What a clean GSX1100S! The Katana really looks sharp with that black frame.
The owner came in for an inspection and to troubleshoot a mysterious fuse that keeps blowing.
When I heard that, I thought, “How would anyone figure that out?” but I checked the manual anyway.
Before the fuse blows, I check whether
12V is grounding somewhere
or if there’s an overload exceeding 10A.
If the ground connection is loose, I set aside the main harness issue for now.
The image shows what the power supply looks like. When you really can’t figure it out, disconnecting the supply source is an option too. (Be careful—some circuits won’t work if you disconnect them.) The process of elimination is the better approach.
The horn vibrated with the engine, and occasionally it would rub and the insulation would wear away—bad timing and pop!
That’s how it happened.
With a horn involved, you could say it was a real “horn-to-be-reckoned-with” learning experience.
I suddenly remembered a past weird case.
I think troubleshooting like this is better done without complaining and just using the process of elimination. I recalled a Harley that came in with a mystery fuse—or rather, a mystery breaker that kept tripping.
It came in for inspection (naturally, the owner rode it in). After the headlight tester, the next morning I was thinking about loading it on the truck—I went to start the engine and nothing lit up. The breaker had tripped.
I was seriously stumped. I’d already loaded another bike.
To sum it up:
• The owner had recently had the harness replaced at a specialty shop
• They rode it in
• Only the headlight tester was connected
• I pushed the seat and backed the bike up
Thinking about what was different from normal riding, I figured it might be around the seat area, so I looked closely at the wiring there and found it:
a single wire sticking out of the heat shrink tubing like an old man’s nose hair.
That one wire was touching the frame when the seat was pushed, and that was the cause. That’s the experience I had.
It’s not exactly a cautionary tale, but seeing that made me think, “That could be me tomorrow,” and I learned from it.
It should be fine now. Honestly, it’s easier to diagnose when fuses blow repeatedly.
It’s handy to keep a test fuse like this on hand.
Kijima Fuse Breaker Flat Type 10A Universal 1 Piece 304-7084
