Indiana Noob

[JoshC]

Hello,
My names Josh and I'm from Indiana. I just bought my first bike two weeks ago. It is a 79 Suzuki GS550L. Ran great until two days ago. Now it won't even start. Just trying to do some learning and get advice on possible problems!
Josh

[JoshC]

If anyone does actually read this, the bike ran fine two days ago. But then the very next day I went to start the bike, and it backfired and now it will not start. The starter will spin the motor, there is gas in the line, run switch is on, ignition is on, battery is charged, but the bike is not getting any spark. I have pulled the plugs to see if they get a spark and they do not. I just cant imagine the "points" going bad in a day with out showing signs first.

[Squisher]

Welcome to the forum!
Where in IN roughly are you located?

I'm just a little bit south of the middle :)

I'm not really familiar with older suzukis, but you might check and make sure the coil didn't go bad or is getting proper voltage.

I know on my more modern 'zuk the battery can be strong enough to turn the motor over but not strong enough for spark, so you *may* just have a weak battery. Any clue how old the battery is?

[JoshC]

Muncie, IN!
I just had the battery charged a few days ago. I'm wondering if maybe the ignition coils shorted out because of an electrical problem i had to fix.

[HKshooter]

Tell us more about this problem you had to fix.

[JoshC]

Problem was located at the fuse box. If the most bottom left wire was wiggled then the lights on the tree would go out and the bike wouldn't have power. I have fixed that issue it seems but now have a bigger issue. Possible shorting of the ignition coils?

[Squisher]

Maybe, maybe just no power at all. Also, a battery on the way out can lose a surprising amount of juice just overnight, or if you have other electrical issues you may have a parasitic drain outside of normal battery wear.

You'll want at the very least a wiring diagram for that bike so you can make sure things are hooked up right. A basic voltmeter/multimeter will help a lot too (a sub $20 one will work fine for this kind of stuff, I bought mine at Lowes, pretty sure Walton's mart has 'em too.)


Problem was located at the fuse box. If the most bottom left wire was wiggled then the lights on the tree would go out and the bike wouldn't have power. I have fixed that issue it seems but now have a bigger issue. Possible shorting of the ignition coils?

Without knowing that model of bike in particular it sounds like a weak ground issue, or weak battery. Good luck! Electrical gremlins can be a PAIN.