I have issues! With the bike's electrical system, my issues are a totally different subject all together. I was aware of the electrical issue when I purchased the bike so this really isn't any surprise. My issues do tend to be a surprise for some people, hell they surprise me sometimes.
One of my issues is that I tend to make assumptions that are sometimes unfounded in anything other than what I want to be true. I know, they call that fantasy. In this case I assumed that a wiring harness for a 1986 LS650 would be the same as a wiring harness for a 2004 LS650. This turned out to be ...wait for it......fantasy. This point being made, if anybody needs an 04 wiring harness contact me. I'll let it go cheap!
The previous owner told me the bike needed a stater, not starter but stater. I proceeded to check all the things I could externally as explained in the manual. I didn't have any answers from this procedure so I decided to crack things open and remove the stator cover and stater.
Everything looks pretty good considering the age of the bike and the outer appearance. The test described in the manual all show a reading for a good stater. The only option here is to throw some money at it and start swapping parts. Not likely.
I will make a point here that I can not stress enough, "If you have a motorcycle go to the appropriate forum for you bike and poke around. Ask questions, be humble and learn a few things." Most bikes have a forum specific to that bike and there are a lot of folks with a lot of knowledge, more than willing to share. If you are having a problem with your bike do a search you may find the answer there. Read some of the post and notice who is replying to them. There always seems to be one or two guys that are kind of the gurus of these forums and really know what they are talking about. I have saved thousands of dollars on my other bikes by simply asking questions. Somebody has already had your problem and can usually tell you how to fix it, where to get the parts, and maybe even direct you to a how to website. That bit of knowledge is what really gave me the courage to tackle this project. This leads me to the Savage forum.
The guys there suggested I check the stator with the motor running so that meant some partial reassembly, aka reconnect the wiring harness. That is when I found out the 04 wiring harness was not going to work. Once again if anybody needs one let me know. This was actually much quicker and faster than I had expected as there is really only one way to connect things and they are pretty much color coded.
This looks like a rats nest but not so much. Really!
Once everything was connected and the fuel supply was restored I tried the starter.... nothing. Checked the connections and hit it again...... nothing. I thought back to the last time I had started the bike before I began disassembling it and remembered a little puff of smoke from the starter wire. I removed the starter and found it would not turn. I then removed the ends and found that the starter was totally fried.
Maybe charred is a better word.
Tracing back I found a bare spot on the starter wire that might possibly be my problem, at least where the starter is concerned.
Fortunately there is a local shop that repairs starters and alternators so I took the starter and the starter solenoid there to have them repaired and checked. When I get these parts back I will try again and track this problem down. Maybe I will work on a few other items while I wait. Check back soon.
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