Topic: She died on the highway

[UnCrash]

Just a couple miles from home, powering through morning expressway traffic my 78 750F died.

No signal lights, no power, all electrics off.  Just like I shut the ignition off.

I get off the highway and coast into a turnaround on Route 1.  Dead Dead Dead.

I look the fuse panel over, and they're all intact.  Popped open the seat latch and all cables are good to the new (this season) battery.  I jiggled some cables, looked the obvious connections over.  No clue.

So I pushed it.  I was 3 miles from home basically at sea-level. 

2 hours later I called my neighbor to request that he come help me push the last tenth of a mile which was all up hill.  We got her back in my garage, I drank about half a gallon of water, took a shower and made it into work.

I'm a little trembly, and weak kneed.  Next time I'll pay for a tow or pickup truck or something.  I'm too stubborn some times.

It's probably the littlest damn thing in the electric system.  Problem is that whomever put the windjammer on butchered the wiring up front and stuck a rats nest of wires, some going nowhere, inside a leatherette bag. 

1000 miles of relative care-free riding since I've had the bike, thank god I recently bought a spare wiring harness / full electrics from eBay.

-Just thought I would share my morning with others that can understand.

Cheers,

Ben

[Lumbee]

...sounds like a hell-a-va way to start u'r day.    I've got a 77F with the windjammer faring, and the same rats nest up front.  It must have been a requirment or something, when shops installed a faring that they take a handful of old wires and shove them in with the others.   

...I'm sure its something stall.  Try replacing the main fuse, even if it looks good it may be bad...

[WJL75]

Sorry to hear about your morning.  I've been there...I got stranded on a two mile long bridge one morning, but at least the last half was slightly downhill.  

[mmtsquid]

I had an IDENTICAL experience with my 77 550K - it died on the highway, no electrics, nothing.  Fuses were good.
Long story short, take off the fuse panel, and look at the "clips" that hold the fuses in place - My main fuse clip was corroded so badly that it was only allowing intermittent contact (if I jiggled it, it would run - for a few seconds)

I did the blade fuse mod, and no worried now!

[UnCrash]

I had an IDENTICAL experience with my 77 550K - it died on the highway, no electrics, nothing.  Fuses were good.
Long story short, take off the fuse panel, and look at the "clips" that hold the fuses in place - My main fuse clip was corroded so badly that it was only allowing intermittent contact (if I jiggled it, it would run - for a few seconds)

I did the blade fuse mod, and no worried now!

Excellent tip Squid. 

Thanks.  I'll start there when I get home.

[obnoxshuz]

Same thing happened to me last weekend on my 78 750...All of a sudden no juice.
It jumped back into life after I replaced the main fuse (15A).

[mick750F]

  It must be the season. The same thing happened to me yesterday only I was just down the street from my shop. For me it's the connector at the bottom of the ignition switch. I was able to jiggle it into position long enough to get it back to my shop. I'll be checking the connector but most likely the switch will need to be replaced. Bad design on Honda's part...the throttle cables tend to abuse the connector.

Mike

[mikedialect]

  It must be the season. The same thing happened to me yesterday only I was just down the street from my shop. For me it's the connector at the bottom of the ignition switch. I was able to jiggle it into position long enough to get it back to my shop. I'll be checking the connector but most likely the switch will need to be replaced. Bad design on Honda's part...the throttle cables tend to abuse the connector.

Mike

I've got that same issue on my F. Damn ignition switch plug. Also, I have one of those WONDERFUL leather bags with all of my wiring in it. I've been on the hunt for a proper headlight bucket for a while now, too.

[OldSchool_IsCool]

The fuses LOOK good or ARE good?  Often a fuse can "melt" under the end cap where you can't see it.  The excessive heat is due to poor physical connection to the fuse holder clips. 

Double check your fuses with an ohm-meter and clean up the clips.  Make 'em shinny!  Then, give the clips a squeeze so that they hold the fuse so tight that you can't pull the fuse out with your fingers.

Or do the blade fuse mod.

15-amp fuese - DON'T leave home without some!

[neudl]

I had the same problem last summer, and it turned out to be a faulty ignition switch.  I bought a new one from partsnmore.com, switch it out, and no problems since.

[mmtsquid]

Ignition switch is also a possibility, as other people have stated.
If you want to find out, pull the plastic harness off of the ignition.
remove the red and black wires from the harness, and touch them together - if the lights come on, your ignition is probably the culprit.

[heffay]

i carry free towing on my insurance for times like that... it costs a dollar per month for both of my bikes combined and i get up to 3 reimbursed tows per year per bike. 

if you live from paycheck to paycheck and can't afford emergencies... it is a life saver.

[UnCrash]

The fuses LOOK good or ARE good?  Often a fuse can "melt" under the end cap where you can't see it.  The excessive heat is due to poor physical connection to the fuse holder clips. 

Double check your fuses with an ohm-meter and clean up the clips.  Make 'em shinny!  Then, give the clips a squeeze so that they hold the fuse so tight that you can't pull the fuse out with your fingers.

Or do the blade fuse mod.

15-amp fuese - DON'T leave home without some!

They looked good but I was probably too pissed off to think rationally.

