Howdy howdy, i've been combing these forums for months now, and I can never seem to find somebody with the same problem I'm having.

Although I have seen a fair ammount of regulars, whom really seem to know thier way around an atv. I'm more a small engine guy than not, although the cars / trucks tickle my fancy bout as well as my Shadow does.That said, when it comes to most trouble shooting, and repair, I'm a do-it-yourself kinda guy, but even us old schoolers need some help from time to time. This is where you folks come in, ( I hope). Last year, I purchased an 02' Honda 250 ex, it's small, like me (5' 5") 140 lbs soaking wet, and had reverse. Something I laugh at the guys with the older 400s' about. But all jokes aside, it needed some work. So I'm thinking, ok, I've rebuilt my lawn tractor several times, how hard can working on a wheeler really be?!

Skipping another lenghty wall of text here, and jumping to the point..
My problem is as follows, key in the "On" position, and the bike in neutral, the neutral light will not work. The kid I bought it off of, said it hasn't worked since he got drunk, lost his keys, and hotwired it, to ride it home.
Yes the bike is in neutral, and yes the battery is good, I know this because, if I run a hot lead from the positive terminal, straight to the ignition, it will infact light up, and I can then start the bike.But as we all know, this discharges the battery, and a few hours of riding, when I stop for a smoke, I can't start my quad without a jump from a kind friend.Now, I did rig a toggle switch to this wire, so I could use it, then turn it off when I had the bike running, but the light, aswell as my headlight, would dim the higher the engine reved. Kinda backwards from what I thought would happen. But it did seem to keep my battery charging.
I'm not sure what this means, is the switch bad? Is the Cdi box bad? What would cause such a problem. As I said before, not having much ATV expiriance, this problem perplexes me to this day.

Thanks in advance to any whom try to help, with this on-going problem.

 

You sound a lot like me. Not afraid to tackle a problem you've never seen. Would rather DIY than spend your money paying someone. Ok, I don't think it's a CDI because when they go bad, NOTHING works. The quad won't start. I think the guy fried the voltage regulator or something. If I were you, being a DIY'er, I'd buy either a Clymer or a Honda Service Manual for it. Heck, you're going to need it anyway at sometime later for something else. What if you want to adjust the valves? Or what if you want to replace the clutch? And both of those manuals have nice wiring schematics in them. Look on Amazon or Ebay for a used manual. There'll be lots of people that will tell you that the OEM Honda manual is wayyyy better than the Clymer but I personally think they both are good. Some things are easier to understand in the Clymer and some in the OEM. Heck, get one of each.

 

Well, as luck would have it, I somehow DID acuire an extra Voltage regulator (rectifier). I thought to myself, HEY! Sadly, I tossed it on and it was no good, didn't change a thing. =(

I can not stress enough how much I apreciate the feedback though. And I welcome any other sugestions. P.s. I'm ordering one of those manuals aswell. =D

 

Well as it turns out, after looking at the wireing diagram from the manual...turns out, it was the main fuse right behinde the battery!

Simple 15 amp fuse. He musta burned it out while he was crossing wires, lol. But hey you learn something new everyday. That manual is a life saver! Thanks again! =D