Electrical Problems

[Anonymous]

Had a major electrical meltdown with the KLX250 last Tuesday. Riding out of Stroud along a snotty single track with lots of trees down. When dragging my bike under a tree I had smoke come out from behind my headlight and a smell of electrical burning. Obviously some kind of short. On Checking later it appeared that a wire from the ignition switch had shorted out on the frame.

The smoke stopped after a few seconds and as luck would have it the bike started and went fine for the rest of the ride.

The next day the bike was totally dead. To cut a long story short (no pun intended) my main wiring harness had fried overnight. Such a mess that I will have to buy a new one. ($453).

Now the main fuse should have blown and protected the wiring. When I checked the fuse the plastic around the fuse had melted. I threw it away assuming it had blown but have now another theory.

If it had blown it should not have melted the plastic as the heat from the overload should have disappeared as the fuse blew. But it did melt the plastic enough to block the view of the actual fuse “wire” itself making me think that the fuse did not in fact blow thus causing the damage to the wiring.

Now this could happen if the wrong fuse was installed. eg A 30 amp instead of a 20 amp. So I checked. The melted fuse I took out was definatly a 20 amp which is correct for the bike.

Could it have been a faulty fuse? Any theories anyone?

old al.

[Nick AgainMember]

I dont know if its a help Old Al..A friend of mine had a similar exp. his seemed to have started form the “Horn” connector..I think it had broken off and jammed between one bit of metal and another..It didnt blow the inline fuse either and looked like it ran from the ignition area. best of luck with it..

[BillMember]

Mate to melt a wireing harness you would pop a 100amp fuse the main power on motorbikes dont have any fuse or fuseable link at the battry take it to a auto electrition should be able to make one cheeper than that and make it safer than stock

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

Hi Al,
Sorry to hear of your troubles. I had a similar problem many years ago when I put driving lights on my first car, the fuse would heat up and melt the fuse holder, I even tried fitting an understrength fuse but it did the same thing. The local mechanic couldn’t sort the problem out so in the end I just took them off.

Sorry I can’t help but good luck with it, sounds like a job for an expert though.

[Anonymous]

KTM Bull wrote:

Quote:

Mate to melt a wireing harness you would pop a 100amp fuse the main power on motorbikes dont have any fuse or fuseable link at the battry take it to a auto electrition should be able to make one cheeper than that and make it safer than stock

I’m with Bull Al, take it to a decent Auto electician and they will make one for a lot cheaper than that.

As for the melting, I’ve had correctly rated fuses do that before (on a car not a bike) so I wouldn’t necessarily blame it on a faulty fuse. I didn’t know that the main power on a bike doesn’t have a fuse, that sounds a bit dodgy to me. Are you sure about that Bull?

I’ll have to check the schematic of my bike to see if there is one. Menace is a sparky maybe he can help?

[Bruce CurtisMember]

I had a GSXR11 with a fusible link in it, was a godsend cause a similar thing happened witha bare wire, but all it did was stop the bike before any real damage was done. Unfortunately for my nerves and supersitions it happened exactly at the spot one of my closest mates was killed on his YZF750 12 months prior.
A trailer trip home, a quick look with a multimeter, a bit of insulation tape and flexible conduit and presto all good.

BC

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the imput fellas. Don’t know if an Auto Electrician would be much cheaper taking into account labour costs. I have decided to bight the bullet and buy a new one.

I will have a go at rewiring the old one for the experience. Dosn’t matter if I stuff it up.

old al

[shaneMember]

Grab a multimeter and check the continuity of the fuse. I’m curious! I’m also certain the mighty Vor has protective fuses right at the battery. I’ve even added an extra one!

I reckon if you pulled the old loom out Al, sat down and had a thnk about it, you could make one up…it’s pretty easy once it’s all out!

If you can get the old one down here I’ll have a crack at it.

[Anonymous]

shane_vor wrote:

Quote:

Grab a multimeter and check the continuity of the fuse. I’m curious! I’m also certain the mighty Vor has protective fuses right at the battery. I’ve even added an extra one!

I reckon if you pulled the old loom out Al, sat down and had a thnk about it, you could make one up…it’s pretty easy once it’s all out!

If you can get the old one down here I’ll have a crack at it.

Well, there it is. All of the exposed wires are in a mess. One has lost its insulation and is just a bare wire which has fused together most of the others.

[shaneMember]

You know the old saying…”Once all the magic smoke has escaped…”:laugh:

[GregMember]

Al if you send that to me I will fix it for you no problems at all, I teach electrics and have all the gear, that harness is a piece of piss, eyes shut job that one

Save your money

TB

[Anonymous]

Trailboss wrote:

Quote:

Al if you send that to me I will fix it for you no problems at all, I teach electrics and have all the gear, that harness is a piece of piss, eyes shut job that one

Save your money

TB

Great off TB, thanks. I am now committed to the new one (50% deposit). But I will tell you what I will do. If the new one goes ok I will give you the old one and you may be able to use it in your teachings.

The new one is on back order (none in the Sydney warehouse) and will take about 3 weeks. I will let you know how it goes.

old al

[Anonymous]

shane_vor wrote:

Quote:

Grab a multimeter and check the continuity of the fuse. I’m curious! I’m also certain the mighty Vor has protective fuses right at the battery. I’ve even added an extra one!

I reckon if you pulled the old loom out Al, sat down and had a thnk about it, you could make one up…it’s pretty easy once it’s all out!

If you can get the old one down here I’ll have a crack at it.

Thanks for the offer Shane. As I told TB above I am committed to a new one.

old al

[GregMember]

old al wrote:

Quote:

Trailboss wrote:

Quote:

Al if you send that to me I will fix it for you no problems at all, I teach electrics and have all the gear, that harness is a piece of piss, eyes shut job that one

Save your money

TB

Great off TB, thanks. I am now committed to the new one (50% deposit). But I will tell you what I will do. If the new one goes ok I will give you the old one and you may be able to use it in your teachings.

The new one is on back order (none in the Sydney warehouse) and will take about 3 weeks. I will let you know how it goes.

old al

Send it tomorrow and I will drop it back Saturday and you will be going 3 weeks earlier and have a spare, its up to you I am easy

TB

[Anonymous]

Trailboss wrote:

Quote:

old al wrote:

Quote:

Trailboss wrote:

Quote:

Al if you send that to me I will fix it for you no problems at all, I teach electrics and have all the gear, that harness is a piece of piss, eyes shut job that one

Save your money

TB

Great off TB, thanks. I am now committed to the new one (50% deposit). But I will tell you what I will do. If the new one goes ok I will give you the old one and you may be able to use it in your teachings.

The new one is on back order (none in the Sydney warehouse) and will take about 3 weeks. I will let you know how it goes.

old al

Send it tomorrow and I will drop it back Saturday and you will be going 3 weeks earlier and have a spare, its up to you I am easy

TB

Thanks TB. Let me know where to send it and I will get it away straight away.

old al

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