'81 650 Heritage Special not starting

[cafe14]

I love this bike because it has been reasonably problem-free for years in spite of limited maintenance. That ended yesterday when it wouldn't start. Many years ago the starter button was faulty so I hard wired it to start when the on switch was on and the key was turned to the on position. A little tricky but it worked for years. Until yesterday.

Battery is fully charged.I took the starter assembly on the handlebars off and found nothing amiss. I hear no noises whatsoever when I turn the bike "on". The green light is bright.

I am at a loss as to what the next step might be. Anyone here had similar issues? I have no idea where the starter is and hesitate to go further without suggestions from someone more familiar with the issue.

thanks,

Peter

 

[cafe14]

bump

 

[JOHNDADDY]

Will it fire if you kick it over?

 

[cafe14]

Great question and one I didn't think about until recently. I will get a chance to do that today and will report back.

 

[650Skull]

TCI unit

When mine conked out it slowly got harder to start then stopped. Would only kick start, this happened over about 4 starts.

 

[cafe14]

Success, although I didn't do much of anything to deserve it. I put the throttle assembly back on the bike and it started. Sometimes you just get lucky...

 

[JOHNDADDY]

Don't think I'd trust luck.
Sometimes luck runs out when you're far from home.
You should figure out why.
Cleaner ground, broken wire, bum switch etc.

 

[cafe14]

Sound advice. I think at least trying to start it with the kickstarter would be a good idea. This bike doesn't go far from home, though. It stays within a twenty mile radius of my house. It's a fair weather bike.

 

[onkelheri]

the startbutton switch to ground , that came allmost from the stearingbartube...