bike will not start

[double agent]

my friend has a 88 suzuki katana 1100,his first bike. just before storing it away for the winter he went to start it, and nothing. no lights, horn, signals,the bike is dead. I checked the batt. and fuses, there good. he wants to fix and paint it.(its not worth it)
anybody have a clue where to start looking? Itold him to trade it in and take what they give you for it.

[OreoGaborio]

hope he's a big guy, that's a heavy freakin bike... not exactly confidence inspiring to a new rider

but that doesn't fix the problem... If absolutely nothing is comin to life when you put the key in & turn it, it's gotta be electrical. see if you can track down a manual & double check ALL fuses, connections, battery etc.

There's also gotta be a way to test the ignition to make sure that's functioning properly & making all the connections it needs to make.

[double agent]

its 600+lbs- mine is under 400 .
electrical definitly im thinking its a resistor. I took some plastic off and it was a mess , wires everywere. he is a good friend so I want to help him out, and I think the best way is to trade it in for a new one.

[Hardcore]

shit--I don't think a dealer would give him more than $200. tops for an '88 kanatuna---fix it + sell in outright!

make sure all fuses are good + reconnect all connectors!

[ZX-12R]

Originally posted by double agent
its 600+lbs- mine is under 400 .
electrical definitly im thinking its a resistor. I took some plastic off and it was a mess , wires everywere. he is a good friend so I want to help him out, and I think the best way is to trade it in for a new one.

Where is there an resistor between your battery and ignition? Are you 100% positive the battery is ok? Motorcycle batteries tend to be the weak link in the electrical system and a shot battery can still show 12V but it will not source enough current to power any electrical devices. As soon as you put a load on it, the battery voltage drops considerably and you run into a brown out condition. If it is bad enough, not even the lights on your dials will come on. The only way to know for sure is to put a load tester on it and see how it performs. You can also use a car battery charger to supplement the battery to at least see if you can kick the bike over once or twice, but I wouldn't recommend trying that unless you know what you are doing and understand charging rates and times.

Anyhoo, in order to track down an electrical gremlin, you will need a multimeter, shop manual with a wiring diagram, beer, and a whole lot of patience.

After addressing the battery, the first thing to do is put the multimeter into its continuity testing mode. Touch one probe to the negative terminal of the battery and touch the other probe to some exposed metal on the frame. If you don't hear a tone and are positive you are touching metal on the frame, your ground strap is bad and needs to be fixed.

Assuming your ground strap is fine, the next thing to do is trace how far the battery's juice is making it through the electrical system. Set the multimeter to measure a voltage and clip your common probe to the negative terminal of the battery. Using your shop manual, find the wires that are directly connected to the positive terminal and check for power at every junction and tributary you come across. If you come across a relay and depending on which one it is, check for power on both the low current and high current sides with the key on and off. As you systematically go through every wire, you can narrow which parts are getting power and which aren't and it should become apparent what the problem is.

[double agent]

thanks for all the info I will pass it on to him. I still say lite a fire and sing combya. if you scrapped it for the aluminium i think you would get more money for it haha

[double agent]

after cleaning alot of wires and connections I found the problem. It was a "trip" switch ,just behind the batt. there is a button under some clear rubber. I pressed it and everthing lit up.
just a update to my problem. solved.