turn key with new batt. nothing.....

[altermad]

No lights nothing. I have been able to use a test light to verify that I have power through the starter system (by bridging the two nuts on the starter relay) and I have power through the main fuse. No power to the rest of the fuses, just main.
I'm thinking the ignition?
I have a locked parked, off, on? Is this right is it a three position switch?
Is there a way to remove the ignition to clean?
Thanks I'm learning alot with her, I also have a fluke 115 digi multimeter just not sure what or where.

78 xs1100e 45k last owners should be barred from owning motorcycles

[DGXSER]

Its actually a four way switch, off..on...lock...and parked. Off and on are pretty simple to figure out, locked is ..well..locked and you must have the front end turned all the way right or left for this, and parked is like locked only it turns on the rear brake light.

Sounds like your ignition key is not working to me. You need a wiring diagram, thye are in the manuals that Catatonic Bug has for free download at his personal site, linked in his signature. Yes, you can take the switch apart and clean it, I have not done it, but several here have.

[red bandit]

Check to see if you have power to the switch, if not trace between the main fuse to the switch for break. Seems like there is a in line fuse between them but my memberer isn't good enough to say. My switch, you couldn't tell the positions and it was stiff before I took it apart. After I cleaned it and dilelectric greased it, it was like new. All positions clicked in place.

[CatatonicBug]

The ignition switch comes out rather easily, with 2 bolts. Unfortunately, you have to remove the headlight bucket first. As far as cleaning the internals of it, I'm sure it can be done. I've never done it, but everything else on these things work that way, so why not the main switch?

[altermad]

Thanks all for the great advice!

Well I took headlight bucket off and turns out there was a connector on the red wire by the bucket that had split. Got that fixed reassembled and walla it actually runs!- but it was spurting oil out of the crankcase I couldn't see through the window so I put in 3 quarts. I am going to go pump a half of quart out now. Also I am going to go get a hose that will fit the crankcase breather so next time it doesn't spit oil on my mostly clean engine.
Thanks again all for the help and I am gratefull for the knowledge I was able to gain from this. Ride safe all!

[CatatonicBug]

I am going to go pump a half of quart out now.

Glad you got it running. If you have not yet "pumped" the extra oil out, you might try a turkey baster. It fits right through the oil fill hole, and reaches all the way into the oil. Of course, you'd probably want to replace the turkey baster you stole from the kitchen to do it...

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Altermad,

I'm a day late, was busy this weekend, see my other post I'm going to submit in a few moments!

First of all, if it was spurting out oil from the crankcase vent tube, there's a few possible reasons why this occured. One, a PO couldn't/didn't know that it needed to be on the centerstand when viewing the siteglass, and put in several quarts too much!

OR...you also have a leaking petcock/carb float valve which then leaked out of the carbs, into the intake and down into the engine past the rings and into the oil! This is a disastrous situation if not found and fixed promptly, otherwise gas thinned oil will cause bearings to fail, and destroy the engine!

Testing the oil for presence of gas is important to the preservation of the engine. When in doubt, drain the oil to verify how much is in there, then test it by sticking a stick into it, pulling it out, and then trying to light the stick. IF it doesn't light, then most likely not enough or any gas in the oil. But if gas is found, then more troubleshooting of the carbs is in order!
T.C.

[altermad]

Cool trick!!

It was my fault on the over oiling, I thought I had drained all of the oil (thinking PO left it empty) and learned that some bikes have more to draining the oil than pulling the plug (still a spark plug from po, it works). This is an awesome trick for testing for gas in the crank. Thanks again for all of the help. I'm down to my last two tasks of adjusting the pilot needles and syncing the carbs, I'm waiting on a couple IV's ($25 each at sporting for less.com) and a sync vacuum gauge set for $60. These should arrive on the 8th. I am amazed at the power this has not even being tuned yet and she is one good looking classic.