(long story version)
So quite awhile back I bought this old CB750F that was kick start only. Ran great and turned over every time on the first kick. The original owner told me the starter didn't work but didn't know why. No prob, it kicks too easy to care. I brought it home and eventually (several months later) got down to checking out the wiring. Bad, real bad. The wires were burned through going to the solenoid and the starter button was singed beyond belief. I mean it quite literally looks like it was on fire at one point. I eventually replaced all the controls with modern controls and rewired a good portion of the bike. For some reason I never ever thought about fixing or even checking the starter. Well, last weekend rolled around and I was replacing the wiring harness on my streetfighter (the GSX-R 750) and had to swap out the solenoid because it was one of the many things on that bike that didn't work (are you seeing a recurring theme here?). OK, NOTHING worked on the suzuki because the wiring was COMPLETELY fragged but that's another story. So I get to thinking... hey, I wonder if it's just a bad solenoid on the CB. For whatever reason I had 2 other solenoids so I figured I could make something work. I grab a couple of wires and decide to just direct wire it to the battery to see if the solenoid works. After some fumbling with bare wires, (zing, zing, zing) she turns right over. I sat there absolutely dumbfounded. The solenoid and started were BOTH perfectly fine. I figured it was one, the other or both since the wiring was so crispy. Nope, I just hadn't checked it. Sick. Tonight I finally sat down and wired everything up. Too easy. I think it took me 20 minutes. So, I guess lesson learned. Don't assume anything.
(short story version)
My starter works now. I never checked it.
