Main fuse blows with key off

[kalessin]

Hello...

I was out on a pre-workday ride on my '83 GS1100GL this morning, and my main fuse blew. *$(&$@#

I got the bike to the side of the road, and turned the key off. When I put in the spare fuse, it blew with a visible spark. Yipes!

I'm getting a friend to trailer my bike over to another friend's garage, but I'm wondering if there's a typical place to look for problems in this situation. My first guess is toasted regulator/rectifier or R/R wiring. I'm printing out the Stator Papers from the main GS Resources site right now...

[Redman]

Yes, The R/R is about the only thing that is powered with the ignition off. You could disconnect the R/R and see if the main fuse holds then.

[Boondocks]

I had the same problem recently, and it was caused by a dead short in the hot wire going to the ignition switch. This wire is always hot and runs throught the wiring harness under the tank. The metal tabs that guide the wiring harness can have sharp edges and wear through the harness, causing a short. Also, the clutch cable has a metal inner casing under the outer cover. If the clutch cable rubs against something like the harness or metal tabs, the inner casing can be exposed. If this rubs through a hot wire, it will also cause a short.

I would suspect the short is in the wire going to the ignition switch. The same wire is connected to the R/R, so if disconnecting the red wire from the R/R doesn't eliminate the short, the wire to the ignition switch is the likely culprit.

[rustybronco]

on mine it was a toasted regulator (r/r) unplug it and try a new fuse this may be it, if not then the trouble shooting begins

[kalessin]

Thank you all... the bike has been trailered to a friend's garage, where the patient is resting before diagnosis begins this weekend.