STARTER SOS

[alexjamesc]

So my Ascot still won't start. At the end of the road for my knowledge and ability to diagnose the problem. When you try to turn the motor over it engages once and then seems to jam up, solenoid has been cleaned with steel wool and soaked in a clean and then re-lubed. Starter motor seems to be functioning properly. Any ideas?

[AwL]

Did you try to jump it by putting screwdriver across battery/motor connections on solenoid?
I had a similar problem and the engine turned over fine if i did the above.
That pointed to a "starter control unit" problem.
Doing a search on this website for "starter control unit" provided a lot of information.
It was suggested to cut the yellow/black wire near the starter control unit and ground it to frame.
Magic - problem solved!  Engine turns over fine.  Replaced the "starter control unit" with an automotive relay and all is well.  See attached diagrams. 

[alexjamesc]

Little update, I did what you said without knowing what the stock relay looked like. Turned out I had an after market one with a totally different wiring setup and when I cut the wires I lost power to the whole bike (oops) My wiring harness is completely different then stock so I have a long road ahead now trying to trouble shoot. Not sure how cutting wires going to the starter control unit can kill power to the whole bike but that was the outcome. Good news is the guy I bought the bike from had 5 spare control units in the boxes and boxes of parts I got with the bike so hopefully once I trouble shoot the current power issue I can throw one of the new units on and see if that solves my problem. Unfortunately I am not mechanically inclined to the extent needed and no shops near me wanna come anywhere near my bike as none of them have even heard of the model before for the most part and as soon as they try to track down parts they see how difficult everything is to source and turn me away. If you know any Ascot gods from British Columbia or Washington let me know