If I turn the key on to my 1979 cb750F -- with the BATTERY REMOVED from the bike -- I'm getting almost a dead short when I measure resistance between the red "+" battery terminal wire and the black "-" or ground battery terminal wire.
That freaks the crap out of me.
Because think about it -- how drunk would you have to be to try this stunt:
- with the battery in the bike and connected to the harness
- and ignition on
- connect a 1 ohm resistor across the + and - battery terminals. Just to see some smoke and sparks.
You would need a HUGE, FAT 1-ohm resistor to handle the 12 amps of current between your battery terminals.
We're talking ohm's law here, (VOLTS / RESISTANCE) = CURRENT,
ie. E/R = I.
Putting a 1-ohm resistor across the battery means you'd have (12 volts / 1 ohm) = 12 amps flowing through that resistor.
It better be a fatazz resistor to handle all that heat.
I mean, I've got a problem here, right?
If I switch the key off, the resistance between the red and black battery wires (battery disconnected) goes to infinite ohms.
But with the keyswitch on, battery disconnected and out of the bike -- I literally have only 1 ohm resistance between the red and black battery leads.
AS A SANITY CHECK -- I ran the same test on my '71 cb750k1. Battery removed.
- key off: infinite ohms between the red and black battery wires.
- key on: about 45 ohms between the red and black battery wires.
So my 1971 cb750k1 will have (12 volts / 45 ohms) = 0.26 amps across the battery if I connect up the battery and turn on the key.
12 GOTT-DANG AMPS of current!
Someone tell me if this is normal on a 1979 cb750f.