Need help with a bike that dies please!

[soydeoax]

Hello all I'm a newbie having issues with my 2000 gz250 with 6800 miles which I've had for about a month.

Tonight it happened as I was slowing down and from about 30-35 mph for a red light. Bike died all lights went dim and was unable to restart.

Same problem last week. Same situation but this time I was able to slow all the way down, stop and then died right at the red light. Again all lights dim or dead and not even a weak crank from starter.

First time it happened it was right in my driveway. Pulled in clutch put bike in gear and as soon as I revved up it died. Same end result.

There's been couple times where the bike made my 70 mile work commute with the only issue. The battery going dead after I get home. So I make it home OK but battery won't have enough juice to start bike again.

So far I've tried a few things but no luck fixing the issue. Tonight I had new battery I just purchased and had charged all day. Put seafoam in tank, checked all fuses and visible connections. Other than that issue bike runs very smooth and starts right up once its been sitting there a while and the battery is fully charged. Hope someone here can help.

Thanks very much.

[5th_bike]

2000[...]Tonight[...]Bike died all lights went dim and was unable to restart.[...]Again all lights dim or dead and not even a weak crank from starter. [..]Pulled in clutch put bike in gear and as soon as I revved up it died. [..] 70 mile work commute [...]The battery going dead after I get home. So I make it home OK but battery won't have enough juice to start bike again. Tonight I had new battery I just purchased and had charged all day. Put seafoam in tank, checked all fuses and visible connections. Other than that issue bike runs very smooth and starts right up once its been sitting there a while and the battery is fully charged. Hope someone here can help.
Thanks very much.
Good call on the battery, 70 miles is enough to recharge a good battery so you did need a new one.
Other than that :??: Doesn't sound like the side stand switch, because your lights die with the engine.
The way you describe it, it sounds more like there is some major bad electric connection somewhere around the battery. With a bike from 2000, that's possible, because of its age.
Did you check the electric connections under the tank too? The tank is really easy to remove. And the connections at the fuse box ? You know where it is.
Sorry I can't be of any more help now, but don't worry, someone else will chime in for sure.

[soydeoax]

I did check all connections at fuse box, pulled out and back in all fuses. I didn't remove tank but did look under it with flash light and didn't see anything unplugged or ripped. I just don't understand why it runs great without any issues until that happens! All power goes out and won't even push start. I've check battery with volt meter after it happens and it goes way down to 5-6 volts but then an hour later is back to 10-11. Still won't start bike but light look brighter and I can get at least one weak starter turn and hear the relay click.

[Water Warrior 2]

I once had a poor intermitant connection on my driving lights. A test light would work and my meter said all is good but there was not enough juice to light things up. Stripped out some connectors and re-did them. Problem solved. An almost good connection can be hardest to find because it will show up as good when you look for the problem. Pull the tank and start jiggling wires with the headlight on. If it goes dim you are getting close. Also look for wires that have been worn through and touching the frame. Around the bars and steering head where the wires bend and twist is a good spot to check.

[soydeoax]

Thanks both 5th and warrior .I will do the tank removal and check the wires with the light on tomorrow after I get bike back home. It's been frustrating getting stranded twice now and probably more until I get this issued figure out and fixed.

[alantf]

Have you checked the charging system? Probably not that, but something you need to eliminate. Charge battery, & it should read around 12.8V. Start bike & rev up to around 4000 revs. Check the battery while this is happening, & the reading should go up to around 13.8V. :2tup:

[Gz Rider]

...

[mrlmd1]

Battery connections can come loose or build up corrosion so you are not drawing full power or are not charging.
Your battery may have been OK - you have to fully charge it first then measure the voltage again about a half hour later so the "surface charge" dissipates, then test it with a load tester. By replacing the battery you may have cleaned up and tightened the connectors so your problem could have been solved that way. A short would probably have blown a fuse or melted/burned some wiring.

[Gz Rider]

...

[soydeoax]

Went and got bike last night. Took the old battery fully charged with me and was gonna switch batteries to get it started but was able to start with the battery (the new one) that was in the bike. Ran OK for a few blocks then as I stopped to make a turn bike died again. This time I switched batteries and started right up but very rough idle. I avoided stopping completely, kept it half choked and revving high and rough but made it home. I will check charging system today and will look at wires for a short. Have checked all fuses in fuse box and main 20 volt fuse and everything is good with the right capacity and haven't had a single one gone bad.

