another problem,,, this time wires smoking!

[erwinvw]

Well, rode for about 90 minutes tonight. parked for supper and started out again. The oil light came on so I pulled off and killed the motor. correct oil level and all that.

then I see white smoke coming out from behind the instrument panel.

after getting home and pulling it apart I found a wire melting.



This is my bes description.



center of the panel, big chunk of wires coming out of the white connector.(loom) there is a blue wire, and 3 or 4 other red ones. I think they are headlight related.

with power on the blue one heats up....

previous owner was a mechanic and wired up some dash switches for fog lights(gone now) and another to kill the instrument gauge lights and dim the head lights(he had a full heated suit and wanted to conserve power although I dont know why with that alternator....)

might have to call him,but dont wan the bike to catch fire....!

any ideas.

if anyone knows I can email the photos of the wires.

[toddtruby]

First thing I would do is check all the fuses and make sure they are the right amperage.  The fuse should blow before any wires heat up enough to smoke.



If that doesn't turn up anything, I would disconnect anything the previous owner 'rigged' as that is most likely the problem.

[erwinvw]

forgot to mention, the oil light came on which is why i stopped.

bike is running fine and no indication of any lubricating problems.. would this be related to the other wire that was heting up?

[klrbill]

Well, rode for about 90 minutes tonight. parked for supper and started out again. The oil light came on so I pulled off and killed the motor. correct oil level and all that.

then I see white smoke coming out from behind the instrument panel...

Not sure what year you have but on my trip to the dealer this weekend, on my '01 they did recall work for a wiring "subharness" which he said would prevent a wire melt-down.  I'm not sure what area of the wiring actually got replaced though...

[toddtruby]

forgot to mention, the oil light came on which is why i stopped.

bike is running fine and no indication of any lubricating problems.. would this be related to the other wire that was heting up?

No way to tell.  Certainly possible. but equally possibly not at all related. Before hypothesising on all kinds of different scenarios, you need to start to check the easiest and most basic faults.