Help my bike wont start!!!(new rider)

[kirstie33]

Okay so heres the deal, i bought my 1981 xs400 a lil over a week ago and when i bought it it ran fine the guy told me i would need to do a carb clean and sinc soon though. anyways so he drove it down the road to my house for me after i rode it around the block ( new to street riding ) and it was fine. when i was riding it at my apartment it died on me and the guy said i may have flooded the engine. i checked the spark plugs and wiped them off and then also checked the battery and it is charged.

so as of right now the electric start, lights, horn, all of it is not working at all now and wont start with a kick either.

im stuck.. what could cause this and what should i check???

 

[XS400NJ]

Start with simple things: Kill switch is on? Is there gas in the tank, perhaps you need to switch to reserve? Is gas flowing into carbs? Then I would pull the plugs and check for spark. Then try to start.

After that it gets a bit more involved.

 

[xschris]

Check the fuses and make sure the battery is at 12.5 volts or more.

 

[kirstie33]

battery is good and there is gas in the tank. how do i check spark plugs and see if they are good?

 

[xschris]

Is there gas in the carbs? I would pull a plug out and see if it is wet or fouled. If you done have power to any of the bike I would check the fuses.

 

[XS400NJ]

so as of right now the electric start, lights, horn, all of it is not working at all now and wont start with a kick either.

Gee, I missed "not" in this phrase... Yes, if no lights after turning ignition "on" and battery is good - check battery connections, fuses , the other connectors. Basically try to trace how far does the "+12v" travel. It is possible that ignition switch is not working.

 

[kirstie33]

how can i trace how far the 12v travels? and what fuses specifically do you recommend me checking?

 

[xschris]

If you don't have one you will need a volt meter. Then check to see what volts your battery is putting out. Then check the fuse that is marked main and see if power it going through it. Post some pics of what it looks like where you battery and fuse box is.

 

[rugbywarrior89]

and what fuses specifically do you recommend me checking?

All of them, there are only 4. If stock, they are bus fuses that should be converted to blade. Pretty easy mod. Evenif the bus fuses aren't blown, they could still have a bad connection.

If you have blade fuses and it's blown, chances are you have a short somewhere. Then put on you Indiana Jones hat cause your going on a treasure hunt.

 

[XS400NJ]

how can i trace how far the 12v travels? and what fuses specifically do you recommend me checking?

If you do not have voltmeter, you can use any 12v lamp.
First connect it to battery's both ends - if it lights - battery is good and lamp is good.
Then connect one end to engine another to battery "+" - if it lights - ground connection is good.
From here keep one end always connected to the engine and connect other one to main fuse - it should light on both sides of the fuse (if only one - fuse is bad).

Then connect to the red wire in that connector that goes to main switch.

Then with ignition switch "on" connect to blue and brown wires(both should light control lamp with switch "on").

Basically, follow the diagram from battery "+" , here is the diagram:

http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13528&highlight=diagram