Well, it is confirmed:
Most of you were right!
The shop just called. The harness I photographed was NOT an OEM harness. Mice did not cause the problem. And right now, the bike "runs perfect," according to the shop.
The cause: The original Craigslist owner installed a harness directly to the battery. He did not use a fuse. The harness was not connected to ANYTHING (which means whatever it went to was removed before I bought it).
It gets worse. The power leads were not terminated or capped. He left them bare. They touched and the fire started.
I was extremely lucky. They could have touched at any time since I bought the bike. In traffic, in a tight turn, in the garage.
Here's my vow (and I generally do this with ANY vehicle I buy, but never got around to doing with this ST1100). I will never buy or use a new vehicle without thoroughly going through it MYSELF. Ever again.
Kudos and thanks to all of you who helped with advice. This forum is high quality.
Most of you were right!
The shop just called. The harness I photographed was NOT an OEM harness. Mice did not cause the problem. And right now, the bike "runs perfect," according to the shop.
The cause: The original Craigslist owner installed a harness directly to the battery. He did not use a fuse. The harness was not connected to ANYTHING (which means whatever it went to was removed before I bought it).
It gets worse. The power leads were not terminated or capped. He left them bare. They touched and the fire started.
I was extremely lucky. They could have touched at any time since I bought the bike. In traffic, in a tight turn, in the garage.
Here's my vow (and I generally do this with ANY vehicle I buy, but never got around to doing with this ST1100). I will never buy or use a new vehicle without thoroughly going through it MYSELF. Ever again.
Kudos and thanks to all of you who helped with advice. This forum is high quality.
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