Smoke, burning, fuse goes ZAP! dead and coasting....

[Steam]

I blew a fuse tonight, don't know what to do about it.

I was riding along and smelled burning, then saw my front brake switch cable smoking fiercely. Then suddenly ZAP, no power, I kicked it into neutral and coasted to a stop by the side of the road.

The fuse had blown, and the wires to the front brake switch had melted out of the brake switch-housing, up by the brake lever.
So, what to do? I bypassed the fuse and the brake switch wires began smoking again immediately. So that's NOT a good idea. Interesting though.

Where do I start the repair? I suppose first I should try to find a short circuit in those brake switch wires?

I have a multimeter but no knowledge or skills.

Maybe I should just take it to the shop and get them to do it in an hour, rather than me spend ages trying to find what's wrong.

[Paul in NZ]

ya picked a bad weekend mate (more later)....

Happy to help 'later'.......

[davereid]

On the bright side, you have a pretty good idea what circuit is faulty. The smoke will be coming from the thinest part of the wiring loom, not necessarily at the location of the fault. But you should be able to get mobile pretty easily. Follow the cable from the switch (the likely source of you problem) back towards the steering head and the rest of the loom. With a bit of luck you will find a plastic plug, that will allow you to unplug the brake light switch. This should get you back on the road. Then when you have time you can find the fault.

[Coldrider]

I concour with daveried, the problem is a deadshort at the brakeswitch, bypassing the fuse only makes the wiring the fuse, the weakest part burning out next. The power from the battery is finding a direct path to earth (the frame), the brake switch will probably have to be replaced.

[paturoa]

The fuse should protect the wiring if there is a short, so if it was smoking then also check that the fuse size was not too big or that the wiring at the smoking place isn't also farked.

[Steam]

Follow the cable from the switch (the likely source of you problem) back towards the steering head and the rest of the loom. With a bit of luck you will find a plastic plug, that will allow you to unplug the brake light switch. This should get you back on the road. Then when you have time you can find the fault.

yer a bloody genius! It's so simple but I didn't take the time to think about it.