Diagnosing starter problems

Kickflippin

XS650 Enthusiast
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I've been running through a sudden stoppage of my starter on an '80 SG project. When I picked up the bike and charged the battery, I did get starter action, though the CCA of the old battery was so poor it didn't do much.

I put in a new AGM battery, and while I was at it installed a tail light (none on when purchased), and fixed the throttle cable.

Other than having the kill switch housing open to access the throttle tube I haven't messed with any other wiring.

When testing it all out today I got nothing pressing the starter button at all.

I used a test light and have power to starter button and kill switch wires. On the solenoid I have power on the lower post. On the starter motor I see no power though I assume that only would be the case if the circuit worked.
I even played with the start button assembly to see if there was a bad contact somewhere. It all looks fine.

For what it's worth I'm not getting any power to my headlight either, though that was happening before the starter stopped working.

Any advice on what else to chase down? I did a VERY quick bridge of the solenoid posts to see if a breaker inside was stuck but it just wanted to weld me together. Thanks
 
The starter button grounds the blue white wire. So you can ground that wire at the solenoid, key on, see if that cranks the starter, then trace backward to the start button. A ground connection issue in the headlight bucket sounds like a possibility. Bad contacts, broken wire, or start button in the RH control are also places to be looking. Especially using the "what did I touch last" trouble shooting technique.

80_xs650g-png.116688

Diagram does not show a ground to the handlebar (black wire) but there is/should be one on one side or the other.
 
Your 1980 model would have a ground wire attached inside the left switch housing and running back into the headlight to a harness ground wire, effectively grounding the whole housing. That ground is then transferred over to the right switch housing through the handlebars. That means that for the starter button to operate (get it's needed ground), both the right and left switch assemblies must be mounted on the bars.

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Thanks to all. After all that advice I went through again and because I repainted the bars, I had interrupted the grounding.

After scraping off the contact surface for the ground clamps on both sides I have starting action again. Much appreciated!

Now to chase down my headlight wiring not getting any power.....
 
Your headlight power runs through a safety relay that turns the headlight on automatically once the bike is running. It won't have power or be on if the bike isn't running.
 
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