[JasperST4]

figured out most of my electrical problems by using these boards and i think im close. now when i start it i get the full check no lights but nothing when i hit the button. well not nothing the headlight dims and i get a loud singular click from down near the battery. ok, any thoughts? ive been in all the boards with no luck. had to resort to riding my wife's buell blast just to get in the wind, please help i am getting desperate!

It would help if you could be clear. I don't know what you're talking about. You can start the bike but nothing happens when you hit the "button"? Is your battery up to snuff? Have you been charging it?

 

[JasperST4]

also, i can no longer get the bike into neutral, going to check the switch today. i know the light works because it illuminates during startup.

thanks for all help

You can't put the gearbox into neutral? You need to fix it off course but the bike doesn't start in gear unless you activate the clutch switch, right?

 

[JasperST4]

tried to start it in first with clutch pulled in and got the "click" sound. i can shift it and it feels as if its in neutral, the light just doesn't come on. going to get multi meter now and battery/solenoid test is next. more to come. thanks to all!

Well, it sounds like the solenoid is operating, that's the click you are hearing. It's possible that it isn't passing the juice to the starter, you should get 12+ volts to ground on that terminal. You can check battery voltage but that's not an indicator of the battery's service life. A dying battery can charge up but drop to nothing when you put a load on it. That's why they are rating in amps/per/hour.

So if you charge it up (13+ volts) and it runs out of steam quickly it is on it's death bed, assuming your connections have little resistance and nothing is binding.

You can tell if it is in neutral if you upshift from first into it and you can turn the rear wheel. Could be you bulb is out or you have a neutral circuit connection problem. Even so, it should start in gear with the clutch switch activated with the side stand up.

 

[JasperST4]

just checked the battery. with no load on it it came out to 12.76.

tried to check the starter/solenoid(?) ran batter leads to back screws and put multi on connector pins (plastic snap connection) couldnt draw a charge. when i checked the posts that battery leads connected to it was still at 12.76, so does that mean juice is going into starter unit and the problem is in there?

also put more gas into the tank and the light and flashing bar are still on the dash, should be enough in there to turn light off...joy. and continued thanks!

So you were out of gas?

The solenoid sends the current to the starter motor. It does that with a relay (a control circuit). So when you hit the starter button it activates the relay, which is a small electro magnet, and it closes the connection from the battery to the starter.

So juice to the solenoid doesn't mean anything except that the connection to the battery is good. When you hit the button you should have the voltage to the other post (large wire to starter).

Your voltage is a little low for a charged up battery though.