Motorcycle Repair: transmission,clutch?????, yamaha 650 maxim, japanese bike

Question
just bought a used 1982 yamaha 650 maxim, every time that I try to put it into gear the engine dies... please help

Answer
Hi Don.

What you have is a bad sidestand cutoff switch.  Those tend to be the one thing on every japanese bike that goes universally bad.

You need to either replace it or bypass it.  The switch is located at the sidestand mount.  It is usually 3 wires, but it is trial and error as to which 2 are the ones that you need to splice together to bypass the switch.

Good luck and ride safe.
FALCON