ignition/fuse/wiring problem?

[Y2Kkat]

i've been searching for 2 hours and haven't found anyone else that has had this problem:

2000 kat600; 6850 miles

riding today, doing about 60, and the bike dies. all electrical systems (lights, gauges, indicator lights)work except the button starter. it's completely dead. finally get the bike home, check the fuses, blown ignition fuse. problem solved. bike starts.

start the bike again to move it, same thing happens--bike dies, button dead, light plume of smoke rises from under the front of the gas tank. all other electical systems fine.

check the fuse, blown again.

Q. does this sound like a wiring problem? if so, what wire would likely be the culprit?

i've checked all the wiring under the tank and it looks fine. stumped on this one.

[JD88Kat600]

Well, you've got a short somewhere... Just start tracing the wires from the ignition until you find one that's either exposed or damaged... I know it sucks, but that's where I would start... If you don't find anything, then the short may be in the switch itself...

[Y2Kkat]

thanks. kinda what i'm thinking. switch is starting to sound more likely because the wires look good.

i just don't understand why it killed it at cruising speed.

thanks again.

although, the little plume of smoke makes me think something touched something it shouldn't have...

[md86]

although, the little plume of smoke makes me think something touched something it shouldn't have...

That'd be MY guess . The combination of vibration and heat may have just pushed a wire over the edge somewhere .

[DooD]

I just had the same thing - minus the smoke.

Check to make sure that both the positive and negative wires are connected to your generator.

If you peek behind the left plastics, you should see the black wire going into the top-ish part of the generator - just in front of the battery. The plug on the end is black as well, and it's kinda rectangular.

If you look directly below that, there's a little threaded stud poking out of the generator - it should have a red wire going to it. The wire has a looped connector, and is held in place by a simple little nut; usually also covered by a black rubber boot.

If that wire comes off the generator like mine did and starts flopping around a bit, it'll actually arc to the generator's outer cover.....I'm not sure how the whole wiring diagram works, but I found that occasionally the bike would seem to have power, but wouldn't start.

Now, I looked it up in CP's oh-so handy service manual, and it turns out that the red wire leads to the starter relay, and then to the battery terminal.....

So you'll have power to all of the bike, but when you push the starter button the relay will click as normal (if it's still good), and then fail to start the bike, and blow the 30A main fuse.

I'm not really an expert, but at this point I'll assume that the bike dies because the generator isn't replenishing your battery - and the bike is firing either a)only on the battery's power until it's depleted (your guages will usually die a bit before the bike does), or b) the bike will run until that red wire makes contact with something metal, arcs to it, and blows the main fuse.

I'm no expert, so I can't say for sure, but I just spent a week fighting with my bike - and that little red wire was the culprit! You might want to check that - it's a short little sucka, hard to see, and hard to get at! I can get pics of the spot later today, if you're confused as to what I'm talking about. As for the fix, if you have a stubby 10mm wrench you can usually wiggle your arm in behind the battery and get the nut back on without having to remove plastics at all...

[Black_peter]

The fact that the second time it happened was while moving it.
(I assume while turning the bars)
That tells me something in the ignition switch.
The harness from the switch runs under the tank where it joins (along with the dash, left and right handle bar switches etc..) the main harness. As the bars turn so does the ignition switch and so does the harness. The short could be inside a sleeve but it could be caused by a
bad connection elsewhere. It is possible for a bad connection to cause (through increased resistance) a jump in current that melts the insulation off the wire.
The melted part could be at the bad connection or away from it if there is a spot that already has a high current point (or a twist/pinched spot. A hot wire can not only melt the insulation off itself but off a neighboring wire.
If you have the manual find the wire that has the blown fuse. Start at the ignition switch and follow that wire back to teh fuse. Look very carefully not just at the wire but the wires near it. Where you can spread the wires so you can see all sides. A first instinct is that it is shorting against the frame so pay carefull attention as you lift off the tank, or peek under it before removing the tank to look for where it could be rubbing or pinching the harness.

If you find a bare section don't just wrap tape over it.
Use "self sealing" tape. JUst a tiny bit of heat
(enough from your hands) fuses the tape together
It is also thicker than regular tape..

[Y2Kkat]

i checked the wire going to the generator (red wire with ring connector). it's on tight.

battery stays charged. plenty of power there. all connections tight and tidy.

both times it blew the handlebars were straight ahead. first time at cruising, second time immediately after i started the bike.

hasn't blown the 30a fuse yet.

almost assuredly is a bad wire somewhere. the smoke concerns me but i can't find any wire that is bare, broken, burned or pinched. which still leads me to think it might be in the switch itself.

i put everything back this morning to see if it would do it again, and it works fine.

guess i'll turn it over to the pros and let them see what they can find.

thanks for everyone's input.