'98 GS500E won't start

D

djzubah

New member
Hey i was looking through this forum and some others to figure out if i could see what might be wrong but to no avail.

Here is the problem: A few days ago i laid my bike down to the left as soon as i pulled in the garage and turned it off. I thought the kickstand was down but it wasn't lol. And the bike was off so as soon as I got off it fell over and i picked it up. I didn't do anything to it until today when i tried starting it in the morning. The lights come on. I have the killswitch in the run position and the bike in neutral with the kickstand up and i try to start it but nothing happens. The lights don't even dim.

I've checked the fuses which are both good. I've checked the killswitch as well which seems to be okay. I have read about something called a tip over sensor but I can't find it.

Any ideas?
 
Don't think the GS500 has a tipover sensor. Since the bike doesn't even try to start, my thought is one of the safety lockouts (clutch switch, kickstand switch) is stuck. Try and check them with a meter, or unplugging the connectors and shorting the connector out with a paperclip.
 
Well, first off, just dropping a bike from a standstill won't do anything catastrophic mechanically.

Since the lights don't even dim, I am going to assume that there is no solenoid actuation as well. (the starter does not click). For this reason, I would think you have an electrical issue.

My first guess is that some sort of wired connection has loosened or lost contact, perhaps from the impact of falling over. I think TK has some good ideas. I would also suggest looking at the battery itself. Maybe when the bike fell over, some of the connectors shifted? I would also check the wiring on the starter itself. I do not recall the GS500 too well, but I am thinking the connector on the starter may have suffered some damage.
 
thanks for the suggestions. I tried bypassing the switch for the kickstand and secured a wire from the green to black terminal. this wasn't the problem either. I am looking at a service manual and it mentions the clutch switch but i don't know where it is physically on the bike or how to bypass it. Also i don't have a meter. I will go buy one if the clutch switch bypass doesn't work.
 
The clutch switch will be in the clutch lever perch. It is a sliding contact switch and it is conceivable that it got broken when the bike went over. There will be 2 lines attached to it that will be connected to the main wiring harness somewhere close to the headlight. They will each have a bullet connector to fit to the harnes, one male and one female. By removing them from the harness and joining the two harness connectors together you will have "jumped" it and the bike should then fire. Make sure the bike is in neutral before you hit the button .

If it is broken don't forget to replace it as it is a safety feature.

Good luck,
Spyug
 
Thanks spyug for the detailed response. Unfortunately i bypassed the clutch switch and it didn't start. I then tried bypassing both clutch and sidestand switches but that yielded nothing as well. It is starting to get frustrating haha.

any other ideas?
 
well i feel dumb.. turns out i kept thinking the side stand switch and the side stand switch relay were the same thing. I took off the left panel of the bike and traced the switch to wear the connectors are. I bypassed the switch here and it started!

thanks for all of your help!
 
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