1982 XS400s Won't Start

[Huddlebob]

So I'm working on an old project bike my brother gave me. I put a brand new battery in and attached the starter motor directly to make sure it cranked, and it did, but then i hooked up the starter to the solenoid and hooked up the battery as usual. Now when I hit the start button on the handlebars, not a thing happens. All other wires on the bike are hooked up where they belong (albeit some of the connectors are a little sun-rotted).

The gas tank, drive chain, carbs/air boxes are all of the bike, so I am not trying to get the engine to turn over, just trying to see why the starter motor won't crank now.

I know this may not be enough info, but do you think the problem is in the start button or the solenoid?

 

[xschris]

Post some pics of the bike so we can see what your working with. Does the bars have paint on them? Stock bars are chrome metal so the right hand switch can ground to the left making the connection for the start button to work. Are the fuses all checked? The 82 xs400 also has an e-start relay do some forum searches on these issues as most of this has been covered many times in the past.