Blowing fuse

It was pouring buckets of rain today. Not like I havn't rode in the rain before.

But today, the bike stalled twice. I was able to start again.
The third time, I wasn't able to. So I had it towed home.


Quick glance revealed the 15A fuse for Starter/IGN/Fuel pump is blown. replaced and instantly blown again.

The bike has seen this type of rain before. not sure what could be causing a short.
I've ridden all summer, no issues whatsoever.

Any ideas?

Dry everything well replace the fuse and see if it does it when dry? and look for a chaffed wire or something that could cause an unwanted ground. A hair dryer would help with the tight places getting things properly dried.

I doubt if the weather had anything to due with it. It could be a chafed wire almost any place but the most popular area is around the steering column.You will have to remove some plastic ,but not a big deal. The other option is that you might have some little critters chewing on wiring insulation,and this could be any place.
Good luck,let us know. Howard

I've been in this torrential downpour before and everything was fine.

after peeking upwards behind the headlight, I do notice that area is wet...


how is the waterproofing in terms of all the electricals? are they well tucked and away from wheel splashes, raining downwards, etc etc?

I would first consider age and mileage of bike----salt water exposure, including salted roads....then check all connections/wires....and then are all pieces this fuse supports working the way they should... finally have extra stuff been added to this fused connection. Power car washes can also screw things up


Trying bigger fuse is only get home fix.

Trying bigger fuse is only get home fix.<<>> Larger fuses only let the smoke out quicker, once the smoke is out your pretty much walking and

Ride a lot and anything is worth trying to get home or to Honda shop. Tow is last ditch.

how is the waterproofing in terms of all the electricals? are they well tucked and away from wheel splashes, raining downwards, etc etc?<<>> pretty darn good considering the application. If you are going to do the work yourself I' take every connection I could get to apart and clean if needed and then apply a good coating of dielectric grease.

In England it rains ,a lot. I ride in all weathers and not had a problem with electrics. It is possible that the previous owner had electrical problems, and why they sold the bike, worth asking. As everyone else has said it's a matter of tracing the wiring that the fuse protects.

What you could also try is , disconnect the items that are being powered, reconnect one at a time. If the fuse blows with no items connected then chaffed wire, if the fuse blows when only one particular component is connected and no others then there is where you start looking (wiring or component fault).

after about 4 hours of chasing, removed all the plastics, and 2x 15A fuses


on the main harness by the fuel tank (see gas cap for approximate location)



See looped wire from the virgin harness?




rubbing up against the frame just beside fuel tank

Summa gun, good job

it definetly has nothing to do with the torrential downpour i was riding in......
The downpour was so hard, that if you were in a car, wipers on "hi" wouldn't even cut it......
.......and I was in this for a good 1/2 hour doing 120kph

Well done ekoo. Thankyou for the pictures, it is very helpful if someone else should start having the same problem with that fuse.

ekoo, Ya did good....And excellent pictures. If I had a repair/trouble shooting team, I'd definitely want you on it.

Makes one wonder why the loop was there, mistake missed by inspection?

Good job Scooter Rider I'm sure every one appreciates your feed back. Howard

Nice to see you found source of problem. Fix?

fixed. unwrapped almost all of the harness, straightened out all the wires, moved any wiring slack up to the top to where the bundle of plugs are, then re-wrap the harness.

having the experience on modding cars for the past 20 years is nice when it comes to this.
I have a 460+whp Accord circuit/drag car with full interior that I drive on a daily basis. all the work was done by myself..

Honda wiring is very reliable and resilient. the ones on this bike is the same quality/grade as the ones on cars...
In cars, we tug, pull, stretch them, twist, heat up, and they're fine...... they can take quite a beating, especially in racing conditions.

seeing many modded hondas (cars) throughout my car years, Honda does do some stupid things every now and then..... this wire loop is no different.

Old Limey wrote:

Well done ekoo. Thankyou for the pictures, it is very helpful if  someone else should start having the same problem with that fuse.

No problem!.
I used to have my own car club with a forum. I know how frustrating it is when someone describes a problem with no media whatsoever.

Pictures are worth over a thousand words for sure.

Well traced Ekoo. Your now the official sw master of electrickery and all such witchcraft :-)

The final exam? lol, only one question.

Once out how does one get the smoke back in ?______________________

Easy that one, you just buy a new ytz12s smoke generator.

Available at a local HF store?

oldwingguy wrote:

Available at a local HF store?

Also available from Washington, D.C. Very expensive.

I'll trade two of my slightly used $ 700 space station commode seats for one