Argh, I can confirm that my 50+ y.o. @$$ was able to push my bike around while it was in neutral, having stopped at the service station near my home long enough to top off the tank this a.m.  I wound up pushing it home (thankfully not much more than about a quarter mile to half mile push)

When I first tried to start the bike this morning it wouldn't crank at all.  No click, click, click, no noise at all.  I wound up putting the bike into neutral, and was finally able to get it engage the starter and finally got it started.  Whee.  On my way, or so I thought.  Stopped to get fuel, tried to restart, nothing again, even when I put the bike in neutral.

I had electric as I could see the indicators, and see that the headlight was lit, etc., but the bike just wouldn't even try to start

I suspected that it might be the kickstand switch, but tried flicking the kickstand a few times.  Next suspicion is that it is related to the clutch switch.  Reason for that suspicion is that I had cleaned the bike up a bit on the weekend and noticed that the boot from the clutch cable (up by the clutch handle) had slid down the cable considerably.  When I went to put that well worn (cracked and splitting) boot back up there it seemed that the nuts/dials on the clutch handle were perhaps loose.

Suggestions and/or recommendations before I wind up trailering the bike to the shop to get whatever the issue is fixed?  I would love to get it going again without needing to do that, but I also must admit to not being terribly mechanically inclined (actually, I'm pretty terrible when it comes to mechanical repairs, so that might not be the correct statement back there   )

Dave wrote on 08/21/13 at 06:58:42:

Neutral indicator was definitely lit for me.


Would you have some tips on bypassing the clutch switch?  (How is that done??)

Dave wrote on 08/21/13 at 07:33:09:

Got it, thanks!

WD wrote on 08/21/13 at 07:50:50:

Yeah, I was thinking of doing this with a paperclip.  Just have to remember to take a couple home when I leave work today.  

Next time youre not sure if its gonna start, dont shut it    off sitting still,
Be runnin down the road at 50 or so, pull the clutch in, hit thekill,
'
fl;ip back to Run
KEEP CLUTCH IN
hit start,, Iffa she no a startuh,, letta loosa tha clutcha lever tilla the reara wheela startsa to turna,,Dont dump it, it mite slide out,

Pull your seat off. See the scaled down Ford ignition solenoid? Place a heavy screwdriver from big lug to big lug. If the engine spins, you have a low battery, shorted kickstand switch, or dead decompression solenoid relay. The DSR shouldn't technically keep it from trying to crank... but it did on mine.

All that electrical "safety and convenience" crap, is really just plain old crap.  

Insert video/audio here of Hallelujah chorus.



I did wind up taking the seat apart, chasing down a potential fuse replacement (I recall the father of the guy that sold the bike to me mentioning that he had to chase down a fuse to get the bike to run, so I assumed that it might be buried under the seat...)

I pulled the 20A white block out, disconnected it, reconnected it, and woohoo! ignition available again.

I did take advantage of the opportunity (since I had the seat off at that point, having gotten the starter to crank) to replace the ignition switch with the one that I had gotten off these forums a short while ago, so it was not a complete waste, though I remain irritated that I lost out on a day that I could have ridden to work and saved some $$ on fuel costs.

At least it is working again and now I know a good bit more about troubleshooting areas and how to get to some of the important parts of my bike.  (Man do I miss my old GS650's flip up seat and the easy access that it provided to things below. )

mjs3790225 wrote on 08/21/13 at 19:04:47:

Nothing burned out.  I think what happened is that I got things damp when I was cleaning the bike up over the weekend (with a little mild soap and water).  I didn't soak it, but definitely sprayed it a bit with the hose as I was washing off some accumulated dirt and such.  I suspect that some of the soapy water got down into where the fuse is and it affected things badly enough to not want to start.

We had some heavy t-storms blow through tonite and I left the bike uncovered trying to tempt the fates a little and see if the bike will start tomorrow when I hope to ride it to work.  (If I can't trust it when it gets wet then I have some work to do to resolve that issue)

In any case, I'm glad to have gotten it working again.