suzuki gs500 rebuild....tart up

[hornet6]

Went to our local bike shop and explained what had happened. The guy there reckons that if the screwdriver touched the frame for just a split second [and it did] it should,nt have done any damage. He says that if you dropped something on the battery and frame and just left it there some time,then yes,the earth cables will fry. He thinks it may be the starter-motor on the way out.Any way Ive decided with the holiday coming up this weekend,I,me just going charge the battery up again,and try and bump start it.   

[spanners]

pity youre not a bit nearer i,d have a look at it 

[hornet6]

Daft question...but can you get bike starter motors reconditioned like you can with a cars? Thats if it is the problem.

[spanners]

good old type autolec recon man should be able to sort one out  after all its only a 12v motor

H&L at buxton  just up the road from nabsims house is very old fashioned and never ever failed me when i,v asked for help and i,v dealt with some wierd and wonderfull stuff

[zakboy]

sounds like one of those annoying probs hornet that can usually be staring you in the face but just can not put ya finger on it, just wondered if the solenoid is on the starter or is it separate had a similar prob on me gs trike turned out to be the solenoid in the end .....if you want me to have a look with you give us a shout.

[hornet6]

Cheers for that zak.Like you say,its probably sommat really silly thats just playing up.Am just gonna try bump starting it sometime over the weekend,and see if I can get it going.

[tbone]

Hiya H, just catching up a bit.

As you said, there is a 20amp fuse on the solenoid, have you changed this?
I believe its a yellow & Green wire that runs from the start switch to the solenoid, you can check there is power to the solenoid using a test lamp/voltmeter on this wire, should be live when the starter is pressed.
Again, using a test lamp, check the current is passing through the solenoid by testing for a feed at the live terminal on the starter.

[hornet6]

Hi.Yes there is a 20 amp fuse which Ive changed,but still nothing.There is only one 20 amp fuse to run the whole bike,which seems odd,but what do I know.  The thing is Ive even got a multimeter and havent got a clue how to use it. Its got to many symbols around the dial.

[tbone]

Something like this? ..........

[tbone]

Your initial check is just to see if there is current where there should be,

Set the dial to V ( 20v is common on these meters, but use the lowest number above 12 that you have.)

Plug the black lead into the COM connection

Plug the red lead into the centre connection ( or equivalent V connection on your meter)

Turn it on

Touch the black probe to an earth point

Touch the red probe to a (what should be) Live point

Look at the reading

[hornet6]

 Cheers for the info t/bone. I tried this with my mate kev who popped round to have a look at it.It seemed at first that we were getting nothing to the solenoid....so just assumed the solenoid was faulty.So,after that,kev was having a look round the wiring where all the connections are plugged in inside the headlamp shell.He took apart a single earth lead and just rubbed off a bit of furring...put it  back together and it fired up first time.Unbelievable.
So every thing seemed fine for a few minutes till it cut out again.Pressing the button and the starter was still working,but just wouldnt start.Checked the plugs and was getting a good spark.Started messing about with the fuel lines and they seemed ok. Then after all that,decided to look in the fuel tank......yep,you guessed.....almost dry. I think when I was bump starting it last weekend,what bit of fuel I,de put in,was sloshing round and working its way into the fuel line...firing up and using it all up...repeating the bump start again....using another little bit of fuel...so on,so on. So tomorrow,straight to the garage and get some more petrol.   

[spanners]

they dont call it  go,,go,, juice for nothing 

[hornet6]

Fuel in tank....still the same.Turning over but not starting...an occasional splutter and thats it....nowt.So frustrating. Tomorrow,I will recheck the fuel lines again,as the set up is a little confusing and awkward.
+

[spanners]

£10 for it 

[hornet6]

HO HO HO.....Managed to get it started ok...but I think its being starved of fuel. It starts with the choke,and once its warmed up,it ticks over nice and even.But as soon as I try to open the throttle,the revs rise a little...then it starts to splutter and goes to stall as if its not getting enough fuel into the carbs. On the gs500 website,they reckon it could be the vacumm operated diaphram on the fuel tap sticking.Will be looking into this at the weekend.