Short Circuit Heated Grip problem?

[boomyr]

96' K1100 RS, with about 45,000 miles

This morning after about 45 miles I flipped on my heated grips and very soon afterward the engine died going down the interstate. When I hit the start button it turns over fine, and acts like the kill switch is still on or is out of gas, (but it wasn't turned off,I double-triple checked, and it has gas).

I had done a patch job a few months ago on the wiring and it appears that the electrical tape had gotten pulled away reinstalling the handlebar end, exposing bare wire.I don't know for a fact that the wires shorted, but it seems like more than a coincidense that the engine died after flipping them on.It's the first time I turned them on intentionally, but my tank bag sometimes bumps the switch, so I'm pretty certain that that they've been ON since for brief periods.

Where would be the place to start investigating?

The battery is still strong with lights, horn, starter turns over good, so I don't think the alternator is fried because I believe the charging system would have run off the battery until it was dead. My other thought was that I damaged the computer module. Other than not starting, everything seems to work fine.
I did detach the battery ground cable roadside for a few minutes hoping for a reset but no results. Is there anyway to test it?


Any ideas, opinions are appreciated. I always get some pretty good input whenever I ask.

[boomyr]

I took some time to poke around the bike today and found my problem. I just wanted to update those that viewed the thread and were curious.

I was having trouble making the connection with the handgrips and the engine shutting down causing me to think it must have been computer or ignition module failure, But I didn't know how I could positively test either.
After thinking about the the bike acting as if it were out of gas I started to go that direction and check the easy stuff first.
The handgrips were wired into the fuse for my fuel pump, and blew the fuse, so then it did cut off fuel to the engine. Nothing more serious than a blown fuse. I could of fixed it on the side of the road if it woould of occured to me.
I feel pretty relieved that it wasn't something more costly. I think I'll have a beer now.

[knary]

I took some time to poke around the bike today and found my problem. I just wanted to update those that viewed the thread and were curious.

I was having trouble making the connection with the handgrips and the engine shutting down causing me to think it must have been computer or ignition module failure, But I didn't know how I could positively test either.
After thinking about the the bike acting as if it were out of gas I started to go that direction and check the easy stuff first.
The handgrips were wired into the fuse for my fuel pump, and blew the fuse, so then it did cut off fuel to the engine. Nothing more serious than a blown fuse. I could of fixed it on the side of the road if it woould of occured to me.
I feel pretty relieved that it wasn't something more costly. I think I'll have a beer now.

:clap

The question: why were they wired into that critical circuit>

[cjack]

:clap

The question: why were they wired into that critical circuit>

Poor planning. By the way, the fuse for the grips shouldn't be larger than 4 amps...like the later bikes. The trouble is that with the grips on lo power, there is a 2 ohm wire that drops the voltage to the grips. If a grip shorts out, the 2 ohms is across 13 or so volts and will over heat and melt, but not blow a fuse above 6 amps or so. That will melt anything running along with it. The later bikes fuse the grips separately at 4 amps to prevent this.

[boomyr]

Poor planning. By the way, the fuse for the grips shouldn't be larger than 4 amps...like the later bikes. The trouble is that with the grips on lo power, there is a 2 ohm wire that drops the voltage to the grips. If a grip shorts out, the 2 ohms is across 13 or so volts and will over heat and melt, but not blow a fuse above 6 amps or so. That will melt anything running along with it. The later bikes fuse the grips separately at 4 amps to prevent this.

I can see why they might pick a curcuit that is off when the key is off, but I agree there's probably a better choice.
All the fuses on the panel were 15 amp, so I don't think tapping in to one of them is an option without compromising something else with the smaller fuse. I'm going to look in the morning to see if there are any unused open slots to tap into and use the smaller fuse. If that's possible, how do I know the heated grips will shut off when the key is turned off?

[cjack]

I can see why they might pick a curcuit that is off when the key is off, but I agree there's probably a better choice.
All the fuses on the panel were 15 amp, so I don't think tapping in to one of them is an option without compromising something else with the smaller fuse. I'm going to look in the morning to see if there are any unused open slots to tap into and use the smaller fuse. If that's possible, how do I know the heated grips will shut off when the key is turned off?

Well you could just put a four amp fuse following the 15 amp in the wire that only goes to the grip ckt. That would be the simplest and would solve both problems...knocking out the fuel pump and over heating the wire if on lo heat and shorted.