Bike fell over, won't start

[ronbuell]

Short story:
91 K75, 55K miles. 
Bike fell over in the garage hard enough to break the rear brake lever.  Got that fixed and installed and went to start it to go for a ride.... nothing.  Headlight and tail light come on, no dash lights.  Starter solenoid doesn't engage when you hit the starter button.

Help, need a direction to look for the trouble.  Bikes been running perfectly till now.

[Scud]

Hmmm.... assuming everything was working well before the fall:

I'd start in on the handlebar switch. Take it part, clean it up (maybe it's due anyway) and make sure the connections are solid. From there examine all the wires and make sure everything is nice and clean and still tight.

Also assuming your battery is still good... can you arc the starter solenoid connections manually and get it to turn over or start that way?

[ronbuell]

Good point, will try jumping the solenoid.  Battery is good, lights come on but will test for proper voltage.  Switch has not been cleaned... will try that to.

[ronbuell]

thanks for tip, will try jumping the solenoid and battery, although lights do work.  Will check voltages.

[Laitch]

You're not likely to find "solenoid" on a list of K-bike starter parts.  What you'll be be doing is jumping current to run the starter motor. The drop probably just jarred the hell out starter switch connections within the combination switch or loosened another electrical pin connection somewhere in the circuit.

[Scud]

You're not likely to find "solenoid" on a list of K-bike starter parts.  What you'll be be doing is jumping current to run the starter motor. The drop probably just jarred the hell out starter switch connections within the combination switch or loosened another electrical pin connection somewhere in the circuit.

Thanks for pointing that out. I'm new to K bikes and haven't had to actually look at the starter yet. Here's hoping the OP's problem is a simple switch issue.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

There are some circuits that are grounded through the starter blushes.  If the bike fell hard, I could see there being some internal disruption  there.  It is not that hard to pull the starter motor and remove the end cap to inspect the brushes and clean the commutator with some brake cleaner spray.  This is the first place I would look.

While you are at it, it would be a good idea to clean the ground connections.  There are two of them, one near the shift lever on the intermediate case, and one on the side of the frame backbone up under the fuel tank.  Polish the terminals and the ground point with a bit of wet or dry abrasive paper and put a LIGHT coat of dielectric grease or petroleum jelly on everything.  Bad grounds can cause all sorts of strange electrical headaches.  Good to eliminate them as a problem as soon as possible in the troubleshooting process.

[ronbuell]

FOUND IT.  Posting cause.
Blown fuse, traced to rear brake switch that got pinched in the fall.  Pulled the switch out of the circuit and replaced the fuse and it starts now.

[Scud]

FOUND IT.

 :2thumbup:

[Laitch]

Good work, ron! Thanks for the followup.

[Tuco]

Good, easy fix!