells me two things for sure, I need a new batter and starter solenoid. But I'm wondering what the cause of the need for throttle is. Like i mentioned earlier, i cleaned the carbs during which I took off the TPS and didnt take note of exactly where I took it off so it's likely its position has changed. I was also thinking it could possibly be the idle setting?
choke didnt do anything? carbs synchronized? gses need to be hot to idle properly