82 GS 450 repeated blown fuse

[TerminusEst]

As the title suggests I have repeatedly blown the main fuse on a 82 GS450L, and cannot find the short. Bike turns on fine, headlights, tach, etc all light up. As soon as I put the kill switch in the run position, lights briefly dim and fuse goes. Checked all the wiring from the handlebar through the headlight to the main harness found nothing to cause a short. With coils disconnected problem still occurs, so I assume thats not the location of the short. Problem stops once all the leads from the regulator/rectifier are disconnected, but starter doesn't turn. R/R is new, as is starter relay. Not really sure where to go next.

Electrical systems unfortunately make about as much since to me as black magic, so I am guessing this is a simple problem I'm just missing. I'm also hoping somebody here can point me towards the best steps to take troubleshooting this.

Also is there a way to test the system without blowing through so many fuses?

[pete]

Hmmm only two posts... guessing you're new here so welcome

Finding shorts can be a royal pain, but basically what you need to do is take a methodical approach and test one area of the harness at a time.

I'd probably start by disconnecting everything you can and connecting devices one at a time until you find a short.

While connecting the devices, you can refer to the wiring diagram and see which wires either should or shouldn't be connected together.

Given it blows a fuse like that, my guess is a device somewhere when connected is causing a switched 12v wire to be shorted to ground.

The best way to test without constantly blowing fuses is to use a multimeter set to the continuity test function, which will beep when there is electrical connectivity between the two probes.

If you haven't seen BassCliff's mega welcome yet, I'm sure it won't be too far away and in the info he gives you will be links to service manuals and wiring diagrams if you don't have them already.

Good luck!