Topic: '81 CB650 not cranking

[mono]

so in an effort to get my friend's 650 out of my garage, i gave it my keyed ignition and battery from my same-year 750 (her dad died and left it to her, but she can't find the keys).  all the fuses are OK, lights light up, horn toots, and blinkers blink, but when i hit the starter button the only thing that happens is the headlight dims. 

think i'm getting a bad ground somewhere?

[goldarrow]

Kick start it....





All kidding aside, if battery is too low, it may not have enough juice to spin the motor

[mono]

Kick start it....

All kidding aside, if battery is too low, it may not have enough juice to spin the motor

you know *&%* well there's no kicker!   

but yeah, battery was fully charged of course.  i'm gonna swap the solenoid out today to see if that helps.   when she brought the bike over to me last spring, it looked as though it hadn't been ridden in at least a season (no battery installed, and spiders were living in the empty space), so i think something failed on the bike and her dad just parked it.  we'll see.   keep the (good haha) ideas coming, please!

[goldarrow]

Before you swap out the solenoid, try to jump it with screw driver first

[trueblue]

Pull the clutch in to make sure it isn't just a crook neutral safety switch

[mono]

Pull the clutch in to make sure it isn't just a crook neutral safety switch

yup, tried that - also put the kickstand up too just in case.  thanks for the suggestion, though!

didn't get a chance to futz with it last night, hopefully i can try swapping the solenoid today.  "nice" and rainy out, so nothing else to do :/

[davesee]

it always amazes me that simply cleaning all the wires, lugs and terminals between the battery and starter will make the starter crank so much harder. along the way, you might notice a frame ground, or a place where there is no contact, but should be.

[my79650]

the starter switch gets dirty as well. I pulled mine apart and cleaned it then lubed with WD40; works great now.