Charge the battery, test the voltage -- you want over 12.4 volts for a good battery fully charged.

Bike is in neutral, on the side stand.  

Switch is off for now.

Take jumper cables from a 12 volt car battery and ground the negative jumper cable clamp to the bike's frame on a plated piece of metal like the sidestand, pull back the rubber boot from the starter motor large red junction block and put a piece of metal that you don't mind getting scarred up into the jaws of the positive jumper cable clamp and just touch the exposed positive cable junction on the starter motor itself with the positive contact piece of metal.

Expect some sparks, some heat and some snap sounds -- DC carries some energy and the starter motor draws some decent power.

If the starter motor even tries to run, stop at once.   Starter is likely not the issue.

Follow the big cable from the starter block you just jumped to back to the starter solenoid.   Make sure connections are clean and not corroded.  Check the large connection on the other side and trace the big cable back to the battery -- once again clean, no corrosion, nice and tight.

I generally make up a nice long fairly substantial red lead with an alligator clip on it to use for troubleshooting bike electrics.  Put the clip on the positive on the battery and touch the exposed bare wire on the other end to the red small lead going to the solenoid, energizing it briefly as if it had just gotten a "go" signal from the starter switch.

If the solenoid clicks and the starter motor tries to run stop at once -- the solenoid is likely not the problem.

Now you are off into the electrics and the various safety switches and the handlebar housings and the starter switch up on the handle bars and the kill switch and all the rest of the convoluted wire runs and other crap that you will now have to deal with.

We have some electrical engineer types here on the list who are better troubleshooting that mare's nest than I am -- they can take over now.


If you don't own a volt ohm meter -- sing out now.   You will be helpless without one.

I never had a volt meter in my life,And don't need one.

Harbor Freight will sell you a very usable volt ohm meter for less than $4.00 on sale most weekends.  WalMart, KMart, Advance Auto, Auto Zone will charge you 2-3 times more than Harbor Freight for equivalent tools.


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If you aren't equipped to do simple things like "check continuity" and "verify voltage reaches the xxxx" you won't go very far chasing down a no start condition very far into the electrical maze.


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Bill, why does this not surprise me that you do not own the simplest electrical diagnostic tool?

Is there any wholistic Billistic medicine (or any of your simple magic spells?) you want to tell Arnold about that can magically fix his bike's electrical problem?

Otherwise, we are gonna convert him to the "reality side of things" and get him buy a volt ohm meter ....



Arnold,

Don't go buying electrical things until you know you need them .....   most places will not let you carry back electronic items (ever).

Many times these won't start sort of things turn into corroded or loose terminals or other very simple type fixes.

You can test your solenoid in place or take it out and test it very easily to decide if it works correctly or not.   Just supply 12 volt voltage to the small contacts, she should click for you and show continuity across the big contacts.


Remember this trick ....


I generally make up a nice long fairly substantial red lead with an alligator clip on one end of it to use for troubleshooting bike electrics.  Put the clip on the positive on the battery and touch the exposed bare wire on the other end to the red small lead going to the small solenoid contact, energizing it briefly as if it had just gotten a "go" signal from the starter switch.  (testing the solenoid in place)

A test light is handy for finding 12 volts. I have 2 ohm meters & a test lite & I still dont like messin with electrical hassles.

You can short around the solenoid easily. Hook 12 volts straight to the starter. Just give the thing a head start run by getting it past the compression stroke.

Use process of elimination.
You can do a whole lot w/ a 12v test light, and a 2 ft 12ga jumper...clip on both ends.

And remember, Bill is the only one that doesn't need any test equipment to trouble shoot electrical !

So by touching the bolts together, if the bike starts then the solenoid is shot right? That'll be my first test.