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Electrical Diagnosis Questions GL1200

824 views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  Dwight58 
#1 ·
My GL1200a died last fall while riding to work, and it seemed like my 7 year old AGM battery had finally packed it in. However, it acted a lot like everybody talks about fading pulse generators.

The charging system was ok (poor boy alternator) so I put in a new battery. I only had a chance to ride a couple more times, and it acted like it wasn't going to start.

So, I did the starter rebuild with the addition of a new ground wire on the brush plate trick. Next I'm going to do some riding and hope that either (a) all my problems are over, or (b) faulty pulse generators are going to manifest.

Finally, the questions:

1) Would a dying old battery logically kill a running bike engine, or once it's going, does the battery even matter?
2) Is there a good solid test for the PGs, rather than riding around until they start to fail on me?

I'm gonna start some long rides next year, and I want to get this baby in tip top shape. If I have to replace the PGs for peace of mind, I will. The bike is an 85, with only 75,000 km on it. (<50k miles)
 
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#3 ·
yes that is the impression I got of the PG's going out, starts runs fine, but when it gets HOT (~operating temp+?) the PG's fail/motor dies, only to come back to life (for a little while) when the PG's cool off ... until the motor gets hot again; let it cool off and starts.... so on a n so fourth. a person can get an multimeter/ohm meter and check the resistance of the PG's; it is the little plug with 4 connections/wires going to it on the L side of the battery. it is held there in a bracket on the frame,


unplug it with motor/key OFF, and put the probes to the terminals going to the motor/PG's. they should read 1200 ohms +/- 100 ohms (1100-1300 ohms is good). problem is, it fails when they are warm/hot, some ppl can get the thing to die when the bike is warming up on the stand and when it dies, check the PG's at the plug RIGHT THEN to see if they are ~1200 ohms and not I for INFINITY (resistance).


when they go out riding, the ignition just quits... but I thought that I read that at least one of them (there are 2 PG's) would make the bike run on 2 cyls? yes/no? I saw a thing on U tube abt that, guy took a heat gun and warmed up the PG's... they were fine when cold, but warmed up... the Ohms started to jump all over the place as the LITTLE WIRE in them is broken and makes sporadic contact depending on temperature. if u get "new" (used) PG's test them with a heat gun, yes? but I don't know what is "too hot" for a PG and not cook it? 220 degrees? 250?


I read that the PG's have to put in there JUST SO for the SPACING to be PERFECT...and the motor to run??? and are on the BACK OF THE MOTOR requiring the removal of the swing arm to get to them on the 84; on the front of the motor on the 85 and up models, thank u Honda... u could have thought about that just a LITTLE BIT earlier... as in... 84 (sigh)? I wish they would call them what they are... IGNITION PICK UPS; but what do I know
 
#4 ·
About the only thing I can think of takes quite a bit of work. That is take the PG's off and hook an ohm meter to them. Leave the pigtail hang out of the oven and turn the oven on. Watch the ohm meter. When it reaches a certain temp the meter will go extremely high or open suddenly. Then as it cools with the oven door open watch them come back to life. It's kind of remarkable but it works. Don't set the oven over 180 degrees. :)

Extremely unlikely a battery problem. Almost impossible. :)
 
#5 ·
With the OEM stator the bike will run on just the charging system and can even be push started without a battery.

With an external alternator it depends on if the alternator is charging at idle, some do some don't.

You didn't say whether your bike quit at speed or when stopped (idling).
 
#8 ·
Thanks fellows: Some info in response to all these posts. Bike was running when it quit - it slowly sputtered to death, not instantly, like it was gradually losing power. My bike is an 85, so PGs in front :)
I have a poor boy alternator - a Chevy Spark one I believe.

I think I'll ride it up and down my local backroad for a while before I try the 40km ride to work again, and see if it fails again. If I get the hot stop, cold run thing happening, then new PGs it is!
 
#10 ·
dont know what model GW you have but since you have the poorboy installed i'd be watching and checking the voltages,also possible you have a connector problem
 
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