1980 850G Starting Issue

[Guest]

On my dad's 80' 850G when he goes to start the bike; turns the key, lights come on and everything. But when he pulls the clutch and hits the start button....nothing. We tried jumping the solenoid and that worked to get the bike running. We believed that we narrowed it down to the trigger wire that goes down the harness to the solenoid because it had no resistance. But when we hooked up a new wire and tried to start it up still nothing.

Not sure if he has a bad solenoid or if there is something else to look for before getting a new solenoid. I'm not very electrically advanced so any input is appreciated.

Also when I hit the start button the solenoid doesn't even click. I know that if the solenoid clicks but doesn't do anything then I have a bad solenoid. But what if it doesn't even click?

[Rust_to_Redemption]

Did you try shorting across the solenoid with a screwdriver? That's the quick and dirty way to tell if your solenoid has gone bad or not.

[jlyon40]

Yes I used a screw driver over both poles and that got the bike to turn over. But when hitting the button there's no click from the solenoid just silence.

[tom203]

The solenoid frame must be grounded or no click -corrosion .

[jlyon40]

So when you say the frame needs to be grounded do you mean the brace that holds the solenoid to the motorcycle?

And if so would I still be able to jump the posts on the solenoid if it wasn't grounded? Because I can jump the posts to start the bike with no issues.

[Steve]

The solenoid is mounted to a panel on the battery box. The whole battery box is rubber-mounted, so it is electrically isolated. There is a ground wire (black, with white stripe) that should connect that panel to the chassis or battery. That wire is usually held to that panel by one of the solenoid mounting screws.

Yes, you can still short across the large terminals if there is no ground for the solenoid. The lack of ground only prevents the coil inside the solenoid from engaging.

.

[jlyon40]

Thanks Steve! I'll check it out later tonight.

[jlyon40]

Good news! I went home and all the connections were clean even the ground to the battery box. So I tapped the solenoid a bit with a screw driver as a last ditch effort. Hit the start button and it worked! Both my brother and my dad gave me the dumbest look considering all the time they spent trying to figure it out and me (Not mechanically inclined) walks in hits the solenoid and starts the bike. Thanks again everyone! I'm glad it was an easy fix.

[Steve]

If it gets flaky again, you can go to the lawn mower department at Lowe's or Home Depot and get a solenoid for about $15.

.

[Redman]

................... Both my brother and my dad gave me the dumbest look considering all the time they spent trying to figure it out ................

haa haa

To further help them: Mark an X on it, and tell them that is where they need to hit it next time it happens.

Haa haa

[jlyon40]

Yeah Redman my brother was the angriest about it considering he went to school for motorcycles and off-road machines. And I went to business school and know a fraction of what he does. But moral of the story is that it's always good to get input from others.