Hey guys. I just bought my GS last week so I'm still getting used to everything. One thing that has happenend twice now to me in the past week is that the starter seems go dead. It'll try to start it for a second or 2, then I'll stop cranking, pull the throttle a little and hit it again. Starts up everytime. Except 2 times now, the starter hasn't engaged on the second try in my sequence.

Sounds electrical, right? Well here's where it gets weird. When I hit the button and nothing happens, the headlight dims, so the circuit is clearly pulling power, but still no crank. Then I can roll the bike forward or backward about 2 steps, and everything is back to normal.

Anyone got ideas on this?

P.S. (because this doesn't deserve it's own thread) Where is the fusebox on my '93 GS?

...Don't know much about the starter so I'll bite on the easier one....
Fuse is located on the right side of the rear plastics.  Someone else already thought it deserved a whole thread about the fuse location  , so I'll link you to that where it shows a picture of the location as well.

- Bboy

It could be that there is a bad connection with your starter motor. On the right hand side of the bike under the rear fairings, there is a  metal cylinder about an inch long with a rubber boot over it. That's the starter relay, make sure everything is connected snugly, check for cuts in the wires. Because the lights are dimming (not cutting out), it's possible the starter is connected and needs a rebuild (new brushes).

Do the lights dim and you get a clicking noise or just dim?  Make sure the battery is fully charged. Clean the terminals too -make sure they are tight.

Does it do this in neutral or only in gear?

Clean all the connections in the circuit -clean all the grounds and resecure them. The bike was apart and painted (read your other posts to see where you are) so something may have not gone back together perfectly.

You said "pull the throttle" - the throttle is on the right side and you twist it- You pull the clutch lever (left bar) in to start the bike-it has a safety switch--the clutch switch can become dirty and give intermittent problems--- or  you aren't pulling the lever in  far enough to close the contact in the safety switch.
The starter button contact can get dirty from lack of use  and critters (spiders) making homes in the switch gear.

The part where you roll it back and forth...is that in gear-clutch engaged- turning the engine  a little?

Thanks for the link BockinBBoy 

Quote from: Jared on June 17, 2012, 04:58:05 AM

Do the lights dim and you get a clicking noise or just dim?  Make sure the battery is fully charged. Clean the terminals too -make sure they are tight.
Terminals are clean, battery is charged and brand new. There is no clicking sound when this happens, just the light dim.
Does it do this in neutral or only in gear?
So far it has only been in neutral. I read somewhere you shouldn't shift a bike's gear's when it's turned off, and I park it in neutral.
Clean all the connections in the circuit -clean all the grounds and resecure them. The bike was apart and painted (read your other posts to see where you are) so something may have not gone back together perfectly.

You said "pull the throttle" - the throttle is on the right side and you twist it- You pull the clutch lever (left bar) in to start the bike-it has a safety switch--the clutch switch can become dirty and give intermittent problems--- or  you aren't pulling the lever in  far enough to close the contact in the safety switch.
The starter button contact can get dirty from lack of use  and critters (spiders) making homes in the switch gear.
I pull the clutch lever as far back as possible every time. Kind of a pet peeve of mine. I can't drive a stick without fully pushing in tthe clutch pedal either, it just feels unnatural. Anyways, there are ants crawling around the bike every now and then, it was stored in a carport for a couple weeks before I bought it, so that's very possible
The part where you roll it back and forth...is that in gear-clutch engaged- turning the engine  a little?
I roll it back and forth in neutral. Like I said farther up I read somewhere it's not the best idea to shift gears when the bike isn't running, and I park it in neutral. So unless I have some major problems, the engine shouldn't be turning!

Answers in bold 

Based on your answers, I'd say its a bad connection inside your starter motor. Can you get a multimeter to test the continuity of the starter motor? Or measure the voltage as it cranks to see if the line is shorting?

As to parking it in neutral, you can switch gears using the clutch while the bike is off, there is no harm whatsoever. You cannot use enough force to push start the bike in first gear, and the bike will not roll either if you park on a hill or if someone bumps your parked bike when moving in the garage. I park in 1st regardless, always roll it back into neutral before I switch it on.

Sounds similar to a problem Mary had: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=54118

And you can shift with engine off. Sometimes the dogs don't line up, so you have to roll the bike a little bit; so don't apply too much force to the shift lever. And I recommend you park it in 1st gear if you leave it on the side stand. If you park it in neutral and someone bumps into the back of your bike, the side stand will happily fold up and your bike will fall over.

Sounds like it's time for me to start chasing down the connections from the starter button to wherever it goes. I'm painting my tank and tail in a few days so I'll do it then for easy access

Thanks for the parking tip too, I don't want people knocking my bike over! Only I'm allowed to almost drop it....