Ugh...electrical problems...

[chuckycheese]

Yep

I had a similar problem in the starter switch not working on mine a few years ago, I bypassed the solenoid with a simple horn button switch and it worked fine.
After all that, the reason for the solenoid not doing its job was the fact it was poorly grounded (it also smoked wires). I grounded it to the battery instead of the frame and it was fine, has been ever since. Mine is also an '80 GS850L.

Yep, just goes to show that your ground is every bit as important as your 'juice'.

[kinch]

Thanks again all, back to it!