Disconnect the 2 small wires from the solenoid, connect the neg.cable, & I'll bet you have 12V on one of those wires. Trace that wire back towards the switch & I'm sure You'll find the problem.

 

i am wondering if my battery (its brand new) is reversed? how would i check for that

 

i was checking the battery with a voltmeter, i put the neg tester to neg on battery and checked the ground wire coming off the engine and it read like 15 on the gauge is it supposed to do that, i also had a reading on the smaller red cable i think it is a red/white wire, it wasn't the smallest one for the switch, hopefully this will make sense to somebody

 

ok i am wore out tonight, here is what i have now, with all positve cables hooked up (except the starter cable) and the ground cable from the engine hooked to the neg side of battery everything seems to be ok (except for the starter of course) the key switch when turned on lights the display and the headlights turn off and on with the switch, when i hook up the starter cable to the postive side of the battery it gives the ground cable from the engine juice, and that is when the starter engages, is their a ground from the starter on a 2 stroke? maybe that is the problem, because the ground cable from the engine is fine until you hook up the starter cable then you cant touch the engine ground cable to the neg side of the battery because it starts to arc and engages the starter, i appreciate any help, thanks