1990 gl1500 not charging.


Information and questions on GL1500 Goldwings (1988-2000)
Post Reply
Khanhhoang
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2024 10:23 pm
Location: Pflugerville tx
Motorcycle: 1990 gl1500

1990 gl1500 not charging.

Post by Khanhhoang »



Recently got myself a gl1500.
Got it running. But Currently its not charging.
I had tried new 55a fuse, new relay, new alternator(3 different brand from amazon). There is power to the green/black wire. I dont know what else to look for. New dampers are coming in the mail as one is broken. But i doubt that causes the issue.
Please help.


User avatar
paseandoconhonda
Posts: 119
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2024 10:55 am
Location: San Justo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Motorcycle: 1988 GL1500
Contact:

Re: 1990 gl1500 not charging.

Post by paseandoconhonda »

To begin with, how do you know that it doesn't load? Did you measure it or is it just because it's hard to start the engine? Many times the battery suffers a short circuit and prevents or complicates charging.
At night and at 100 it is not noticeable.
User avatar
Rambozo
Posts: 4024
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2018 8:36 pm
Location: Disneyland
Motorcycle: 1992 GL1500 Aspencade
Ducati Monster

Re: 1990 gl1500 not charging.

Post by Rambozo »

If the Grn/Blk has switched power, the next thing is to confirm that the big cable has battery voltage, and that the body of the alternator has a good ground. If all that checks out, be sure the alternator is actually spinning when the engine is running.
To be honest it wouldn't surprise me if you got a string of bad alternators from Amazon. Plenty of people here have found that with cheap Chinese alternators, you get what you pay for. Half are DOA and the rest fail in a matter of months.
Khanhhoang
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2024 10:23 pm
Location: Pflugerville tx
Motorcycle: 1990 gl1500

Re: 1990 gl1500 not charging.

Post by Khanhhoang »

My neighbor just smacked me in the head. I cleaned the carb and i think set the idle too low. When i reved it up to abt 2000rpm, i got readings from the alternator. So onto the next question. Whats the ideal idle rpm? The bike is currently idle at about 8-900rpm.
User avatar
paseandoconhonda
Posts: 119
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2024 10:55 am
Location: San Justo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Motorcycle: 1988 GL1500
Contact:

Re: 1990 gl1500 not charging.

Post by paseandoconhonda »

Normal 800 +/- 80 - At idle it generally does not charge, it has to be at more than 2000 rpm
At night and at 100 it is not noticeable.
Khanhhoang
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2024 10:23 pm
Location: Pflugerville tx
Motorcycle: 1990 gl1500

Re: 1990 gl1500 not charging.

Post by Khanhhoang »

Okie. So i didnt mess up the carb. Just too dumb to understand how the alternator works.
ScottTheEngineer
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2023 12:39 pm
Location: Clayton, mi united states
Motorcycle: 99 gl1500

Re: 1990 gl1500 not charging.

Post by ScottTheEngineer »

The idle adjust is located under the gas tank hatch on the left. Little knob. There's another post on here for GoldWingDocsadmin and a video on youtube showing where its at.


Post Reply