Again thank you all, I will keep you posted.

[mrlmd1]

If you are looking for a short, make sure you check the wiring inside the headlight bucket. Things get frayed as the wires pass into it or a connection may be loose or dirty in there. If the bike quit as you turned the bars that may be a place to look (or did it quit before you turned?) Either way, look in there.
It sounds more like you have a carb problem (ie, dirt) if it stills runs rough with a new battery (battery may have nothing to do with your problem). You may have a plugged idle jet and either carb cleaner or taking it apart and cleaning it would be a good idea if you have to ride it like that.

[soydeoax]

Looked for a short today. Removed tank and headlight. Lifted all wires from frame and didn't find any signs of wear. Unplugged and plugged back all connectors and didn't feel anything loose or corroded. I did find and two-wire male plug inside the headlight that didn't have anything connected to but didn't see any unplugged female plug anywhere in there. Started bike without a problem on first crank and ran very smooth. Battery was at 12.5 volts before start and stayed there or a bit below as bike was running and revving I'd say up to 4 or 5 thousand rpm. I unplugged the two-wire plug out of rectifier and was only getting up to 3 volts as I revved up and down.

Could a bad rectifier be causing my problem? (I did check the AC current going out of stator and get close to 60w from at least two of the three wires)

[alantf]

I did find and two-wire male plug inside the headlight that didn't have anything connected to it

I'm assuming that the American/European bikes are fitted with a standard, universal, wiring harness. The European bikes have an extra 5W bulb in the headlight shell that comes on with the other lights. This is to comply with European (especially English) parking regs. I've checked the wiring diagram, and the 2-wire plug has a -ve, and a +ve coming from the ignition switch, so I assume that this connector is for the front parking light that stops on in the ignition switch "park" position. :)

[mrlmd1]

A battery at 12.5 V is about 25-30% discharged. It may take a while for the voltage to come up if it's that low. Put the battery on a charger and bring it up to 12.6-12.8V at full charge and them measure it the next day to see if it holds the charge. Also measure the voltage at the battery after you bring it up to full charge then with the engine running to see what your system is putting out. You might have a short or light on or something you haven't found yet drawing your system down. (That's in addition to cleaning the carb),
To Alan - those extra wires in there can be used as power plugs to wire up some low draw accessory, like a cellphone charger or GPS or something similar.

[5th_bike]

Thinking it over, it could also be a bad contact at the key. The way you describe things, it's like the bike is just being turned off with the ignition key. So check around there too, please. Or, if the bike does it again, see if wiggling the key a bit helps.

I'm afraid there is not much else to do than to go by up the wiring diagram in the owner's manual, and check all wires and connections related to starting/ignition/running.

[alantf]

To Alan - those extra wires in there can be used as power plugs to wire up some low draw accessory, like a cellphone charger or GPS or something similar.

Sure - but like I said, that's only on the American bikes. My European bike has the front parking light connected to them, so our members from Italy etc wouldn't be able to connect anything to them. :2tup:

[Water Warrior 2]

To Alan - those extra wires in there can be used as power plugs to wire up some low draw accessory, like a cellphone charger or GPS or something similar.

Sure - but like I said, that's only on the American bikes. My European bike has the front parking light connected to them, so our members from Italy etc wouldn't be able to connect anything to them. :2tup:
Alantf, is that front park light connector only powered up with the key in the park position ? Dumb question I guess but it would be useless to power anything else on an American or Canadian bike.

[alantf]

No, the front parking light is lit all the time the bike is running. It's a separate circuit from the ignition switch so that it also comes on in the "park" position like the rear lamp.

[mrlmd1]

Where is that front parking bulb located? It's on all the time when the ignition is on in addition to the headlight, and stays on in the key PARK position with the front side markers and rear lights on?

[alantf]

Where is that front parking bulb located? It's on all the time when the ignition is on in addition to the headlight, and stays on in the key PARK position with the front side markers and rear lights on?

The bulb pops through a hole in the bottom of the headlight reflector. It's on all the time as well as the headlight. In "park", both this front light, and the rear light come on. There are no side markers on the European bikes (that's just an American thing) so the turn signals have a single filament bulb.

[Water Warrior 2]

No, the front parking light is lit all the time the bike is running. It's a separate circuit from the ignition switch so that it also comes on in the "park" position like the rear lamp.
That is the answer I wanted to hear. The parking light connector could be used to trigger a relay for a more power hungry add-on such as driving lights or heated grips.