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I forget whether I have mentioned my fusebox experiences as the bike gets older. I have owned my 78 GS1000 since 1980.
It has been mentioned that the tension on the fuses does get loose with age. It is not a yearly thing to do, perhaps every few years, but is is a good idea to take out the fuses and sqeeze together the fuse holder brackets. This makes for better contact.
Another less obvious problem that may only happen with age and miles is the actual electrical efficiency of the connections with the fuse! I found this one out from experince..the bike was cutting out dead for no reason, fuses seemed ok but I swapped them anyway...
Turned out to be a coating had formed on the fuse holders where they contact the fuse. A bit of contact cleaner and wet/dry sandpaper rolled (cigarette size) up and rubbed in where the fuse goes cleans up the contact area with the fuse. Don't be afraid to give it a good rub..remember all your power goes through there! The decreased conductivity of the fuse-holder connection must also lead to inconsistent electrical power transmission etc (eg voltage loss to ignition). So if you a power problem, remember to check the fuse box fuse connections as well as the obvious bullet connectors.
I have also put in relays to keep the path of the power to a minimum...such as the ignition switch now turns a relay on to turn on main power, the stator goes through a relay near the rectifier rather than thrugh that silly little light switch to turn on the lighting charging circuit, and of course hi/low beam relays.
Reminds me it must be time to check all my electrical connections....
It has been mentioned that the tension on the fuses does get loose with age. It is not a yearly thing to do, perhaps every few years, but is is a good idea to take out the fuses and sqeeze together the fuse holder brackets. This makes for better contact.
Another less obvious problem that may only happen with age and miles is the actual electrical efficiency of the connections with the fuse! I found this one out from experince..the bike was cutting out dead for no reason, fuses seemed ok but I swapped them anyway...
Turned out to be a coating had formed on the fuse holders where they contact the fuse. A bit of contact cleaner and wet/dry sandpaper rolled (cigarette size) up and rubbed in where the fuse goes cleans up the contact area with the fuse. Don't be afraid to give it a good rub..remember all your power goes through there! The decreased conductivity of the fuse-holder connection must also lead to inconsistent electrical power transmission etc (eg voltage loss to ignition). So if you a power problem, remember to check the fuse box fuse connections as well as the obvious bullet connectors.
I have also put in relays to keep the path of the power to a minimum...such as the ignition switch now turns a relay on to turn on main power, the stator goes through a relay near the rectifier rather than thrugh that silly little light switch to turn on the lighting charging circuit, and of course hi/low beam relays.
Reminds me it must be time to check all my electrical connections....
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