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In over five decades of doing this I can't recall ever encountering a situation where a bad ground alone was blowing fuses.
Keep us posted on how things pan out.

gspd wrote: ↑Sat Aug 16, 2025 12:02 am In over five decades of doing this I can't recall ever encountering a situation where a bad ground alone was blowing fuses.
Keep us posted on how things pan out.

It#s vaguely possible but very unlikely and I'm very doubtful if it is possible in this situation.

FWIW, given a connection (Earth or anywhere else) where an intemittent break in a circuit involving inductive and/or capacitive loads is causing a repetitive interruption of a current, the net current can be higher than the current with a perfect circuit and can cause a fuse to blow... but not something I would expect to see here.

Rob

When my son installed the motor he built in his Z28 Camaro and tried to start it, we saw smoke coming off a small ground strap that was part of the ignition system. In doing his mods he had lost the original ground path through a much larger ground strap. Once he had a 0 gauge ground connection, it fired right up.

I think, from OP's solution, that his bike was making an alternate ground path that had a fuse in it.

melville wrote: ↑Sat Aug 16, 2025 9:37 am When my son installed the motor he built in his Z28 Camaro and tried to start it, we saw smoke coming off a small ground strap that was part of the ignition system. In doing his mods he had lost the original ground path through a much larger ground strap. Once he had a 0 gauge ground connection, it fired right up.

I recall a similar situation in the early '80's. It was a Saab (or maybe a Volvo). The speedometer cable was seizing up every few months and nobody could figure out why. Turns out that the original engine to frame ground strap was corroded away and the speedo cable had become the path of least resistance to ground for the complete engine and transmission assembly. Asides from the speedo cable repeatedly jamming up at regular intervals, the car ran perfectly. Never blew any fuses.

Thanks for your continued input but I can only report what I did and what the outcome was. Unlikely maybe but that is the only thing that made a difference.

K

gspd wrote: ↑Sat Aug 16, 2025 9:56 am

melville wrote: ↑Sat Aug 16, 2025 9:37 am When my son installed the motor he built in his Z28 Camaro and tried to start it, we saw smoke coming off a small ground strap that was part of the ignition system. In doing his mods he had lost the original ground path through a much larger ground strap. Once he had a 0 gauge ground connection, it fired right up.

I recall a similar situation in the early '80's. It was a Saab (or maybe a Volvo). The speedometer cable was seizing up every few months and nobody could figure out why. Turns out that the original engine to frame ground strap was corroded away and the speedo cable had become the path of least resistance to ground for the complete engine and transmission assembly. Asides from the speedo cable repeatedly jamming up at regular intervals, the car ran perfectly. Never blew any fuses.

Getting off thread now but the original Minis had a similar recurring fault. The main engine ground was located beside the engine almost invisible from above. It was a fairly common fault that the vehicle would be running normally at highway speeds... bearing in mind we're talking about an original Mini... When the time came to slow down, the accelerator would be stuck... caused a number of accidents. The usual point of failure was that the vehicle ground either hadn't been attached during maintenance or it had broken. As a result, the only ground connection to the engine was via the accelerator cable and with constant high(ish) current, this would overheat and cause the cable to stick.

Rob

r67boxer wrote: ↑Fri Aug 15, 2025 6:46 pm Thanks. Timing was correct and it failed to blow a fuse when the harness was bypassed and when plugs were removed. So, I decided to go back to a poor or bad ground. My good friend and fellow Canadian biker Brett suggested that I replace the ground from the battery to the transmission. After much searching I found one and installed same. Voila, it started without blowing a fuse. Coastal corrosion was likely the culprit. Thanks to all.

Kevin

If my memory survives well enough, Duane was a proponent of checking that battery neg cable for greenness and corrosion. Good find.