[Gobo]

I am looking at troubleshooting the electrical system now. If anyone finds this familiar I'd love to know. The key basically does nothing now at all. I put it on a battery charger just in case but that did nothing. The only thing that I did was take out the speedometer and put it back in.

 

[doode]

What bike?
Did you check your fuses?

 

[Gobo]

What bike?
Did you check your fuses?

Duh, right? I'll go do that. Nope. I guess I could've shorted something in the speedometer though it doesn't seem likely.

 

[Gobo]

I checked and the main fuse had popped for some reason. I replaced it with a spare in there but it didn't work so that fuse could be old or perhaps I fried the battery on my trickle charger. Thank you, though, that seemed so obvious but I hadn't checked it.

 

[doode]

Do you have a test light or multimeter?

I've had my main fuse blow twice. Once when there was a bunch of corrosion on the fuses holder.
The second time I had an exposed wire in the headlight bucket that would short.

 

[Gobo]

Do you have a test light or multimeter?

I've had my main fuse blow twice. Once when there was a bunch of corrosion on the fuses holder.
The second time I had an exposed wire in the headlight bucket that would short.

I think I do somewhere. I'll dig it out or grab one today. I didn't expect to have an electrical debacle! I guess I might not have noticed that the main blew on my ride with all the vibration and then I got it home and it was just dead. That makes sense, now. I may not have noticed that the lights were out, etc. It's odd now that I have no power with the new main fuse in, but I'll have to trace that one backward.

 

[Yendor]

By Chance is your bike MISSING the Ground wire from the bottom of the Handle Bar Clamp Stud to the Speedo Mount bolt.

If it is the Speedo Cable MAY be acting as a ground path and being a high resistance circuit may have caused the fuse to blow.

 

[longdistancerider]

A blown main fuse can cause the charging system to stop charging. Since the ignition is self powered w/o the battery involved it's possible to ride with a dead battery. The main fuse can blow if it's the wrong type, SAE auto fuse, and doesn't make full contact with the brass holders. Those holders also corrode and become loose. Clean the brass with rolled up sand paper and ping the brass holder together. Be sure the fuse fits end to end with little or no overhang.

 

[Gobo]

By Chance is your bike MISSING the Ground wire from the bottom of the Handle Bar Clamp Stud to the Speedo Mount bolt.

If it is the Speedo Cable MAY be acting as a ground path and being a high resistance circuit may have caused the fuse to blow.

I did take the speedo completely out. I'll check it out tomorrow, thank you.

 

[Gobo]

A blown main fuse can cause the charging system to stop charging. Since the ignition is self powered w/o the battery involved it's possible to ride with a dead battery. The main fuse can blow if it's the wrong type, SAE auto fuse, and doesn't make full contact with the brass holders. Those holders also corrode and become loose. Clean the brass with rolled up sand paper and ping the brass holder together. Be sure the fuse fits end to end with little or no overhang.

Hi Jim, I can't find the specific oem fuses this bike should have. The main fuse had been replaced with one that was a bit too long but hadn't been a problem so far. I could not find the right length fuses at OReilly.

 

[longdistancerider]

Use the SAE temporarily, MC shops will be open Tuesday.
These models don't have a handlebar ground strap since nothing grounds thru the bars

 

[Gobo]

Use the SAE temporarily, MC shops will be open Tuesday.
These models don't have a handlebar ground strap since nothing grounds thru the bars

Thanks. I looked at the schematics and noted no strap. I'm sure I'll find the short once I have a few hours to focus on it.

 

[Gobo]

I had a bit of time today and verified that the battery has juice and it's popping the main fuse whenever the key is on. Any advice on where to start looking for the short? Would any circuit short out the main fuse or is it limited? I'm not entirely sure where to start looking.

 

[doode]

Mine was at the headlight bucket. Apparently another spot is where the harness goes over the frame backbone. Take time and inspect your wires. No sense trying to shortcut it.

 

[longdistancerider]

Key ON power is supplied to the Black, Brown and Brown w/White wire. Basically everything is powered up. I would disconnect the ignition switch first to make things simple, no that's not the problem. Now use a jumper wire from the Red wire in the harness side of the connector and connect to the 3 output wires each in turn. When the fuse blows you will know which circuit has the short, Black, Brown, Brown w/White. You'll need a supply of fuses, they don't have to be 15A but can't be higher than that. Once we know which circuit is at fault it's a case of tracing down the components and disconnecting them. If that doesn't solve it then there's a ground somewhere in the harness where it's rubbed through the insulation, you can do a harness inspection first looking for and repairing any damage.

 

[Gobo]

Key ON power is supplied to the Black, Brown and Brown w/White wire. Basically everything is powered up. I would disconnect the ignition switch first to make things simple, no that's not the problem. Now use a jumper wire from the Red wire in the harness side of the connector and connect to the 3 output wires each in turn. When the fuse blows you will know which circuit has the short, Black, Brown, Brown w/White. You'll need a supply of fuses, they don't have to be 15A but can't be higher than that. Once we know which circuit is at fault it's a case of tracing down the components and disconnecting them. If that doesn't solve it then there's a ground somewhere in the harness where it's rubbed through the insulation, you can do a harness inspection first looking for and repairing any damage.

You are racking up many beers that I owe you! Thank you, this is a great start. I got a multimeter today, too, so I think I can dive in. I just didn't want to start tearing up too much of this wiring w/o knowing where to start. The is a minor amount of custom crap going on in there and some crappy twister connectors that I need to address.

 

[Gobo]

Key ON power is supplied to the Black, Brown and Brown w/White wire. Basically everything is powered up. I would disconnect the ignition switch first to make things simple, no that's not the problem. Now use a jumper wire from the Red wire in the harness side of the connector and connect to the 3 output wires each in turn. When the fuse blows you will know which circuit has the short, Black, Brown, Brown w/White. You'll need a supply of fuses, they don't have to be 15A but can't be higher than that. Once we know which circuit is at fault it's a case of tracing down the components and disconnecting them. If that doesn't solve it then there's a ground somewhere in the harness where it's rubbed through the insulation, you can do a harness inspection first looking for and repairing any damage.

Would a multimeter work to check each of the circuits rather than connecting the red to each?

 

[Gobo]

BLACK! Multimeter would not alarm on continuity of circuit AND I jumped it and it popped the fuse as well as nearly melting my jumper which was for a small electronics kit

 

[longdistancerider]

OK, so now we know there's a dead short on the Black wire circuit. So that circuit if you follow it from the ignition switch has
Horn
Rear brake switch
Flasher relay
Oil pressure light
Neutral light
Front brake light switch
Starter switch
Voltage regulator
Both 7A fuses
Time to disconnect one item at a time.
Things that are grouped together in one connector can be done as a group at first like the oil pressure and neutral light circuits, one plug and those are disabled.
This is where you blow a lot of fuses because you're going to reconnect the ignition switch to do this. Or make a heavier jumper wire instead to save the ignition switch from the load.

 

[Gobo]

Should I be unplugging these things at the switches or at the harness? I've ticked off several on the list but I haven't pulled any of the harnesses apart in the headlight. For instance, does taking the neutral light bulb out break that circuit so if it was the neutral light I'd know? Or do I need to disconnect the harness that the neutral light goes into?