Hoppy wrote:
lovely things to think about while de-ccel--er--at----ing. thanks guys. now I'm gonna chase that clutch cable and see why it won't let the ace start in gear.

Does it turn over at all? If your not getting any click then it's electrical, probably the clutch switch, which is in the clutch lever housing. Don't bother chasing the cable, it won't get you anywhere, unless you are having other problems when you are riding (like the cluth not fully disengaging!)  The clutch switch gets power from the ignition control module, that signal goes through some diodes along the way to prevent signal feedback, but other than that is a simple switch that allows the circuit to complete ground going to the starter relay (in simple terms, it goes through a couple of other things)

Easiest way to check it it to unplug the two plugs on the handle bars and check to see if the switch turns on and off correctly. Check for continuity between the two when the lever is fully squeezed and when it's let out. Should switch back and forth. If this works, then the next thing is to check for power on one of the wires that go to the switch. The ignition must be on and the kill switch in run and the kick stand up when you hit the started switch, you should get battery voltage on the green wire with a red stripe. Do this when the bike is in neutral for safety. The bike should start, but you should see a jump in the voltage when you start it.

Let me know how those checks go before we did any farther into it. I'm betting it's the clutch switch. If either of these checks don't show a problem I bet there are other things wrong that you may not be noticing, as anything past these checks should cause other problems, I think, from looking at the wiring diagram.

"What one man can do, another can do..." anythings possible, it just takes work. (and/or money)