Four Wheel Forum

hi all.
i have a quick question i'm hoping someone can help with. i know there are many "my bike is dead" posts but i could find none that answered my question directly...which is: if all the electrical is not functioning (lights, horn etc..) and the battery and fuse test ok (or were replaced), what would be the most likely culprit? cleaned the terminals, did a continuity check on lights and on points, and there is a reading, so its not a loose/disconnected wire. Battery was checked at a local garage, and on my tender. fuse replaced. even replaced lights cuz i had some. no spark at points, but does on plugs. could the battery be "ok" but still be shot? what else could this be? i have no back up battery to check...
oh, and it was working fine, took out carb to clean it, replaced it, went to start it up and nothing. seems like i could have hit a wire or something but those all look as normal. is there one wire/part, aside from battery, that would cause all electrical to not work?

thanks for any and all info...

-nate

oh, and it was working fine, took out carb to clean it, replaced it, went to start it up and nothing...

To clarify was it running and the electrical working before you took the carb off to clean it?

The frames wire harness plugs into the engine wire harness on the right side of the inner frame near the carb's air cleaner. Check to see if you might of disturbed a connection. Push in the connectors in one by one and try to start the bike.

yes all was working fine (electrical etc..) before the carb came out. which makes me think it was something i did in the process. i did check all the wires on the harness however. but as spokes suggested i will try to unplug and then plug them all back in again (which i did not do) and see if that brings this guy back from the dead. thanks and hope it works. if not then i guess i'll be posting again!

I would make sure to check everything you did electrical as well, since you took the battery to a shop, replaced some bulbs etc, I'd retrace over all the steps, it could be a bad ground, could be a lose wire from replacing some burnt bulbs, and on that note were the bulbs you used 6 volts?

For some reason old fashioned Christmas lights come to mind, if one didn't work the whole strand had to be checked I am not saying thats how this system is but there are not that many connections to check so it would be safe to check them all including grounds...

ok thinking more about this, none of the stuff controlled up at the handlebars works, but you get a spark so it makes me think the connection problem is up around the forks at that main connector if its electrical. If is isnt that connector then, make sure all hoses were replaced back on the carb correctly, make sure the throttle slides smoothly, to make sure it isnt flooding out, make sure the key and petcock are in the correct positions. Pull a spark plug and see what it looks/smells like if its gassy it flooding out, recheck your carb adjustments made while cleaning. Sometimes its something staring you right in the face and you dont see it, like a drain hose swapped with the inlet hose, switch in the wrong spot ignition and petcock. Please refer to the dead bike thread for more trouble shooting as in how to check for spark, petcock flow etc.
~jim