Electrical problems driving me insane...

[musicman]

And by insane I mean I'm sick of dealing with them. This old thing has left me stranded enough times that I don't know why I keep toying with it, serves me right to buy a Michigan bike I guess

Anywho, y'all might recall me asking for help with what seemed to be a wiring problem the bike left me stranded going to work with no power. The fix for that was the main fuse (felt stupid, the new fuse I replaced it with was bad, go figure). The fuse that died on me seemed original, or close to it at least. The caps on either end had corroded away and let the little metal strip come disconnected. Well, got all that dealt with, I've had some other issues with carbs but yesterday on the way to work she started breaking up on me, and at a certain RPM (can't recall specifically). First thought was "great, more carb trouble, I HATE carbs...". Then I saw my gauge indicator flashing at me as the engine stumbled. Huh, that's interesting. Long story short she died and didn't come to life again.

Pulled the side cover off in a gas station parking lot, opened the fuse box, and the new main fuse (15a) was nice and blue, the caps, and element inside, not burnt though. Looked closer and the plastic is melted. Go to pull the fuse and the brass clips on one side come with it. Great. Guess I'll be late to work again. Took the fuse box off and looked behind it, the wire had come un-soldered from the brass clips. Other info, it has a Mosfet R/R and I'm getting good charge all RPM's, no over charge. Just to finish the story, I took the wire that burnt off the brass connector, jammed it into the other side, bolted the fuse box together again, and rode to work, and called for a trailer to get home that night.

Now here's my question, could this be a result of just age? I can't help but wonder if the harmonics from the engine wreaked havoc on the fuse box after 33 years and shook the solder loose, or at least enough for it to start arcing and burn away. I'm also curious about why a fuse can get so hot to turn the caps and element inside blue, but still have continuity through it... and it's only a 15a fuse! I'm tired of the electrical problems, I've already replaced the r/r, checked the stator, built a new harness for the fairing (both inside, new connector, and the pigtail to the headlight bucket), it has new over sized (just a tad) battery cables I made, new grounds. The engine runs like a clock though, which is nice...

[tom203]

"The engine runs like a clock though, which is nice... "

Yeah, so be happy! Corrosion takes its toll on electrical stuff- some bikes suffer worst. Just replace your fusebox with the newer style fuses and you won't have to worry about why glass fuse innards become cloudy- probably a reaction between the hot element and the chinese air!

[hjfisk]

As has been suggested already ,it can not be stressed enough that these old bikes need maintenance. And the wiring connectors are not immune to this . The heat at the fuse is being generated by a bad connection somewhere, or a dead short. As has been stated already start with the newer fuse box then go through all the wiring connectors clean them up and put a little dielectric grease on them. 30 years of getting caught in the rain ,sitting outside, sitting in not so perfect places don't help these connectors. Stick with it you'll get it done.