So the GS is my only source of transportation right now and every so often whether its due to heat or the light being a bit too long; I will cut the bike off for just a moment so it doesn't overheat with the fairings on. But lately after doing so I will get....nothing. No starter noise or anything. Just a dimming of the neutral/oil light but the motor won't turn over. I've been stuck in the middle of an intersection for about 15 minutes trying to figure out what the hell is going on. So what could it be? Time to change the starter solenoid? Bad starter button? Anyone?

How hot is it there/how long do u ride stuck in traffic that it overheats?

clutch switch?

Are you sure your battery isn't dying?

Do you leave the key in the on position when you turn the bike off?  Sounds like your battery is weak.

I know i need a new battery and have to unplug my headlight to get it started without a jump if it sits for a while.

yea that sounds like a weak battery. or battery connections isnt well connected so that battery isnt really charging.  plus if you turn off the bike and dont turn that key..i think your lights will remain on..which drains the battery as well, (this is from an 08 GS).

Quote from: Bluehaze on August 19, 2009, 04:46:09 PM
yea that sounds like a weak battery. or battery connections isnt well connected so that battery isnt really charging.  plus if you turn off the bike and dont turn that key..i think your lights will remain on..which drains the battery as well, (this is from an 08 GS).

good call.

not to mention you shouldn't need to turn off the bike. so long as there is a little breeze and you aren't revving it - things will be fine. YOU will cook, but the bike doesn't care.

turning off the bike at a light is a bad, bad idea for your safety. keep her in gear, keep her turned on, and swivel your head - you won't believe how many close calls happen just next to you at red lights.



ps- your battery called, it's almost dead.

Yeah, I live in Hades AKA Florida and never turn off my bike at lights or the I-4 parking lot for that matter. You would be amazed at how bad my battery was but yet the little guy kept giving me just enough to get going!

+1 always keep your bike in gear and constantly watch your Six at a redlight. Make sure you have a way out of any situation. The "What If" game is good to play at red lights!

Mary

i don't see how this sounds like a weak battery. it starts fine one minute, and doesn't even click the next... probably not the problem. nor does it sound like the switch is the problem. it dims a light you said. if it does something, then the switch is working.

Yea if it finally starts back up ... it can be that starter switch itself ... I have had to put lead on it with a soldering Iron however, that is a slippery slope, lead is a lot softer than the copper they used, so it will wear faster with repeated contact and what not, and every year it may need it, more wiht heavy use.
Cool.
Buddha.

Quote from: Toogoofy317 on August 19, 2009, 07:11:29 PM

+1 always keep your bike in gear and constantly watch your Six at a redlight. Make sure you have a way out of any situation. The "What If" game is good to play at red lights!

++1. Like Never - not ever - pull up smack bang middle front wheel six inches behind the back of a truck. You've got nowhere to go if things get bad behind you.

Likewise, if you haven't already got the message... don't turn off your bike until you get where you are going. It's your escape vehicle should you need it. But I think this is a lessoned learned now. And now there is a problem to solve...

Michael

I don't know why people keep thinking just because you're uncomfortable means your bike is. You're bike doesn't care that it's 90 degrees and 100% humidity, to your bike it's 90 degrees. People who ride in the desert have more to worry about since it's even hotter there. To your bike it's the heat NOT the humidity. I've ridden my GS in Las Vegas stop and go, mostly stop, traffic in 115 degree heat and the bike did just fine aside from a little bit less smooth shifting indicating the oil was thinning out just a tad but nothing too serious. If you start noticing your idle dropping and a loss in power then it's time to get moving to cool it off or at most shut it off and let cool for a few minutes. Aside from that I don't even think there's a report on this forum ever of a guy actually roasting his engine.

If you're still worried about heat switch to synthetic, those won't break down except in the most extreme high heat conditions, and why is it people in Florida always think they're bikes have it so bad? I feel sorry for the bikes in Death Valley or in the Nevada or Arizona desert where it gets truly hot. I've ridden there and it's so hot a carbed bike won't start after shutting off because of vapor lock, you have to sometimes put it in prime and wait for enough gasoline to boil off and cool the fuel system before restarting it, the the the GS engines nonetheless do just fine. Now the ones in trouble are Harley's, rear cylinders seizing up are not an uncommon sight in the desert area, especially when people start hot rodding their bikes with higher compression ratios and stuff.

