Intermittant blowing of the "horn" fuse ?

This on has me really baffled. Late last year I observed my "horn" circut fuse blown. Tried a new on and immediately blew another. OK, I have a dead short somewhere. So I start checking all the relative connections for a chafe or corroded connection. My T/S, instruments, horn, all function within this circut, so this is no easy task. Cleaned all the frame grounds, and I still find nothing conclusive. a week later I try another fuse, and no problems everything is working correctly now ? Now this year, still working fine. I have an '84 GPz1100. Does anyone know of a suspect bad components ? Thanks !

Rich K.

i had a switch housing ( left handle bar controls) go crazy on a ride once..i had to unplug my horn wires to ride home,as it would stay on,soon the whole inner switch housing started to short and melted itself togehter inside.....i think it was jiggled loose over time...i got a new swith/controls ....from z-1 enterprises and it has never happened again...that reminds me ...i gotta re-hook my horn someday...lol

Try this:

The Dreaded Shorting/Intermittent Electrical Problem!


Here is the most basic method I know(Taken from www.kzrider.com by member Patton)

1. Charge your battery and have it load tested if you can. The floating ball hydrometer can be used to check the specific gravity of the charged cells in the battery.

2. Disconnect the Black lead from the (-) Battery terminal... or Red from the (+) Battery terminal, it does not matter which one.

3. Connect one of the following test setups in series with the Battery terminal and lead:
3.1 A 12 V light bulb,
3.2 A 12 V test light,
3.3 A 12 V test buzzer or,
3.4 A 12 V horn... you get the idea.

4. With the Ignition Switch OFF, go through your harness and wiggle the wires while looking/listening for the test setup to go on/start buzzing.

5.With the Ignition Switch ON, repeat the test except this time the looking/listening for the test setup to go on/stop buzzing.

6. Be prepared to open the Ignition switch and check/test for solder joint failure and or circuit board micro breaks (don't ask how I know this ).

7. Be prepared to pull the wires out of the Head Light to test for failures at or near the grommet.

8. Be prepared to open the harness at or near the Steering Neck for failures. This is where wires tend to exhibit fatigue due to repetitive movement.

9. Be prepared to open the left and right switch gear to search for rust and or broken parts. CAUTION: watch out for flying springs, ball bearings and stuff. Do indoors on White sheet (again don't ask ).

10. Be prepared to follow the heavy gauge wire from the Starter Solenoid (Relay) to the starter for bare wire exposure. Especially near bends and grommets.

11. If you can reproduce the fault symptom your are pretty much home free. Be prepare to find and repair/replace any internal wire breaks, insulation break downs, exposed wires, rubber grommet failures, etc. Often, shrink tubing will solve the problem temporarily until something better can be done.

12. I use a very good electrical contact cleaner/preservative called De-oxit made by Caig Labs in San Diego Ca. Their website is www.deoxit.com It can be purchased at Radio Shack and any other electronic supply store. I use it on all of my motorcycle’s electrical connectors , in my home entertainment center’s stereo patch cords and cordless phones charging cradles.