Suzuki GS450 1983, electrical parts not working!

I have a 1983 Suzuki GS450. While trying to start it the other day I
killed the battery. I figured out then, I had a gas problem. I
temporary fixed that while waiting on a new Peacock switch. But I
decide to test my temp fix and jump start the back. I couldn't reach
the battery since it is the middle of the bike. I decided to hook up
my battery charger to what I thought was the Signal Generator, which
the positive wire goes straight into from the battery. I did cause a
spark while hooking up the charger. When I came back to test it, I
found that none of my electrical parts work. The starter wouldn't
work, also no horn or turn signals, etc. But I can push the bike and
pop the clutch, and then it will run. When running the head light
works and the horn tries to work. But once I shut the bike off,
nothing works again. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks

 

Check the fuse(s).

 

The gas seems to only be getting to the bike, very fast or very slow.
It's not at a constant speed. The gas only seems to come out with I
have petcock in the off position also, in the on or res position the
thing won't run at all and no gas comes out. The petcock won't even
move without using a wrench on it and the old owner of the bike who
let it sit for 5 years, had add another switch in the gas line to shut
it off. He said the petcock hadn't worked in years either.

The carb cleaner sounds like a good idea.

The battery shows that it's full charged on my battery charger, its
only a month old. There is only 1 fuse on the GS450 and it appears to
be fine. But there is no power to the turn signal or anything else
when the key is in the on position, never had an electric problem
until I hooked up the jumper cables. So something has to be messed
up, otherwise I would think the turn signal or horn would at least
work. Everything worked before.

 

Hm. Well, you've fritzed something, then. I'd start looking at the
ignition switch. Oh, and check the battery terminals are tight.

 

Taking a very wild guess, you might want to look
for a blown fuse.

Perhaps this is being excessively cautious, but you might
also want to figure out a better way to attach a battery charger
to the battery and perhaps even purchase a low amp charger
specifically designed for small 12 volt batteries.
..

 

Simple advice: slow down and think about what you're doing. You have no
wiring diagram or maintenance manual, nor do you show any innate
understanding of either vacuum aspirated carbeurated engines or basic 12v
electrical skills. I would urge you vet your "temporary fixes" and
"shortcuts" by this group at the very least prior to wasting your money by
ordering parts you don't need or destroying parts that were perfectly fine
before you touched them.

Not that we all haven't done it at one time or another, but if the bike
doesn't start with 30+ seconds of cranking, the next 90 seconds which will
kill your battery probably ain't gonna help anyting.

Believe me, the "guess and check" method of motorcycle maintenance can be
very expensive and very frustrating.

Dave S

 

Amen.