The final solution (I think). After having the dealer in 2011 install a ground jumper at the bike side of the 24 pin connector (see post # 45) I thought that my electrical problem was solved. Not so fast: I was stuck on the side of the road with the exact same symptoms last Thursday evening after a long, hot, stop-and-go commute. Waited for the bike to cool didn't help, the only way to clear the fault was to disconnect the ground side of the battery. I got a tow home and then spent the next three days doing electrical troubleshooting.
Checking for DC power at various points yielded inconclusive results: power seemed to be everywhere at varying voltages with no apparent source. I did not find any problems with the 24 pin connector as seen in the previous post. The problem did go away when I disconnected the 24 pin connector though. Running a temporary ground to the left headlight ground wire cleared the problem. Subsequent inspection of the fairing ground wire system found the issue: the yellow ground terminal block in the upper right hand corner of the fairing had a burned and high resistance ground wire terminal (kOhm level). I cut back the OEM green ground wire at the block and soldered a thicker wire onto the now-empty terminal. I ran this wire back to the main frame and connected it to the chassis with a ring terminal. With a better ground connection to the fairing electrical circuit, the problem seems to be solved. Pictures of my repair and the fault included.
My conclusion: the green ground wire from the fairing terminal block to the 24 pin connector is undersized and cannot handle all of the current returning from the fairing electrical loads, especially when the bike and wiring are hot. At some point, either the 24 pin connector or the yellow block connector, the wire overheats and opens. With an open ground circuit (or dramatically increased ground resistance) voltage from the fairing finds various other paths back to the negative terminal, causing odd symptoms. A better fairing ground connection is needed.