Grounded...

[tom203]

Ok, so we've got a wire from positive battery to one stud on solenoid. Then, the other stud on solenoid has a wire that goes down and attaches to stud on starter motor. Now we need to find a smaller wire to activate the solenoid- It's probably a small yellow green wire. I'm unsure of this black/white wire, but it might be the ground wire for the solenoid. Anyways , when you press starter, juice comes down the yellow/green wire and activates the solenoid which causes the starter motor to spin. The solenoid has to be grounded for this to work.
The missing turn signals would also have used a black/white wire for grounding.

[redhotspike]

the yellow/green wire is already on the solenoid *cha-ching!*

i traced a different black/white wire which is the turn signal's ground (its just going to be ground wherever i find a spot lol)

so theoretically - if in following the black/white wire that was on the solenoid on that other threaded screw, that b/w wire could lead to a grounded out end? And if it is grounded, should it just stay on that threaded screw? (it's raining currently and i must wait to continue sleuthing :/ )

btw, I very much appreciate the help you are giving me -- i'm not so good with electrics but i can follow colors decently enough

[tom203]

Yeah, that smaller black/ wire ( about same size as green/yellow wire ) must be ground for solenoid. Raining here too!

[redhotspike]

well...i'm assuming the wiring is correct because the lights all work and i can hear the starter working but the engine doesn't turn over...
I'm thinking the battery may not be able to hold full charge - i put it on a trickle charger for numerous hours (overnight) and it never reached "charged"...
But the lights all work and the headlight works so i'm not sure if it's really the battery or another problem. Any suggestions?

[tom203]

well...i'm assuming the wiring is correct because the lights all work and i can hear the starter working but the engine doesn't turn over...
I'm thinking the battery may not be able to hold full charge - i put it on a trickle charger for numerous hours (overnight) and it never reached "charged"...
But the lights all work and the headlight works so i'm not sure if it's really the battery or another problem. Any suggestions?

You hear the starter motor working- does it sound like it's going fast? Or does it make unpleasant noises? Any clunks when you press starter button? Remember , avoid charging overnight at greater than 2 amp rate.

[redhotspike]

It sounds like it's going fast - no unpleasant noises. Clunks? I don't believe so, but then again at this point I'm starting to think that everything sounds bad with it lol.