Shifting gear and Battery issues of S50

P

P.Doff

New member
Hi All,

After several days riding of my 2005 S50(add about 500 miles), I found some questions and needs your help.

1. Sometimes it is hard to shift to 1st gear from neutral, and shifting gears are not smooth. Is there any way to adjust the clutch engage point? or any way to make the shifting smoothly?

2. My battery conditions are:

12.6v with key off, and 11.9v after ignition, 12.7v in idle,
about 13.7-13.9 with full throttle.

Is my battery healthy? My bike died twice, one was in my garage(and I jumped from my SUV), the other one died on the road about 30 miles from home.

I know there is a "star washer" issue on S50's battery, so I put the washers on when got the bike. But the problem still exists.

I checked voltage after each ride, I am going to replace a new battery. But I am afraid the problem might still exist.

By the way, I have a "CLYMER. SUZUKI VS700-800 INTRUDER
 
There is no way to adjust the hydraulic clutch, but shifting will become smoother as you get used to it. Don't be too gentle though- the S50 likes a firm foot on the shifter.
When you did the star washer thing, did you also make sure the cables were angled correctly? If they come to near the metal battery box they will arc and cause the bike to die. Also, some batteries have screw-on terminals, so you have to make sure those are tight as well as the cables to the terminals. And I do mean tight- with a ratchet, bot a screwdriver or nut driver, as anything other than really, really tight can cause problems. Also make sure the battery is not sliding forward or moving around, causing the cables to touch metal and ground out. Put a chunk of wood or ruber in there to make the battery nice and tight in the box.

As for the Clymer, yes, it will help you in general, as the bike is virtually unchanged since then, other than the fake air cleaner/ toolbox.

Your 'key off' and idle voltage looks fine, but charging system output should be more like 14-15v at 5000 RPM. I'd pull out the battery and check the specific gravity (anything over 1.230 is probably fine) and also do a no-load test on the charging system. All three connections should give you 65 v or more. If they do, pull your voltage regulator and have a dealer test it, as they have the special meter calibrated to match the ohm chart in the Clymers.
 
No way to tell for sure with only voltage readings. Need a load test or.....since it's 3 years old, just get a new one. Be sure the new one is fully charged before you install it.



Usually. A failing battery could cause that to read a little lower than normal. :cool:
 
I've had two S50s and one of them was a noisy shifter. I learned to shift differently using a little preload and it worked great. If you need help with that just ask. I just had shoulder surgery and don't feel like typing left handed any more now.
 
Ok, thanks for the information. The follow up issue is,

Followed the Clymer repair manual, I decided to check the charging system,

1 Start up engine,
2. Disconnect the alternator/Regulator connector(3 yellow wires).
3. Measure any two of the three yellow wires of alternator.
4. rev it up, and read the AC voltage.

The weired thing was, I get only 10V(AC) on any pairs of the alternator terminal...
Revved it up, and I got the same voltage..

I know specs say the voltage of alternator should be at 65V AC.

Is it the proof of alternator problem?

If the alternator gave me only 10V ac, why the vlotmeter(DC) was read higher than 13.8v?

Do I miss anything?:fight1:
 
Yes, if you are correctly testing the three wires, and getting 10v, that is a sign of a charging system problem like a bad stator. This is a rather unusual problem for the VS800 though- you might was the have a shop double check your findings before you buy one though. Do you have a tach? The test calls for 5000 RPM, as the three-stage stator is RPM sensitive, so if you are not at 5000 RPM your reading will be way off.
 
I am sure of two things,

1. The multimeter was in the right range(200v AC, and checked the wall outlet for 110v before using it)
2. I am not sure of 5000rpm(cause I don't have tachometer), but I am sure of the almost full throttle while measuring the AC voltage.

And the specfic data are,

for 3 yellow wires from alternator(A,B,C)
AB - 10.0v AC at idle, 13.xv AC almost full throttle.
AC - 10.0v AC at idle, 13.xv AC almost full throttle.
BC - 10.0v AC at idle, 13.xv AC almost full throttle.

and I checked the three yellow wires for inner resistance(ohm).
AB - 0.6ohm
AC - 0.6ohm
BC - 0.6ohm

and I checked the three yellow wires with the ground for continuity.
A&Ground - infinite
B&Ground - infinite
C&Ground - infinite

the 13.xv AC at almost full throttle should be wrong, right?

I am going to disassemble the alternator, maybe replace the stator with this
eBay Motors: SUZUKI S50 VS 800 stator, 06-07, S50 VS 800

Anyone has experience on this stator?
Any suggestion?
 
Yes that SOUNDS like it is wrong......HOWEVER......

You are about to expend a lot of time and money that may not be necessary.

The best way to test the charging system is for actual DC output under load.
The component that fails most often in the electrical system is the BATTERY.

Have you fully charged the battery and had it load tested yet ??
You said you were going to get a new battery; have you done that yet ??

If not, you REALLY should.....and then check the alternator DC output again before you start tearing things apart.

Many have gone down the road you are looking at and many have been sorry.
 
My first S50 would sometimes really grind the gears. I was shifting with two distinct actions, pull in the clutch lever, then shift. Even if I did that quickly I could get a noisy banging of gear teeth in particular when I was riding aggressively.

What I do now is put some upward pressure on the foot shifter lever, then quickly pull in the clutch lever while assertively shifting with the foot. As the clutch disengages the bike pops into the next gear with almost no sound at all. With a little practice a shift can be done very quickly. Sometimes with too much pressure up the bike will shift without the clutch but that's not a problem. I don't use this technique for downshifting however.

So give it a try and see if it helps. Easy Rider has described a similar practice too. Let us know if it works for you.
 
My S50 also has the neutral to first trouble. On occasion, like sitting at a light, I'll put it in neutral and then have trouble getting into first. I let the clutch out about a third to half way and it slips right into first. Works every time. I hope that helps.
 
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