New bike lasted 26 miles đŸ˜„

If you’re in the checking mode, check the ground of the main loom. It is attached to one of the bolts that secure the lift grab handle on the left side, or it may be connected to the left pannier rail.
Check and clean the side stand switch. (This is a known issue, and the symptoms are intermittent starting /running issues)
Spray WD40 into the stop switch, and rock the switch a few times, do the same on the high-beam switch.
 
Putting the battery in or connecting jumpers backwards will blow that main fuse. Replace it and verify the battery is correctly connected and if it holds, you’re probably good. If it blows again you’ll have to dig deeper.
 
Rockeye said:
It does worry me how he knew straight away to go there unless it’s just experience?
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Standard troubleshooting for electrical problems is to check the fuses...including the main one. We all take shortcuts and tell folks to check relays and fuses associated with whatever is out, but again, that is a shortcut. As noted in many of the posts, check all terminals for corrosion, and not said, check all the fuses.

I had a relatively trouble free ST1300 (until it started growing heavier and taller). For folks with problems, I've suggested a lot of things to try that came from my background as an electrician and also from hanging out on this forum for a few years. Your seller could have been shooting in the dark, or he could have been repeating the often said, check the main fuse. I don't know how many times guys on this forum have suggested exactly that only to have another glitch be the culprit.
 
Thanks for all the replies and wisdom passed on folks, very much appreciated.

I’ve ordered 5 new fuses from eBay as they came in a pack and will keep them on the bike with me -when they arrive the first ride will be without the side panel and a multimeter in the top box!!

To test the charging circuit I put a suitably sized wire between the two fuse bolts and started the bike- hey presto she’s charging straight away.

With no load just the bike running I’m getting 14.28 volts and with the lights on 14.42 volts, I’m guessing as the battery may be slightly low in charge the bike is correctly topping it up?

I’m wondering if the previous owner has tried to jump start the bike (as mentioned on here)-blown the fuse then replaced the shot battery to get the bike running, it’s only done a few hundred miles in the last 3 years as sat in a collection so had very little use. The bike is in lovely condition, far better than the 1year old BMW I was riding over Xmas, the BMW can’t touch it on build quality.
 
My 1996 Shadow VT-1100C2 “ACE” gave me some problems last fall around October, and after a couple short local rides where the performance was degraded it finally just flat out died and left me stranded on the side of the road. I thought it was a fuel problem at first, but it turns out my three yellow wires going from the stator to the voltage regulator/ rectifier were smoked —completely charcoal on the inside, although the outer surface of that plastic plug didn’t look too bad .

PS: A V twin motorcycle will actually run for a good long time without a stater or alternator recharging your battery, so long as you started with a freshly charged battery —which I did because I had been in the habit of keeping mine on a battery tender.
 
As both Gunsmoker and St Gerard suggest I’ll have a good look at the feed and earth wires to make sure all is ok, really hoping the previous owner has blown the fuse as it’s a beautiful bike to ride and literally rides like new.

Ill keep everyone updated regarding the fox as soon as I have the fuse fitted and a rest ride completed!
 
I do not remember where I read an article written from the FAA about reading blown fuses and light bulbs to help determine what was involved with a failure. There was a lot more to just a burned out bulb or fuse than I expected. Many times how the bulb was burned out would tell the investigator if it was on or failed on impact or failed from water or over voltage.which helped the investigator conclude what goes in the report and what occurred during failure.
I read it in what was called a "magazine" at the time. That doesn't look like a electrical failure as much as an vibration or mechanical failure
 
motornut said:
Many times how the bulb was burned out would tell the investigator if it was on or failed on impact or failed from water or over voltage.which helped the investigator conclude what goes in the report and what occurred during failure.
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When a fuse melts (or to a similar extent, when a bulb fails the filament does the same thing) from a simple overload, it melts quietly and there is no indication on the inside of the plastic fuse housing that anything happened beyond the open loop in the fuse wire. If there was a short circuit, the high current will vaporize that little loop and your fuse housing will have the metal deposited on the inside. It will look like a spot of a mirror. A large surge (more than a simple overload but less than a short circuit will get you a black spot on the inside of said fuse housing. A light bulb will display similar evidence of a short or overload, but is less definitive because the filament was never designed to melt for a simple overcurrent.

Rockeye said:
As both Gunsmoker and St Gerard suggest...
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Be careful w/dielectric grease. The name suggests, and the stuff, in fact, is an insulator. You want to clean the grounds, polish the area on the frame where the wires are fastened, make the bolted connection, THEN slather dielectric grease on top to keep out dirt and moisture. Similarly, for connectors, make the connection then use the grease over and around the connection to keep it dry. if you put the grease on a connector and make the connection, you are depending on the two halves to scrape the grease away from the contacting areas - while this usually works, it is less than ideal.
 
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