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Hi gang. I have been out of the bike world for a very long time.
I recently picked up a 1980 Honda CM 400 a. It has sat in coastal Florida for a long time and is rusty. The engine is free and all the moving parts move. I put a new battery in it. The electric start won't work. If I turn the key on nothing lights up or shows signs of life. If I kick it over with the kick start it will start and run. All the dash lights come on. The headlight and signals work. The kill switch has no effect. I have located three fuses and they are all good. If there are others I can't find them. I removed the rusted kick stand switch and by passed it. I welcome ideas.

Hello Thomas Quinn and welcome to the forum. Have you tried a new battery yet? How about a picture of your CM400A?

I put a new battery. I have replaced all the fuses. I cleaned the handlebars under the kill switch and repaired broken front brake switch wires. So far no change. With the key on , if I use the kick starter it will run. All indicator lights come on and signals and headlight work. The electric start won't work although if I jump the solenoid it will turn the motor. Kill switch won't stop the engine.
I don't have any photos just now. It is rusty, but not beyond saving.

Unless you can track down the wiring faults you'll most likely have to replace the wiring harness. It shouldn't be to tough to kick start though.

Sounds like you're gonna need to start trouble shooting by tracing voltages.

Have you checked the main starter relay, don't know where on that bike but sounds like no power getting to it.

I have started taking apart switches(Kill switch ) and some other connections and cleaning all contacts. Kill switch was way gummed up. I cleaned it and re soldered a wire. Now it won't start. But I'll keep cleaning circuits. Sooner or later I'll find the ones that don't work'

Tracking down and finding electrical issues can be challenge, but a rewarding one. I'm happy to hear that at least it does kick start and you can ride it. Some are much less fortunate...

Mike

Now that I "fixed it" and it won't start I have to back track and see what I did yesterday. Just when I was so pleased about how carefully I cleaned and repaired the switches I expected the starter to spring into action so I could move on to the next issue.
I am afraid that riding it is still a ways down the road. I want to ensure the reliability of the motor first. Then there is the issue of thirty year old tires. The bike hasn't been on the road since 1997 near as I can figure. I am no longer a kid and at least I can exercise some patience before putting it on the road.
Back in the sixties, my first bike was a 1953 BSA Sold Star I was so anxious to get it on the road that I wired a license plate on it and took it to town. In traffic in the center of town the clutch cable broke and the bike took off and ran into the front end of a police car. I had no license or insurance at the time. I think I'll exercise some restraint this time.
But thanks for the good wishes.

Today's report. After checking the kill switch and starter button with a friend who is an electronics geek, I reinstalled the switches and still no effect. I did manage to start it again by going back and checking the harness connections and found a loose ground. Now it starts and runs. I still get no response from the starter . Now I'm thinking the solenoid is faulty. I'll perform more checks. In the mean time I'm thinking I may just abandon the kill switch. I can always add an after market one once I solve some of the other issues. I'm also of a mind that the electric start isn't a critical issue. It's easy enough to kick through. The amount of rust isn't too deep and much of it can be polished off. I expect to paint pretty much the whole bike matte black . Does anybody want to comment on the wrapping of the exhaust system I have seen on some bikes I need to get educated about tires. The ones on it are thirty years old. Although they still look good I think there is a safety concern about old tires. I welcome comments on any of these ideas. Pictures soon