Another Suzuki GN250 thread

[mrshinyredplanet]

Hey there!

New owner of a suzuki GN250, 1983 model. Planning to all repairs myself to learn about circuitry and engines. For me, it is a week old, have done around 100km before I ran into problems with the electrical circuit. Got the bike woffed the day this all began.

Was driving along and the engine sputtered and died. Bike wouldn't turn on with key, so I walked home and checked out the fuse and circuitry. The wires directly before the fuse had worn through insulation and had rusted and broken, so I fixed that. Bike turned on with a push start, let it idle for three minutes then turned it off.

Next morning I started my bike up (with the choke in) to head to university, and it turned on. As I revved my bike in neural I hit a flat spot in the carb and the bike died. Since then, I have not been able to get the bike back to starting. Won't start with a push start, jump start or the electrical system. Battery is dead, to say the least, from all my first attempts to start it that day. Got myself a multimeter (how do I use this thing?).

Engine turns over, but there is no spark from the plug - I checked the spark cover against the engine (doing this correctly?). Easy to reach connections are all tight. Where to from here? Sorting the battery first seems to be the right step, can I charge a battery off a car?

Thanks for your help, really looking to resolving these problems and getting back out onto the road!

[hayd3n]

get a battery charger preferably a trickle one they suit motorbike battery's better
find a service manual theres a few online or your local library

[ducatilover]

I've got a GN manual hosted here dl.dropbox.com/u/26633588/GN250%20Manual.pdf

Check spark by having the plug in the lead, with the steel against a good earth

[Akzle]

a multimeter does lots of things. for most of these you'll be measuring resistance.
check for things that fuck out a spark (CDI/ points/ magneto/ igniter) compare to factory specs per that homie's linked manual.
spark can fail or ground out anywhere along the lead (/coil), so measure it's resistance, or try cranking the bike in a dark garage, with all the windows shut, and watch for loose arc-ing.

"flat spot in carb then died" sounds like you're out of fuel.

also, get a new plug if you haven't already, and gap it properly.

[mrshinyredplanet]

Thanks for all the help. Turns out it was simply just a bad spark plug and a dead battery! Thats fixed now, was riding fine. Now to sort out the clunks and squeaks in my gear box...