Won't start

Here's the story (SHORT VERSION)

My 1980 KZ440LTD-A1 died 2.5 block from my house 2 days ago. I changed (and charged) the battery which was about 5 years old, needed to be done anyway. There was no power to anything after battery was installed (no lights, nothing when start button was pushed). Changed the main (20Amp) fuse on the right side of the bike. Now all the lights work, but still nothing when the start button is pushed.

Any help would be appreciated.

Are you pulling in the clutch lever when you hit the start button? Ed

Yes, I am doing everything I normally did before it died.

Maybe there is a short somehwere in the kill switch. Check all your wires

do you get spark ?

No I do not get a spark. There is nothing happening. I will check for shorts in the kill switch.

I bypassed the kill switch and still nothing when the start button was pushed (still nothing). It is not the kill switch anyone have another idea?

Check your grounds, there should be one from the - side of battery to the engine and a pigtail coming from the same grounding cable at the battry terminal. The one going to the engine grounds the engine and the other smaller pigtail grounds the rest of the wiring harness.

After about 10 minutes (if that) on the phone with my father-in-law; he said, "Why don't you try arcing the starter solenoid?" It worked, starter tried to turn over. Turned the key to run and it started right up this time.