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Darren the big wires are all installed and the starter does not crank when the button is pressed. The solenoid clicks when the button is pushed but no starter cranking. I tested all the internal wiring to the starter before re-assembling it, pole to pole on the commutator and the windings inside the case. Also when I accidentally dropped a 10mm socket and it fell across the solenoid HD battery/starter connections the motor cranked over.
The test with the thin wire was just to confirm that the starter had not suffered any damage and still turned over.
So I definitely have power to solenoid (because it clicks), the HD lead from the solenoid to the starter is good (200 amp welding cable) and the starter motor turns over on 11 amp wire so I can only conclude that the solenoid whilst clicking is not making the actual connection between the input and output HD cables. It was a cheap Chinese one supposedly for a Kawasaki VX1800 cruiser chosen because a) it was the smallest size b) the solenoid was supposedly capable of taking enough current to fire up a big V twin c) it was cheap and d) it did not have the horrible low tension Ducati (semi) connector. Probably a lesson in there somewhere.
Today, I will refit the old Ducati one but it will need a new mounting bracket and the connections made up (probably solder directly to the OEM Hitachi/Ducati terminal pins then heat shrink sleeving between the pins and heat shrink sleeving over the two incoming wires to provide a mechanical support ot stop them coming out).
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