Howdy all. I live in a little town in south Texas called Boerne. I just bought my first Yamaha, a 93 FJ1200 that has been parked for six years. It is very clean with only 15K miles, of course, the battery was dead so I couldn’t test the electrics, but the clutch And brakes seemed to work good and it shifted smoothly. Now I bought a new battery and installed it. All the lights work, turn signals, brake lights, instrument panel lights, etc, but when I hit the starter button, nothing. No clicking or any noise, just silence. It was in neutral, clutch pulled in, on the side stand. I checked all the fuses under the seat and all are good. What else can I check to see why the starter motor won’t activate? Thanks 

Hi harry try taking it off the side stand

yea , side stand down, cuts the ignition

No afraid it doesn't, the engine will run while on the side stand but will not go into gear when the side stand is down. Try checking the start button is not at fault, squirt some switch cleaner inside the starter switch and work it back and forth a few times, that might be the problem, if all else fails try bridging across the terminals on the starter motor to the frame or engine to see if the starter motor will spin over. On my FJ the starter motor brushes were worn down to nubs and I needed to swap them out, buy the manual (Clymer) and that will give you a test to check the starter circuit.

Or side stand switch could be faulty or starter solenoid, first thing is to make sure all connections are clean and tight.

Hi harry,   it  be hot where your are eh"  and we call the Fj"s     The Tank,,,,

9 hours ago, slice said:

No afraid it doesn't, the engine will run while on the side stand but will not go into gear when the side stand is down. Try checking the start button is not at fault, squirt some switch cleaner inside the starter switch and work it back and forth a few times, that might be the problem, if all else fails try bridging across the terminals on the starter motor to the frame or engine to see if the starter motor will spin over. On my FJ the starter motor brushes were worn down to nubs and I needed to swap them out, buy the manual (Clymer) and that will give you a test to check the starter circuit.

Yep Slicey you're right my xjr will start but then cuts out if I put it in gear with the side stand down

Many thanks to everyone who responded, I'll try them all. By the way, my grandfather and many generations before him were from Bradford near Leeds in York. My grandfather, Harry Ackroyd, immigrated to the US back in the late 1800's. I'm told he was in the Queen's Guards, but I can't verify that. I understand there are alot of Ackroyd's in the York area. I hope to get over there one day and see if I can find any relatives.