'82 maxim

hey there guys,

I changed the handlebars on my maxim just now and the poor thing wont start anymore.
When i push the start button the oil light comes up and it does not crank, saw some of these problems on topics before but coudnt find the solution. A good thing to know is that i am an absolute idiot when it comes to wiring and electric. hope you guys can help me.

oh and something i dont know, do the starter button has to be attached to the handlebars?
the original handlebars are chrome and now i have black handlebars so no frame contact. dont know if it is good to know that

 

Could very well be your issue, but the fact that the oil light does come one says something is happening. Battery is tested Good? Nothing else has changed besides the bars? And it was a good running, riding bike before the bar change?

 

starter button is grounded through the handle bars on 550 maxims follow the black wire back from the control to connector see if you have a ground going into the harness

which maxim do you have?

 

Thanks for The reply guys, The bike was perfectly fine before The handlebar change.
Its an xj550 Maxim from 82.

So The black wire is from The little box where The start button is in? I Will follow that one and see if it grounds anywhere, sorry if im wrong but i am a complete noob in elektronics. Ill let you guys know later today

 

Have you made sure kill switch is in the run position?

 

yeah kill switch is the good position. was able to start it with a screwdriver along the solenoid at the starter. does that mean anything?

 

Yes, it likely means that your starter button is not completing a path to ground thus exciting the solenoid to turn the engine over. Could very well be that your bar change has affected that. As far as the best way to remedy that, I would rely on the advice of others here that are much more knowledgeable than myself

 

the painted/powder coated handle bars are the problem. the start button needs a path to ground. Been there, I added a small wire from the start button pod to the handle bar mounting bolts. you could also file the paint on the start button pod and the handle bar clamp.

 

the harness that runs from the control mates to the main harness at the coils under the fuel tank you will find the black ground wire is in the control connector but not a wire in the mating harness connector . you can run a wire from the ignition coil bolt to the black wire to complete the ground path for the starter button.
the other option is to remove some paint where the control clamps to bars and where the bars clamp to triple tree.

adding the ground wire is best option .

 

would not matter he has no ground connection . it is the way Yamaha built the 550 seca and maxim cheeped out on 6" of wire and 2 connectors

 

made it work again guys, was a ground connection problem. thanks alot!!

 

Good trouble shooting and way to stick with it!