I'll give it a good going over when I get home from work and report in with my findings.

Heffay thanks for your insurance tip, I'll be calling my agent on that one.

You guys are the best.

Many thanks.

[jtb]

  It must be the season. The same thing happened to me yesterday only I was just down the street from my shop. For me it's the connector at the bottom of the ignition switch. I was able to jiggle it into position long enough to get it back to my shop. I'll be checking the connector but most likely the switch will need to be replaced. Bad design on Honda's part...the throttle cables tend to abuse the connector.

Mike

I've got that same issue on my F. Damn ignition switch plug. Also, I have one of those WONDERFUL leather bags with all of my wiring in it. I've been on the hunt for a proper headlight bucket for a while now, too.

Ditto.  Got a switch from Partsnmore.  (If you do this, jb weld the hell out of the plastic cover on the bottom.  The aftermarket ones don't seat well) 

It' my impression that this is not an 'F' only problem.

Other than problems with the head, and having fewer parts available, the other problems are mostly 30 year old bike problems.

John

[UnCrash]

   I rode to work today 

When I got home last night I dusted off the old ohm meter and sure enough one of those 3 main fuses was blown.  The metal inside was still intact but there was no connectivity from one side to another.

Strange thing is this was a 20A fuse.  There were 2 20A and 1 14A fuse in there.  I replaced them all this morning with 15A. 

The Blade fuse mod is now on the to-do list.

Thanks for all your support fellas.

[Glenn Stauffer]

This is one of those common electrical problems.  Corroded fuse contacts lead to a fuse that gets so hot the solder in the end caps melts and drips out.  I had this happen several times on my 550 before it became a FAQ on the old SOHC/4 mailing list and only figured what was happening when I saw a solder drip solidified on the side of the fuse.  If your contacts are still tight, and you don't want to put blade fuses in for whatever reason, you can wrap some fine emery paper around the fuse and use it to remove all of the corrosion from the fuse contacts, then use dielectric grease to keep the contacts from corroding again.  I haven't had a main go for quite a while after doing this.

[UnCrash]

Great Tip Glenn!

Thanks!

[mick750F]

  I rode to work today 

When I got home last night I dusted off the old ohm meter and sure enough one of those 3 main fuses was blown.  The metal inside was still intact but there was no connectivity from one side to another.

Strange thing is this was a 20A fuse.  There were 2 20A and 1 14A fuse in there.  I replaced them all this morning with 15A. 

The Blade fuse mod is now on the to-do list.

Thanks for all your support fellas.

   If someone put 2 20A and a 14A fuse in there they either didn't know what they were doing or perhaps they were trying to overcome fuses blowing...(see didn't know what they were doing ) There should be a 15A a 7A and a 5A in there. Running higher rated fuses is asking for trouble. I'd install the proper rated fuses and see if any problems arise. A good thing to do with these bikes is to clean every connection. It's time consuming but well worth the effort. They've had 30 or so years to oxidize and raise resistance in the circuits. Just my 2¢...

Mike

[Bob Wessner]

A good thing to do with these bikes is to clean every connection. It's time consuming but well worth the effort.

I second that. Grab a cold beer, turn on the radio and you will be done in no time.

[UnCrash]

  Bah 

I just went out at lunchtime to go for a spin and she won't fire up. 

This is after riding here just fine.

She at least cranks over... The bottom of the 3 main fuses gets wicked hot though.  I replaced it with a spare (or two) and still no start.

All pointing to a larger problem somewhere in that circuit.  I'll have to do the sparking test.

Fortunately there's a couple offers of trailers.  I'll trailer her home sometime tomorrow.......

[mmtsquid]

Yikes!

Pull the fusebox completely off, and examine the clips where the wires are soldered into them.
Betcha they are nasty corroded, possible to the point of disintigration.......

[UnCrash]

Yikes is right.

I just got it running again.  Electrics are unhappy & crappy.  I hope to get her home without a trailer tonight.

PO put a lawnmower battery in her with the overflow tube ending right over that fusebox. 

I cleaned it up good and taped up stuff.  Time to replace that wiring harness with my eBay version.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[OldSchool_IsCool]

Wooo Hooo!!

Glad you are rolling again!  No so strange that it ate a 20A fuse.  When they fail due to excessive heat rather then an over-current, it really doesn't matter the rating of the fuse.

[UnCrash]

Thanks for all the moral support and tips mates!

She's home in the garage safe and sound.  I believe that a couple posters on this thread got it right...

When they fail due to excessive heat rather then an over-current, it really doesn't matter the rating of the fuse.

That last fuse gets damn hot. 

I'll give the wiring a thorough going over this weekend.

Cheers

[mikedialect]

Ditto.  Got a switch from Partsnmore.  (If you do this, jb weld the hell out of the plastic cover on the bottom.  The aftermarket ones don't seat well) 

It' my impression that this is not an 'F' only problem.

Other than problems with the head, and having fewer parts available, the other problems are mostly 30 year old bike problems.

John

This happened in a pretty scary way on the freeway tonight! A few jiggles on that damn ignition plug and I got it rolling without being killed on the side of the freeway.

jtb- I sent ya a message if you get around to it.