Blowing main fuse (solved!!!!)

My newly aquired 77 kz1000. I have post in the project section. I finally got it on the road see how it runs. Pulls like a train. However not too far it blew the main fuse. Then another. Before I dig in and start trouble shooting any suggestions on the problem. quick look all the wres look nice. so,,,,
here she is fells's a real gem

This method of troubleshooting works good:

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. Just 1, not both!

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 off/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.


The short may be where the wire bundle for the handlebars gets flexed, especially if the bundle goes inside the bars.

oh boy I'll have to sober up and go on the wagon for awhile to figure that out

right now there are no rear blinkers so nothing working there, however inside the headlight bucket one of the blinker ground wire is broke off the coller. would this wire bouncing on the bucket couse the outage?
can't be that easy. It;s late I'll trouble shoot tomorrow
cheerz
gregz

If you're blowing a 20 or 30 amp fuse, start by disconnecting the ignition coils(especially if they are the ones that came with the bike). I'd think a loose ground wire will have no effect, but if it's touching a "Hot" wire, than it might be doing it.

whats the purpose of disconnecting the coils

took all of five minutes after work today to find the problem. Bare wires at the tail light where they go through the fender. Job well done now cocktail time

The reason for dis-connecting the ignition coils, is a troubleshooting step, if the fuse did NOT blow & blew with them re-connected, then there's one of the potential problems. Factory supplied coils had 1/4" electrical push on primary connections. The after market ones by Accel, and Dyna have ring terminal connections, that come really close to the mounting hardware, sometimes shorting out.