Hey all, my steering column was locked, and I think a car hit the front wheel from the side. They picked up the bike, but I found that the bolts holding the ignition switch were snapped, the right handlebar was bent, the brake lever was snapped off, and there was a dent in the tank. I tried to start it today, and now notice that it won't start. It cranks, but nothing. I brought the battery in to trickle charge, but it quickly indicated that it was over 80%, so I don't think that's the issue. Haven't had any trouble before. It's an 89. Any thoughts?

I am sure people will chime in soon to help but I just had to say wow that really freakin' sucks... I hate how much damage can be done by just one tip over.  I hope ya get everything fixed and sorted!!

Thanks! Worst part is I just got back from the shop after three weeks of them fixing the fork seals.

Update: Definitely, not the battery. Went out and got a bunch of cranks, but nothing. Oil light is on for the first few cranks, but goes away after.

Make sure the switch that goes the clutch lever is connected and hasnt come lose.

Can you describe what I should be looking at and for? (I have experience working on cars, but none on bikes.) Wouldn't the bike not even allow a crank if it thought the clutch wasn't pulled in?

Very sorry to hear about your bike. I had something similar happen before. Once where a chain link construction fence was knocked over onto my bike and another where a car knocked it over while parking.

You are correct that if the bike is cranking you do not have a problem with one of the safety switches (neutral, side stand, clutch).

You must have either a spark or a fuel issue. Can you confirm that there is plenty of gas in the tank? Try squirting starter fluid into the air filter when you are cranking it. If it momentarily starts up > fuel issue.

Its been a long time since I tested for spark, but I think you can remove the spark plug, leave it plugged in to the coils and then hit the starter. Look for a spark. Do this when its dark or you may not see it.

We need to know if its fuel or spark related before we can figure out what is wrong.

It's got a full tank of gas. So I went to check on the clutch switch, and I don't see it there...it's simply an empty space. Could it be that I bought it this way? What would happen if that were the case? Though I don't see any wires that would run to it...

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Yes, someone probably bypassed it.

Don't test spark that way. Almost, but no cigar. You need to remove a plug, keep the wire on it, and hold the plug onto the engine, to ground it. Then crank the bike and look for sparks. If you don't hold it to the engine it finds a ground. I don't know exactly how powerful the GS is, but the 45,000 Volts my explorer ignition puts out hurt like hell the first time I tried to test spark 
Is your petcock on prime?
Did you ride the bike since you got it back from the shop?

The petcock is set to RES. I don't ever touch it. I rode it from the shop to my place, and then the next day I rode it for 30 minutes or so. Then I didn't ride it for 4 days, which is when I found that it had been knocked over, and that was Monday. I only tried to turn it on yesterday. So I've had it back for roughly a week. I should note that since I am in Manhattan, the ride from the shop was probably only 10 miles at most. The 30 minute ride was a couple of miles at most.

I also checked the choke and see that it seems to be moving the slide. I can smell the fuel when I try to start it.

Any other thoughts? Anything that could have been knocked out? I am hesitant to take the plugs out and test them because even if I do and find no spark, it lives on a street in Manhattan, not the best place to be doing much work especially when I don't know much about bikes.

If I decide to test them, any tips on avoiding the possibility of gas from the cylinder igniting? How far away does it have to be??

Agree, if you're cranking but not starting, it's gotta be fuel or spark.

You can test the plug in 5 seconds the way Slack described. I've never worried about risk of gas from the cylinder, there shouldn't be any in there anyways. If you're worried (do you smell a ton of fumes or something?), place the tip of the spark plug as far away from the opening as possible but still touching the metal part of the engine.

If there's spark, another thing to try is to set your petcock to prime, wait 10 seconds and try to start. If it comes to life, switch it back to ON or RES.

It would really be helpful to check for spark to see if problem is spark or fuel.  That's an 89 so no fairings in the way.  If you don't have a plug wrench to pull a plug just pull off a plug wire and stick something like a screw or nail in the plug wire cap and hold the metal piece close to the head and look for spark.  You'll be glad you clutch switch was bypassed so you won't need 3 hands.   

If you have spark your carbs probably drained while bike was over so putting petcock to prime will bypass vacuum shutoff and fill carbs faster.  Don't know your temps there but probably close to ours here on OH so if it doesn't start with choke try it without it could get flooded instead of dry after cranking a bit.  Hold throttle and choke open and crank if flooding suspected with smell of gas. 

I see another post while I'm typing so I'll leave this and look back later.   

I checked, and both plugs fire. I then turn the ignition to On, and then switched the petcock to prime for 10 or so seconds and then back to Res. I think tried to crank it with the choke off, nothing, throttle pulled, nothing, choke open, nothing, choke and throttle, nothing. Any other ideas?

Quote from: xfmluder on May 22, 2015, 04:11:17 PM
I checked, and both plugs fire. I then turn the ignition to On, and then switched the petcock to prime for 10 or so seconds and then back to Res. I think tried to crank it with the choke off, nothing, throttle pulled, nothing, choke open, nothing, choke and throttle, nothing. Any other ideas?

do you smell fuel coming from somewhere? noticing any drips? if the bikes cranking the starter its not the clutch safety sensor.

Leave the petcock on prime until you get it started, 10 seconds may not be enough.  Just don't leave it on prime if you leave it unattended for a while.  If you can put a jumper to it from a non running car battery it will spin faster and have a hotter spark.

I haven't noticed any drips, I have been on the look out for leaks though. I do smell the gas when I try to start it up, but it's not unusually strong.

Have you tried starter fluid in the air box when starting? That would confirm that you have a fuel issue.

I haven't tried that. Would only an autoparts store carry it or would home depot as well? (This is a major problem with living in NYC).

Also, would I be able to spray the air filter without removing the gas tank?

A small hardware store may have it, or get carburetor cleaner, works just as well. You should be able to get the filter out without removing the tank, just pull the two bolts that hold it on and lift it up. A stubby phillips comes in handy. I would remove the airfilter, if you dont and it gets soaked with starting fluid, a backfire could ignite the filter. I have had this happen in the past, its not something you want to do.

However, it would be easier to diagnose fuel simply by cranking the motor for 30 seconds or so, on prime with choke, then pulling the plugs out. Look for them to be wet, and see if they both smell like gas. This isnt proving the carbs are working perfect, just proving that fuel is getting to the cylinders. I think its very unlikely that the carbs were damaged by a tip over.

As far as other problems, check for damage on the right engine case. The timing is controlled by a rotor on the right side of the crank, and if damaged in the wreck, its possible that the spark could be happening at the wrong time.

So I switched to prime and crank it and it fired right up. Runs smoothly. And fired right up a few hours later too (without being on prime). Thank you everyone for all your help, I am glad nothing is wrong.

New brake lever should arrive soon, mirrors have arrived. I have the 89 clip on handle bars and the right one is totally bent. How hard is it to replace the one bar, and how long of a bar do I need to buy?

Simple things! ... always check the simple things first!