Buzzy's Revival: 1982 XS650SJ Heritage Special

I have a Bell helmet with the same bubble visor and it still there after 100mph (sorry 70 mph with 30 mph headwinds ;) ) on my BMW R1200C - and that was in Virginia too.
 
Wel
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l crap! I finished work out of state and took Buzzy to fuel up. As I pulled away from the pump, I stopped to leg a person cross and Buzzy died. No powrt at all. The battery isgood as I can jump the starter terminals. I troubleshot for an hour to no avail.
Uhual is taking us home.
 
Wel
20220629_161050.jpg
l crap! I finished work out of state and took Buzzy to fuel up. As I pulled away from the pump, I stopped to leg a person cross and Buzzy died. No powrt at all. The battery isgood as I can jump the starter terminals. I troubleshot for an hour to no avail.
Uhual is taking us home.
I think I know the problem having had a 1981 XS 1100 Special for 15 years. The passenger backrest is off center. :thumbsup:
 
Well you have to tell us now... what troubleshooting did you do in an hour, how and results?
Spark, fuel and a kamikaze's last wheeze?
Too early model/tech for an in-gear or clutch switch failure cutout?
 
If the motor just quit I would suspect the points. Assuming you have gas and the air cleaner isn't blocked that leaves the ignition system. I had an 74 that ate a wiring harness but the telltale on that was smoke coming out of the ignition switch and the headlight going out (at 45 mph). That was a pricey fix. That old XS had a penchant for quitting at odd times. I remember after a wash I couldn't get the thing to start. I pulled the points cover, sprayed some WD-40 on the points and viola, bike starts (back then my starter motor was toast so it was kickstart only). Let us know what went ker-phlooie.
 
@Ishrub, @atomsplitter, I haven't got to tear into at home yet. The problem is definitely electrical though. No power to the ignition at all. No horn, no lights. The battery is strong as it will turnover the starter when I jump the starter terminals with my Leatherman. (Note to self: the Leatherman heats up pretty quickly when doing this...)

As for an hour of time to troubleshoot it, I took off the seat and side panel and opened the headlight bucket. The battery terminals were tight but I disconnected them and re-tightened them once more. I traced every wire that I could reach and disconnected every connection I found and cleaned them. I checked the fuses (I found only four glass tube fuses) and found them intact. I put it all back together and took a deep breath. Then off to the U-Haul.
 
@Ishrub, @atomsplitter, I haven't got to tear into at home yet. The problem is definitely electrical though. No power to the ignition at all. No horn, no lights. The battery is strong as it will turnover the starter when I jump the starter terminals with my Leatherman. (Note to self: the Leatherman heats up pretty quickly when doing this...)

As for an hour of time to troubleshoot it, I took off the seat and side panel and opened the headlight bucket. The battery terminals were tight but I disconnected them and re-tightened them once more. I traced every wire that I could reach and disconnected every connection I found and cleaned them. I checked the fuses (I found only four glass tube fuses) and found them intact. I put it all back together and took a deep breath. Then off to the U-Haul.
Check you ignition switch barrel, you may have a bad solder connection. If the lights don't come on at all that would rule out the ignition cut-off (usually) since the lights should come on (sans maybe the neutral light). Here's a wiring diagram for an 82 Heritage. Hope that helps.

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Find your earth ground wires on the bike frame - (not battery negative) and remove and check under washers grommets etc at these earthing points to ensure clean metal contact. This may include the dreaded headlight bucket again as they often have little earthing tabs or threaded holes for same that get corroded and nothing if your ignition is earthed in a similar situation. That may include where the lamp bucket grounds to the frame.
 
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