where to begin with electrical issues

I recently picked up an 82 xj550 to replace the xj650 I foolishly parted with a few years back. The prior owner said it ran well in the 2009 season but he didn't use it at all in 2010. I installed a new battery. When I hit the start button I got absolutely no response-no click, nothing. The turn signals work and the nuetral green light works but I've noticed the headlight does not come on as it has on other non-Yamaha bikes I've owned. The bulb itself tests fine. I jumped the starter solenoid and get crank from the starter but get no spark at the plugs. The original fuses have been replaced with blade style fuses and they check out okay. I get current to the run/off switch but no current at the start push button. The kickstand is up. The green nuetral light is on. I even replaced the TCI, though perhaps unnecessarily. I've read the great articles on this forum about the various relays and switches and am now wondering two things. One, am I missing anything obvious? Two, where do I begin so as to identify where the problem is and is there a systematic way to figure it out-i.e, do this first, then that second and so on? I'm reasonably mechanical but find electrical issues confusing. Is there a post elsewhere on this forum that helps? Thanks for the help.

 

Other than the major electrical things you've tried and the safetly relays... Where the handle bars painted (or swapped for aftermarket painted ones)? Most of our handle bar switches get ground from the handlebar's bare metal (and connecting risers, etc) not from a seperate ground wire inside the handle bar switch housings.

 

I don't have an electrical schematic of your bike, but some general principles apply.
First, you need a wiring diagram of your bike. Without that, you are as hopeless as driving in the backwoods of Georgia without a map.
When you get a diagram, find the starter switch, it will be labled. There should be two wires to it, one black, and the other color coded.
One of those wires will run to the starter solenoid. Find it on the bike.
There should be two thick wires, and two thin wires hooked to it. Pull the plg.
Take two jumper wires, and hook one to the posative terminal of your battery, and the other to the negative terminal. Take the jumpers, and connect them, one to one , and one to the other of the two small wires of the solenoid. The thing should click. If it doesn't, it is shot.
If it does click, plug it back in to the harness, and go to the start switch.
Unplug it, and note on the harness end what end of the socket has the black wire. Jump from the OTHERr wire to ground. The solenoid should work. If it doesn't, there is an open in the wiring, or you didn't make a good connection on your jumper wire. Try it again. Still wont work?
Did you check your fuses?
If it did click, check the starter switch contacts, clean as necessary, and check the ground between the handle bar and the fork crown.
There are easier ways to check things, but they require an ohm and volt meter, and knowledge of how to use them. If you have a meter, it would go quicker. But first, you need a wiring diagram. CZ

 

My husband was having a similar situation with his bike.... checked ground by using a wire since he powder coated the handlebars and that was the issue!

 

Thank you for the input. I just started a new job and don't have a lot of time right now to work on the bike. I will get to it as soon as possible, give it a go and let you know. The level of understanding about these bikes on this forum is amazing.

 

Wiring can be overwhelming, that's for sure.

Learn your wiring by following the diagram as though it is "plumbing", it's just pipes for electrons. Start at the battery and follow each circuit till you understand your entire bike's wiring. The factory manuals have these split out into lighting, starting, ignition systems, etc. Start with something simple like the starter button and solenoid (electrically it is just a relay by another name) or the headlight.

It helps to print it out, large scale, from the pdf manuals you can get for free online. Then take to it with a flouro highlight pen and work your way around. Get a cheap multimeter from Radio Shack (about $20 will buy you one good enough for basic trouble shooting) and start poking around.

To understand electrics you have to think of it in terms of circuits, the electrons flow around a circuit. Anything that stops that flow will stop the circuit working. As a minimum that circuit has to be complete and to work it needs to have low resistance all the way around. If we use the plumbing analogy, a high resistance joint is like a valve that's nearly closed. An open circuit is a total blockage.

If something doesn't work it's because the resistance is too high at some point (like infinite if it is an open circuit, a broken wire, burned out fuse or globe, or just high because of a corroded switch, dirty terminal, etc.)

Take it a step at a time, figure out a circuit at a time, then test it a section at a time.

A bit of practice and you'll be on your way!