TOPIC:

Thanks man. I'm not much good with a wrench but wires come a little easier since I am an electrician. 12vdc is different but the principles are similar. I do a lot of low voltage LED stuff... hence the name

That engine cutoff switch is still foxing me though. As soon as I tighten down the housing the fuse blows. I've wrapped the bar where possible contact could occur in electrical tape, plus painted the soldered terminals with liquid tape. I can get as far as finger tight and as soon as it comes snug with the screwdriver the fuse pops. I've triple checked the wires... no fraying or pinching. Weird.

Just a thought, are the contacts in the switch isolated from the housing with fiber washers? Or should they be? If you put a volt meter across the housing to the handlebar is there potential? Must be if you're blowing fuses. I'm assuming the yellow/red is feeding the switch but once the switch is made then the other terminals become hot. At no point should the housing become live, especially on a switch which lives outside in the elements.

You'll probably have an Aha moment this morning. Working on wiring at midnight tends to leave you banging your head against the wall, but then I know trying to go to sleep when the stupidest things are going on just doesn't work. I probably would have been at it till the cows came home so I could get it sorted out THEN I could go to sleep.

You are on the right track, just have to dig a little deeper.

Handy to use a test light in situations like this. Disconnect your connector and use spade terminals or alligator clips and use test leads between the each connector, then add a test light between the terminals for the 12 volt feed to the switch. Start playing around with the switch and housing, when the light glows bright you've found the short. makes it easy to mess with things and not blow a bunch of fuses.

You are right Kawboy. Working on stuff late at night because if I try to go to sleep I'll think about it all night.... grrr lol.

There is no fiber washers that I can see in either. The contacts of the switch itself are housed within the switch. On the outside there are two soldered terminals. I had to replace the wires on the starter switch terminals because they were frayed from being pinched between the bar and the housing. The contact are very close together. I am surmising that contacts are so close that when the pressure comes down on the bar it is putting a little pressure on the inner housing and possibly pushing those terminals into contact with each other. There is a plate that separates the starter switch itself from the bar and I'm betting that plate is flexing under tension and pushing the contacts together. Since the starter switch is energized by the engine shut off switch, as soon as the switch goes on the fuse pops.

So what I will try to do is paint the contacts with liquid tape, and get some sort of fiber spacer between the plate and the switch itself. I've already painted the engine shut off contacts and isolated them from the bar so it must be the contacts on the starter switch.

Tyler... I wish I had of thought of the test light before I blew 10 fuses messing around with this. Can you believe I don't have a test light? Stupid... I know. But as an excuse this is my first time delving into vehicle electrical

I'm leaving for the city for work. First thing on my list.... TEST LIGHT hahahaha

Well I got that sorted. The plate on top of the switch was flexing and making contact with the terminal on the switch. The 81 has a hole over the plate that covers the switch, while the 79 has no hole. The hole is directly over the contact. Such a minor difference between the two but it caused the problem. I insulated the solder terminal for good measure and she is good to go.

good job. Nice to hear you've put this one behind you. Another KZ problem solved.