Did you check your battery voltage to make sure it's good?  A low battery and a charging system going out could cause similar symptoms.

Double check your battery and try again.  If it runs, perform the charging system output test as described in chapter 8 of the Clymer's manual.

Honda's post is yet another one of "those" posts of "just trying to help" but pointing someone in the wrong direction. If the bike started right up then immediately died and is completely unable to start as if the battery is dead - it's NOT the battery.

Batteries don't die this fast people. Why is this so hard to understand?

Also, what does the charging system have to do with it? The bike wasn't moving when it died nor was it slowly losing power - the bike was JUST STARTED.

Again - just stop "trying to help" because you're not helping, you're hurting.


OK now onto the actual problem - let me ask you a question:
Did you even look at the fuses before you changed them? Just changing fuses won't do anything if they're not blown. If that little bar is still visible in the window - the fuse is fine.

If the light was really dim then got bright all of a sudden, I'm thinking a bad connection somewhere and I'm almost willing to bet it's the ignition switch. Try jiggling it around and see if the lights dim/get bright etc.

No need to be hostile, cavie mike.  The great thing about a forum is that it is a collaboration of brainstorms.  Sometimes you need a consensus to point you in the right direction; sometimes you need a variety of ideas.  It's hard to tell if you're helping or hurting until it's all said and done with the problem found.

Here's the method behind my madness:  His bike is an '87. How old is the battery?  If the fluid level up?  How often does he run it or charge it?  Could he be suffering from severe sulfation?  Could one of the lead plates be cracked or broken due to vibration or corrosion?  As batteries get used, the plates shed their active material.  This collects at the bottom, and will EVENTUALLY short out the plates.  This is true of ALL lead acid batteries.  So if his battery is old, that could be an easy culprit.  Battery voltage is also one of the absolute easiest things to check.  From there, the way I interpreted "barely got it running" was that he had to crank on the starter for a while - ok, so I'm assuming.  He got it running, so wouldn't a properly working charging system bring that battery up to speed?  Nope, the bike stalled - no more sparkies.  Maybe his rotor isn't putting out what it should, and that battery fell off it's last leg.  Maybe his battery is shorted out internally, so his charging output wouldn't have mattered.  Maybe something else...  Cavi, I'll give you this:  charging system problems are a lot less common.  Just because it was the first thing that popped into my head doesn't mean he should be checking it first.


Drums also said he already checked the connections under the seat and as tank.  This leads us to believe that it could be something less obvious.  Maybe his ignition switch or his solenoid are giving out after 25 years.  Corroded internal contacts on his ignition switch would also fit the given symptoms.

Hopefully you have a multi-meter.  Check straight voltage on your battery first.  If that's good, load test.  Then check the contacts on your ignition switch using an ohmmeter. There are 4 wires: red, orange, gray, and brown.  In the OFF position, resistance between any wire should be infinite.  In the ON position, resistance should be low between red and orange as well as between gray and brown.  In the P position, resistance should be low between red and brown.  Have fun, and give us an update!

JOG Wrote –
First step, look at what its doing, & then, control the imagination, dont catastrophise , dont imagine some horrible gremlin, focus on the simplest possible solution. Work thru the possibilities from simplest to most complex.

That is the prefect summary of trouble shooting an issue.  I do have one additional piece – only change / fix one thing at a time and see what happens before moving to the next piece.  You will keep a better handle on the overall trouble shooting process that way.

I have been in the diesel world for 30 + years and have seen way to many technicians go so far a stray trying to trouble shoot by not following your advice above.  I have used something similar for years working with new field technicians.  With your permission I am going to add some of your wisdom to my standard technician warnings.

Sounds like a poor ground, loose or dirty, check connections at battery. Usually its something simple

The ground doesn't connect to the frame, it connects to the transmission by the starter.
oil level window  

Well, I had checked the battery--read 12.3v. I also checked some more connections. All looked good. Still nothing. I took battery to Batteries Plus and they ran a draw test. 41 cca. Should be 220. So I purchased a battery tender jr., and a new Xtreme 24 month with a 220 cca rating. Installed battery. ALL problems solved. I didn't want to believe it until I saw it, I guess. I now believe.

**Mental Note......Check Battery Draw 1st**