...did a lot of searching on this couldn't find a definitive answer.  My bike is having problems starting, battery is fully charged and kept on a tender.  When I try to start her up, I get the clicking sound from the relay but it does not engage the starter and fire up.  In doing some searches I did find several of you who said their relays (some refer to them as solenoids) went bad and just got a new one.  A couple of notes:

- bike was running great as of late, however, occasionally I am getting the clicking sound as it has been cold. 
- I did get some smoking from it after hitting starter for more than ~20 seconds. 
- I pulled it apart and cleaned the contacts as best I could with fine sandpaper.
- several searches mentioned bypassing it and several mentioned hooking up a voltmeter to it to check.  I am not electrical expert and found these two ideas intimidating

If I do get one, the online parts sites list the relay and also the contacts separately - should I go ahead and get new contacts with it.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Pete

[THIS OLD POST] will walk you through the process of testing the relay.

The "click" means that the coil is energizing.  The question is whether the "click" closes the connection between the battery and the starter motor as intended.  The fact that you're getting smoke would lead me to believe that the answer is "Yes", but it would be good to go through the process anyway.


QUESTION: Can you get the  bike to roll when it's in gear?  If not, there may be something that prevents the engine from turning, which in turn would prevent the starter motor from turning, which would result in the smoke you're seeing.

This is what happened to OPTheory and me back in November.  I'm not saying that your problem will turn out to be the same thing, but if you have a few minutes you might want to read through [THIS THREAD].  The photos in  [THIS POST] show what the problem turned out to be.

Kerry - thank you, just what I was looking for.  In reference to your question, I can get bike to roll (with clutch in, of course).  I pulled up your attached thread actually this weekend and went through it, it was a big help also, and helped me narrow this all down.

I am 99% sure it is the relay but will run the test you outlined in your thread (great photos.).  Incidentally, the smoke came directly from the relay and the contacts had a bit of melted plastic right around the contacts, should be a good sign huh?!  Also, the bike started up and idled great prior to relay giving out, must have been on its last leg.  (The reason I was inside my GS this weekend was I noticed my fuel lines were routed wrong (by previous owner, I've only had it a short time)!  My bike has been running pretty good but was having all the petcock and fuel starvation issues covered many times on this site.  This past Friday, though, after starting her up gas just came pouring out of the airbox overflow.  I thought it may be my float bowls but after finding fuel lines were wrong I fixed them (using your photo) and she started right up and no gas came out.  That was when the relay went out on me some minutes afterwards.  Hopefully all these fixes will result in a much better running bike!

I will update you on what I find after testing.  You rock Kerry, thanks from Houston.  P.S. I really like the photos you have on your site from the road trips you have been on (maps are great addition).

Pete

Quote from: houston_gs500 on February 04, 2008, 10:38:26 AMI can get bike to roll (with clutch in, of course).

Hmmm.  I was thinking more along the lines of shifting up to 3rd (or 4th or 5th or 6th) gear and pushing the bike with the clutch lever released.  In fact, if you're able to "bump start" the bike (2nd gear is best) that would answer a couple of questions at once. 

Quote from: houston_gs500 on February 04, 2008, 10:38:26 AMIncidentally, the smoke came directly from the relay and the contacts had a bit of melted plastic right around the contacts, should be a good sign huh?!  Also, the bike started up and idled great prior to relay giving out, must have been on its last leg.

This all sounds like what happened with OPTheory's bike: running great just beforehand, the smoke from the relay, the whole bit.  I just hope the end result isn't the same!

As you go through the OLD thread you'll find out pretty quickly if the starter motor will turn (under battery power) by bypassing the relay.  If it doesn't, I'd start worrying about something being "stuck".  I'd suggest pulling the starter motor out (it's not difficult) and hooking it directly to the battery.  If it spins up, you may need to continue down the road OPTheory and I took. 

Quote from: houston_gs500 on February 04, 2008, 10:38:26 AM[...] after finding fuel lines were wrong I fixed them (using your photo) and she started right up and no gas came out.

Cool!  Feels good to fix stuff, doesn't it?

Quote from: houston_gs500 on February 04, 2008, 10:38:26 AMHopefully all these fixes will result in a much better running bike!