No electricals

Hey everyone.
Just took my bike for a ride on the first nice day of the year and i got about two miles from my house and the bike shut off while i was riding. I coasted to a stop and then dropped it in a ditch when I slipped on gravel. I got it back up with the help of some people who stopped and turned the key and none of the electricals will turn on. The battery is tight and there is no corrosion. While I wait for a tow truck i might as well ask you guys what could have caused this to happen

Could be one of the connectors came loose, and you have no continuity, check and follow MF Folks advice on how to clean your connections, and check your fuses.

Check your fuses. Ed

As it turns out, I hurt my leg when it slipped into a sewer drain on the side of the road so I wont be able to look at any of it tonight :pinch: From what I've been reading the most likely problem is a fuse. How do you tell if a fuse is blown and if there is a blown fuse does this indicate another problem or do the fuses just blow over time?

The glass fuses do fail over time even if the electrical system is perfect. What happens is that the metal caps on either end can loosen from the glass and break free from the filament inside. When this happens, the circuit dies even though the filament does not look burned or broken (because is is only broken free inside the metal cap). The best best is to just replace all the fuses with new ones and see if that solves the problem. Ed

These fuses are a problem sometimes, and you'll need a multimeter to either do a continuity check, or voltage check to see if the fuse(s) are any good. If you've never used a multimeter, here's a video on how to use one:

The best multimeter tutorial


Fuse And Fuse Holder Designations

1. The older Kawasaki’s use a glass tubed fuse with the designation of AGX 1” long. Most good auto parts stores can get them for you. They are ¼” in diameter.

2. The more common AGC is 1 ¼” long and may not fit the smaller fuse clips. Again, ¼” in diameter.

3. To clean and polish the fuse clips, I use a cotton swab(Q- Tip) and some Brasso metal cleaner or Turtle Wax Chrome Polish. I suppose any good metal polish would work.

4. These fuses can fail internally but look good, only by removing them from the clip and electrically continuity checking with either a self powered test light, or a multimeter set on OHMS can they be determined to be in good shape.

5. A physical inspection of the metal end caps for tightness will tell you if the fuse is serviceable.

6. Most modern motorcycles are now using the automobile “Blade” style fuse with the designation of ATC or ATO.

7. The reduced sized “Mini” Blade style fuse holder uses the ATM size of fuses.

8. If the fuse and fuse holder overheat, it could soften or anneal the grip of the clip, it might require squeezing the clip to restore the tightness.
9. A list of where to purchase “Blade” style fuses and holders:

www.waytekwire.com order.waytekwire.com/productdetail2/M50/...20%20%20%208%20FUSE/

www.rallylights.com www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=765

www.delcity.net/store/6!way-fuse-blocks/p_10822.a_1

10. A source for the glass tubed AGX fuses:
www.boatownerswarehouse.com/browse.cfm/2,4986.html

Thanks for the reply. I just tested the fuses using the method in the video. My main fuse is blown. This is probably going to seem like a dumb question but how do I remove the old fuse?

Assuming it is a stock fuse (similar to the one shown below) in a stock fuse holder, you should be able to just pull it out of the spring clips on each end that hold it in place. Ed

nickleo373 wrote: Thanks for the reply. I just tested the fuses using the method in the video. My main fuse is blown. This is probably going to seem like a dumb question but how do I remove the old fuse?

Replace all of them. Those tube fuses go bad over time. same thing happened to me. I think they should get replaced about every couple of years just as maintenance.

I went to Advance Auto to find new fuses today. They were all slightly larger than the fuse that came out of the bike. The guy at Advance was saying the fuses I took out were an old style that is no longer made anymore and instructed me to cut the existing fusebox out and wire in a modern fusebox with the slide fuses. This seems like a pretty terrible idea so I'm still on the hunt for ones that fit. Do the new fuses need to be the exact size as the old ones?

That is a very terrible idea! Take a close look at the caps on your old fuses. There will be letters/numbers there that identify the exact fuse type and amperage. Post that info here and we can help you find them. In fact, I have been able to find the correct fuses for my bike at Pep Boys, but mine may be a little different than yours since my bike is 4 years older than yours. Ed

The fuse sizes are asb 20a and asb 10a