Will not turn over but is not electrically dead.

[bamboozer]

Horn, turn signals, flashers and dashboard lights work as does the radio and clock. Battery reads 12.8 volts. Bike is in neutral as I can easily rotate the rear wheel, however there is no neutral indicator light lit. Bike has been sitting awhile but had no issues with starting before now. Any ideas where to start? I'm not all that good on electrical faults and a starting point would be good to know. All advice appreciated.

[cranky]

... first thing I'd do is make sure the Kill switch isn't off... don't laugh!!!!! BTDT

[bamboozer]

Been working all the potential problems back and forth to see if I could turn up a bad contact, kill switch is absolutely on. However I do remember my step brother pushing a small Honda bike for a mile, got back home I flipped the switch and Bang! Started right up. Wish it was that easy here.

[triton28]

If you haven't already done this, pull the clutch lever in and then try to start the bike. Be careful if the bike does start, when letting the lever out, as you may be in first gear.
The other thing that comes to mind is the battery does not have sufficient amperage to turn the engine over. It will operate the other items you mentioned even low in charge. Did you try to jumper the bike to see if it is indeed a low battery?

[bamboozer]

Battery is relatively fresh, tried a new on and it made no difference. I always pull in the clutch when starting. Suspect the problem has to do with no neutral light on the dash and perhaps the neutral safety switch. As noted bike has sat for a good while but had no issues with starting in the past.

[triton28]

Try jumping the wires on the side stand safety switch together and if that doesn't change anything reconnect them back onto the switch. Then try grounding the neutral switch wire, Black and Red, female connector down by the oil level sight glass. Could be a dirty connection of either the side stand or neutral switch. When you ground the neutral switch wire the dashboard neutral light should illuminate so long as the bulb is OK.
Electrical gremlins are very cunning.
Dave

[bamboozer]

That's what I'll do next, hope it works. I certainly agree that diagnosing electrical problems are perhaps the hardest of all repair projects, I know they stump me frequently.

[bamboozer]

Grounded the side stand wires, nothing happened. Removed and grounded the neutral switch, neutral light cam on in the dash but still nothing. Bummer as these are two likely suspects. What should I check next? Been poking around for loose wires or connectors but I see nothing disconnected. Thanks for your help!

[cranky]

.. when Ya are looking for electrical gremlins... ain't nothing' better than a VOM,
good ol' volt / ohm meter! A cheap on will do , normally you want to know if Ya
got volts and a path for it to go down.... It normally isn't how much, but it
it exists or not... JM2C

[bamboozer]

I have a meter, where's a good place to start? I was thinking of disassembling the kill switch and starter button and looking for current there. It's also been suggested I could jump the starter, but it I'd rather find the problem.

[triton28]

If you jump the 2 large battery wires on the starter solenoid and the bike starts then you will know the problem was the solenoid.
If not then I would suspect the kill switch. Pull the connector apart at the end of the RH handlebar switch lead and connect your multi meter, set to ohms, to the Red and the Red/Yellow wire from the run/kill switch, then check for the opening and closing of the switch on the meter ohm scale. If you get resistance and then you get none when you operate the switch it is working.
Dave

[bamboozer]

Kill switch looks plenty crusty ( It's an '86) so I'll try that first and then move on to the solenoid. Thanks for your help!

[bamboozer]

VICTORY! Took apart the kill switch and starter button, considering the age of the bike they seemed in better than good shape. Started moving things around and putting the meter on the connections, on a whim I hit the starter button and damn near fell over when the starter engaged and turned the motor over. I have no idea what I did or what was wrong. But I'll take it. Now on to draining the tank and carbs, fresh fuel and we should be good to go. Maybe.

[cranky]

... and a more than healthy dose of Seafood in the gas!!!! Very Best to Ya!!!!

.. and to quote Murphy... what can go wrong - will, and at the worst time... just sayin'....

[bamboozer]

Reassembled the switches and it still turns over, should note that the neutral safety switch is still jumped. Now on to draining the tank and carbs. Suspect I'll have to buy a pump to get it out of the tank.

[cranky]

... Harbor Freight has some cheap stuff, even got a manual squeeze bulb one there,
dunno how much Ya gotta go or how long it would take....

[bamboozer]

Drained the carbs without incident and bought a low dollar hand pump, unable to get any fuel out of the tank. Believed it to be bone dry so I added some fresh fuel, motor spins nicely but no start. Put the pump back in and the lower end of the hose was wet, but still can't pump anything out. Wish I had access to the bottom of the tank so I could disconnect a hose or two to drain it.

[cranky]

... can Ya get access to the fuel line before pump or anything else and vacuum it?
I don't know why fuel wouldn't run out the bottom.. NOT a wrench of have ever
tried this.....

[dsmmrm]

... and a more than healthy dose of Seafood in the gas!!!! Very Best to Ya!!!!

.

My Voyager is partial to sea bass but YMMV. It night be in a lobster sort of mood.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[bamboozer]

Got the tank pumped out, low dollar pump was worthless so I used a bigger hose and sucked the gas up with my Mity-Vac pump. Drained about half a gallon. Got it started with starting fluid, runs briefly and then cuts out, when it runs it sounds good. Going to drain the carbs again and try to get the fuel filter out of it. Believe it's on the right side up near the fairing.