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new guy with electrical issue

oicuride

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hello to all.
first post here we go.
i have a '72 honda 750.
what a great place this forum is. so much go info.
my issue is electrical in nature. everything was great
till just the other night. came out of the bank and in going
to start it the green neutral light didn't come on when i turned
the key. hmmmm. looked my switch over and nothing seemed
loose there. i eventually kick started it and it fired right up.
drove home and got 10' from the garage door and it quit.
this time i pulled the left side cover off and found a melted wire.
it melted right in half. it was the red and white one that comes off
the solenoid. one of the smaller wires. i just stripped it back,
connected the two wires and tried it. no go.
finally today i got my fluke home and did some testing.
with the key off across the battery i got 8.3. so the battery is
a bit low. with the key on, across the battery was 5.5. thought that
was odd. then i went down to the solenoid. key on, positive side
of battery to starter side of solenoid (big terminal) got 5.7. pos. batt
to other side of solenoid and got 0 even when hitting the starter button.
i was expecting the numbers to be the other way around. meaning
juice on the side opposite the starter side. thought the power came
right from the battery to that one side of the solenoid, then to the
starter side when the starter button was pushed.
so... is it obvious that i need a solenoid or something else?
thanks in advance for any help given.
the bike was running great all week long prior to this. to work and back
for the past five days 70 miles each day.
cheers
 
It sounds like you might need a new battery. The voltage should be much higher and shouldn't drop much under load. Fix that first. I think I'm following you about what you're saying with the solenoid. Connect a good battery and then see what happens. Also check for continuity across the big terminals on the solenoid without anything turned on.
 
checked continuity and shot a 1.5. seems like a lot. battery had a low cell, filled it with distilled water.
charged it a bit. 12.2 when i disconnected it last night. 11.8 this morning. so... like you said, go get
a battery. seems like i must. i'm guessing i'll need a solenoid as well.
 
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