[ItsMichaelH]

I was riding the 400 one day, everything was fine. I put it away for a few hours and came back out. I turned the key on and noticed one of my headlights were out so I switched from low beam to high and boom, as soon as I did that I lost all power. No headlights, tail light, neutral light, I can't even use the electric start, absolutely nothing... I can jump the solenoid with a screwdriver to start it, and when I start it all my lights work... BUT they flicker with the idle and when I rev it they actually go dim instead of getting brighter. All lights do this including the neutral light, tail light, and head lights. Not sure where to start from here? Any ideas? Could it possibly be the solenoid?

EDIT: It's a 2000 400ex btw

 

[b52bombardier1]

Not the solenoid . . . the voltage regulator / rectifier. Do you have a multimeter?

Rick

 

[ItsMichaelH]

Not the solenoid . . . the voltage regulator / rectifier. Do you have a multimeter?

Rick

Don't have one on hand, but I think I could probably get one. What do I need to test?

Also, any chance it could be a bad ground?

 

[b52bombardier1]

Sure, could be a bad ground. But I think you need to check both AC volts and DC volts measuring at the battery with the bike running - idle and about half throttle. A cheap multimeter such as the freebies given away at Harbor Freight will struggle with taking measurements of small amounts of AC so try to borrow a good 25-30 dollar meter.

Rick

 

[TRX2fiveO]

400EX were notorious for bad grounds and popping the 15amp fuse down by the solenoid. Disconnect and clean the ground wire from the battery to the frame. Also check the connectors and the fuse. A little daub of die-electric silicone grease never hurts either.