It's not the numbers that make Florida bad it is the shear humidity. One evening it was 85 out (not bad) but the humidity literally boiled my legs had to wear pants working security for a concert. When I got to the locker room my legs were so red and hot that I could not get my pants or riding boots on. I HAD to wear shorts and tennis shoes home and I was scared to death. Went to the doc about it and he said the humidity and heat pretty much caused a steam effect that had started to literally cook my legs!

Here is a pic and this wasn't the worst part. BTW this was a six hour shift!


Mary

Rash looks bad, some people have sensitive skin, I can take extreme heat like no one's business regardless of humidity. I rode in Vegas in an armored unvented black leather jacket, gaunlet gloves, jeans and leather boots. The whole shebang, aside from sweating a lot and needing to drink about a quart of water every half hour I was no worse for wear. But the point is you could be sunburnt pealing and covered in boils because the weather was so bad. But does your GS care? Nope it'll keep running far longer after you've given up, that is as long as it's been properly maintained and has a good synthetic oil. All the old school simple bikes will run beyond anything you could throw at it, they get their reputation for durability for a reason. I rode my Honda Rebel to Las Vegas and back in the summer heat, full throttle near redline in 110-120 degree heat for basically 5 hours each way. It did just fine. I did not, I felt like passing out when going through Baker because I had basically lost a ton of water and electrolytes, I was heat exhausted by then. And I've run half marathons in 100 degree weather before that wore me out less than a ride through the desert, the dehydration will take it's toll on you quicker than you imagine. You probably weren't on your hands and knees puking from heat exhaustion but there were a couple of people around the gas station saying they saw some bikers stop and fall to the ground puking their guts out then having to drink water to make up for what they lost and puking that out again. The desert kills, Florida is easy. I went through there in summer before, also was stationed in South Carolina too so I know what heat and humidity feel like. All I have to say is unless you've ridden through both areas you'd know the high desert is by far the worst.

90 degrees and 100% humidity is better for it than 90 degrees and 10% humidity.
Humidity increases the thermal capacity of the air. You dump a bunch of heat into a contained air mass and its temperature does not rise as much as if it was dumped into a dry air mass... (though in a open road it doesn't matter)

Humidity increases the thermal conductivity of the air. As in, when it contacts your motor it has a capacity to pull more heat into the air. So if it was in a air tight box ... it will take more heat away form the motor and it will warm up to your engine temperature slower than the same volume of dry air. Ergo, you will seize the motor sooner in AZ than in NC.

Cool.
Buddha.

Yep, Buddha's right.  We hate heat with high humidity because it makes us uncomfortable, but air-cooled bikes love humidity from a cooling standpoint.  As he said, humidity increases thermal conductivity of the air, and our engine is trying to stay below about 275 degrees, so the air is comparatively very cold no matter how hot it is, and more humid air is better for cooling, not that it's not designed to cool adequately in high temps and low humidity, because it is.  In fact, in cool weather our bike cools itself too well, taking over half an hour to warm-up completely.

Stop worrying about your bike overheating.  Just make sure it has enough clean oil in it at all times.

Is that 275 head temp, block temp or oil temp? Because bulk oil temp on hot 100 degree days rarely exceeds 230. To go from 230 to 275 would mean a 45 degree rise. So theoretically 145 degree ambient would be the GS's doom point. The hottest I've experienced is 128 degrees in Death Valley so I suppose getting stuck in a traffic jam there would probably seize your engine, and 115 in Vegas for me was probably severely stressing the engine since shifting started to get notchy.

Oh yeah Harley's on the side of the road with seized engines are probably the canary in the coal mine that tells you it's probably too hot to ride. I saw a couple of those on my Vegas rides.

Average is a bit worried cos he just lost a motor ...
However I suspect it died more from old age ... as well as problems in its past prolly.
You ever crack that open average dude.

Cool.
Buddha.

Yeah, I said earlier that my bike does fine down here. I however do not LOL! That pic was done with ze camera phone which in no way did it justice it is like the worst feeling trying to sleep and your legs are like a furnace eminating heat 

Avreage pretty sure your bike will be fine. But, if your really worried can't you just put an oil cooler on it like our '04 and up GS has?

Mary

Budapest, I never got a chance to look at the motor. And to all saying that the bike doesn't care...well...I do. And I don't know if any has caught on to the fact that I have F fairings on my bike w/o and oil cooler...may send up a flare or 2...no?