Any old garden-variety diode will work, as long as rated for 25v or more, 1A or more. Doesn't have to be a "Motorcycle" diode

No info on the picture, but if that's a diode it should work. If starting the bike or the neutral light still doesn't work right when you connect the new diode, the connections are backward. Not exactly sure where to find the diode, on my 1100 never had to look for it. Up until last year the neutral...

If the lenses are red then the running light filaments are OK. Amber rear running lights are NOT. Using a voltmeter find the connection with power all the time (key on) feeding the main tail light. On my 1100 there's a bunch of connections for turn, stop and running lights behind the license plate u...

12.2 is not correct for a "Charged" battery, should be around 12.6-12.7 volts no-load. Check alternator, too. You should see around 13.5-15 volts at the battery at 4000 RPM...

My 1100 often smokes at startup, but it's gone after 5 mins running.... I just don't worry about it.

An '80 1100 STD and a '93 Aspencade. Of course the Aspencade would stay... 14 yrs with the 1100 though, I'd miss the 'OldWing...

Not really.. The hardest part is getting it off the bike. Brushes are cheap.

If it's new, even a cheap battery should be able to start a 1200... Would not affect running or performance, just starting.

Worn out starter brushes can cause the starter to pull much more power from the battery than normal, at the same time delivering less torque to spin the engine....

Psycheonabike wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 15, 2019 3:52 am

Any ideas? I have ordered a Starter Solenoid and new battery for now as she will start first time when using jump leads from a small car battery.

That's a good place to start (so-to-speak)

You might want to check the starter motor for worn out brushes, too...

+1 on the winterizing if the bike is going to sit a while.

As to the no power situation, first thing I'd check if it "Clicked" and then went totally dead would be the battery terminal connections, they can corrode over time and the power will behave just as you describe....

Keep thinking maybe I should get one, not just for the bike, I like to take the '85 Cherokee "rock-hopping" up the 4WD trails in the forest. I already have a nice set of "Geo-located" Avenza off-line maps published by the Forest service and these work very well on my iPhone with GPS-only (no cell se...

Thinking the discoloration is just fuel-stained over long term. We've even seen the outside of carburetors look like that discoloration.

Not getting gas from the carb? Otherwise it'd be gas fouled if not firing. If the bike doesn't sound like there's a miss, I'd say it probably is firing, just hasn't run long enough for the "Clean" look to go away. You can check by starting up cold, and feeling exhaust pipes to see if any are warming...

Take your starter to the local automotive Starter/Alternator rebuilder, I'll bet they can find some brushes that fit....

None of those plugs look particularly bad, I think maybe we are over-analyzing things a little.... Leaky head gasket would be evidenced by steam in the exhaust, the best way to test the gasket is with a leak-down tester. I made one from a sparkplug with the porcelain smashed out, welded a short piec...

I probably should have specified the power line from the battery "Use 14 Ga Wire, 15 amp fuse".....

A bunch of us (two GL1100s, a Beemer, a Virago 1100, and a Honda Shadow) took off on a 400 mile ride, The Virago rider said his voltage regulator was iffy, so I packed some tools and jumper cables. Well, about 150 miles into the ride the iffy voltage regulator "packed it in" and the Virago coasted o...

But now, when it doesn't die, it runs perfectly. It's the smoothest bike I have ever ridden and it sounds really nice when it idles at 900 RPM in neutral. There is some gas smell but only when I apply the choke to warm it up. This is what's so frustrating now, I can't even tell when it will die. Bu...

Dodgy clutch switch wouldn't affect the ignition, just prevent the starter button from doing anything. Back to the carbs, if smelling plenty gassy, try turning the idle mixture screws IN a half-turn instead of out.... In first post he did mention carbs rebuilt by shop, so most likely are in reasonab...

I'm kinda leaning toward agreement with Flyday's idea... Does the exhaust smell rich with engine idling? If not, I'd try screwing out the four idle mixture adjustments a half-turn each and see what that does. If you turn them exactly a half-turn, you could always put them back, or try a full turn, t...

How would I go about converting my cornering lights to full time lights utilizing the current stock set up? You will have to take off the tupperware panels with the cornering lights, and on each side you will find a relay that controls them. Cutting the ground wire to the relay makes the cornering ...

Glad the stator still passing muster and you got that working... :D As to the timing belts in the trunk - You'd probably be more aware of when the PO put them in there, is there a chance they may have been in the trunk 10 yrs and are also suspect? Use judgement there... Since the bike is running it ...

I was reading a post the other day that made sense, especially for hardware stuff like nuts/bolts as well as certain electrical doodads and sensors: Honda didn't just re-invent all parts just for motorcycles, many of these parts are also used in cars. Stuff like the funky shoulder bolt that you can'...

The black one, it can pull coolant from bottom of tank, the other is just a vent.

It seems to be in really good shape with only 28,000 miles. However, the clutch lever has a lot of play in it before activating the clutch. Another thing to check is there's a bushing in the clutch lever handle that wears out causing play, 28,000 miles is kinda low for that to have happened, but it...