Topic: Riddle me this - Electrical

[Mekagojira]

Gentlemen,

My bike is parked a few miles from home.

The bike appears "dead" but battery has some charge  (how much I am not sure) -   but all lights, headlight, rear, Neutral light don't light up.

This happened on before - I just giggled the electrical "stuff' under the seat and the power returned… but not this time.  I lost the lights kick starting…so I think something has come loose - but what?


Been having a host of electrical issues.  Starter cranks when I stick a screwdriver on the solenoid (starter button disintegrated last week - when I was tracking a short down in my handle bars…)

Thank you in advance,
Meka

[mlinder]

What's come loose?

Damn near anything.

Grab a multimeter, go to your bike, check your fuses, and track down your short or disconnect.

[Mekagojira]

Ha. Thanks. I was hoping to narrow it down a little - but maybe I can't. 

[Spanner 1]

Take out the 15A main fuse and see if one of the end caps fall off........ bad main fuse IMO, but caused by tarnished fuse clips ( makes fuse heat up )...... time to polish the fuse holders, take a look behind the fuse block for burnt connections on the wires too, good luck

[scondon]

Check that the leads to your battery are not loose, especially the ground.

[bollingball]

That is what the meter,print, brain is for to narrow it down. No one can tell you for sure what it is without being there with the tools I just mentioned. However everyone has given a good starting points. I think you need to get it home and go through the whole harness.

[TwoTired]

Well, it's a witch hunt with that problem description.
(My bike broke, what's wrong with it?)

But, if you can find the solenoid, you'll find a smaller red connection on one post.  This wire feed the rest of the bike power.  One bike I had failed the crimp connection between wire and terminal.  Just as likely neglected fuse terminals oxidized, and heated the fuse to melting.

Assuming you've made no faulty electrical mods, "upgrades", or other repairs.

Assuming you have battery power.

I've never known "jiggling" to be any kind of permanent fix.

Cheers,

[Mekagojira]

These are all good tips ,thank you.

I bought the multimeter and will go out later today to check out my bike.  Alot of the wiring is kinda jerry rigged so I was just hoping to find out some common problems….


I'm still learning. This electrical stuff seemed daunting to me…

Is there a diagram/ labeled picture of this stuff under the seat. I can read the wiring diagram, but I really don't know what the parts are...I can't tell a rectifier from a regulator.

I think eventually I'll have to replace it all, certainly the wiring.

I'm looking at Hondaman's fuse box, are there other "modern" upgrades for the electronics available that are "plug and play" ?

[Accolay]

I'd get the bike home first if you can, but it may be a long way to push.

Probably fuse box is melty. Are your fuses even good? Check those with the multimeter. Also check all the bullet connections in the "jiggly" area and make sure they all have solid connections. Check the charge on the battery with said multimeter. Are the electrical connections very corroded? If so, make them shine and reconnect.

Other basically plug and play electrical parts can be found. Check out http://www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/

[Mekagojira]

Thanks again. I stopped by the bike on my way home from work - to do more work… so I couldn't spend anytime with it yet.

But it seems the main fuse has power but tail and head don't….what's that mean?

How long can I keep a car battery "jumped" to the iake battery ? I like to work on it with the cables attached to eliminate battery charge / discharge froth equation.

[scottly]

But it seems the main fuse has power but tail and head don't….what's that mean?

If you have power on both ends of the main fuse, but no power to the tail and headlight fuses, it may indicate a bad ignition switch, or bad connection on the switch plug. You might try unplugging and re-plugging the switch a couple of times; if it's a bad connection in the plug, this may scape the corrosion off well enough to get the bike home. If the switch itself is bad, it can be hot-wired.

You can leave the jumpers on forever, as long as they are hooked up with the right polarity.

[Accolay]

You're gonna have to get that bike to your place.

I hate to tell you this, but there is no easy answer to the problem aside from finding someone to do the work for you. I might have missed this in the posts, but you DO have a Honda Wiring Diagram right? And I mean NOT from a Clymers or whatever.

[Randy]

I got the wiring diagram and when over every connection on my bike..I unplugged and sanded and used electrical grease and replugged in...circle the ones you did.. Were I had no lights or spark, she just came alive... It could be a ground problem...So grab your beer get a stool and go over the bike.. I started from he taillight bulb and finished a the head... happy rider..

[bollingball]

What bike is this? It will make a deference what print you use and it may be on this site along with the service manual that will show you what the parts look like and where they are on the bike.

[Mekagojira]

Thank you everyone for the help.

As it turns out - the main fuse was blown - even though it looked fine - and was actually new….

The electrics need some work and I following some of the advice I received - Thanks again !