ok - a friend with teh manual has been kind enough to follow some of the wires...

From what he could see, the black/white stripe runs from the "Ignitor" to the kill switch, which might very well explain my situation. The Black/Yellow stripe goes to battery negative. Is that the correct one to use for ground? Lastly, are bikes like cars where there is a "floating ground" and you can pretty much ground on anything metal (frame, engine, etc), or is ground neg on the battery??

 

Both of the wires I used were on the connector that hooks up to the ignition (key) switch. I wouldn't trust grounding anything to the frame. It's really hard to find a decent spot. I probably remembered yellow as white or some such nonsense. Glad to hear you've worked throught the problem. Anyway, the black with yellow wire sounds like the one you want. That's what I get for trusting my memory while doing the write-up several hours later. Just remember, a multi-meter doesn't lie. I will edit my first post. Apologies for sending you on that 'adventure.'

 

Its all good...nothing was melted, and yes, i should pick up a meter for electric work. But I was in a hurry, it was cold out, and dark...blah blah blah. I'll get it working, thanks for the help!