Motorcycle Repair: 1983 GL1100a ignition question, voltage drop, bottom row

Question
Working on my brother-in-law's bike, he was told by the dealer that the bike is draining the battery because of a faulty ground in the ignition switch/contact base. I have removed the switch and base. Having read the wires, everything in the base is good to go. Now, on the wiring harness that the base plugs into, if you are looking at it with the locking slot on top(where the male and female sides connect and stay together) the three female contacts on the bottom row spike my multimeter, and the top left does also, though not as much. I do not get any reading from the top-middle and top-right contact slots. I have tried multiple times to make sure the multimeter is making contact with the suspect terminals. Is there a reason these will not spike? Also, is there anything else I can check to see what is draining the batterey? It has a new battery.
Any help or further trouble shooting tips will be much appreciated!

R.H.

Answer
Hi Russ,

What brand meter are you using? What scale are you using?

Do you have the service manual for this model? The service manual indicates which contacts to connect meter leads and how to test the ignition switch through the different key positions.

You'll get voltage on some contacts and not others depending upon switch key position and meter lead connections. It's possible that the switch is defective, too.

There's ways to check voltage drop and current bleed using your meter.

Send me your email address as requested. I'll return tech files that may help you diagnose the problem.

Respectfully,
Mark Shively