Hondaman - As far as fuses go, I remember the glass type fuses being on my Dad's bike because at least once he explained to me (at probably about 8 years old) that you can use tin foil to make a connection. For the sake of education for me I would like the explanation because until you mentioned it I had not even remembered the old glass fuses at all. So please fire away on that explanation. Also I sent you a PM.
seanbarney - thanks for the offer. I sent you a PM.
The old glass fuses were a special automotive type called "SFE" fuses. They could carry the rated current while being vibrated without getting too soft and falling apart. All fuses get warm when passing current: that's how they 'blow' if too much current is running through: they actually melt. Today, only appliance-style fuses come in the 25mm (1") long glass tubes. Some are 'quick blow' and some are 'slow-blow' types: the latter are being sold as fuses for these bikes. Not a great idea: the little springy element in the fuse will actually shake the fuse apart, even with normal riding on a bumpy road. I found that out in 2005 when I replaced mine with one of these fuses (my old one finally got rusty and intermittent) and couldn't get 5 miles per fuse! That's when I researched all this stuff and created the new Fuseblock that so many have applied now to their SOHC4. The CB750K0/1/2 and CB500 SOHC4 bikes only have one fuse: the CB500 requires connector changes to use the modern automotive fuses, though.
And, once changed: you can buy the SFE fuses at any grocery, hardware, or autoparts store, even gas station convenience stores!
And...I have replaced whole wiring harnesses on bikes where your dad's old trick was performed: in a CB350 twin and a CB500 SOHC4, to be exact. The old chewing gum used to come wrapped in foil that could carry more than 30 amps if wound around a blown fuse, so if there was an actual problem that blew that fuse, then the wire heading in that direction would melt and point the way to the problem! But, sometimes just hitting a big enough pothole (me, for example) could break the old SFE fuses when they were carrying more than 50% of their rated current, and this was always a nuisance with many Japanese bikes of this era. Mine quit in rush-hour traffic at freeway speeds while carrying just half the rated current, so I know many others did, too. Colorado's roads are famous for potholes that have fire in their bottoms, every Spring...
