Cha Ching! I took the ground cable sheath off to inspect entire length, as well as the terminals, for any corrosion or damage. Cable was clean and shiny, and the terminals were secure w no corrosion. Cleaned it up, put sheath back on and double wrapped it with electrical tape. I scraped off a better spot on frame, used some fatter washers and hooked ground cable back up <--this has to be issue; I was not using a good enough spot on frame to ground.
I now have all grounds appearing to work properly, tail light coming on with key at on position and starter button is cranking the starter. Woohoo progress!
My neutral light isnt coming on, so gonna search the forum to get that working. The wire that attaches for it on left side of engine is nice and tight.. I did have the neutral light coming on recently so doubt the fix is anything too mysterious.
Checks and clues so far on neutral light not coming on:
1) Removed wire from switch and connected wire to ground with a jumper wire per forum, and light came on so bulb is good.
2) Tail light and all signals work. Starter is turning over w button, but engine not firing.
Fixed! I cleaned wire and neutral switch and re-tightened. Neutral light is now on and all electrical seems to be working. I was able to start bike and it fired up. I let it idle for a bit but want to re-check valve adjustments and tidy up a few things before I go for a test drive.
Thanks everyone for guiding me thru these electrical issues! I learned alot about the system and bike. Now I will start a new thread with I hope a much simpler problem/question