Here is a pic of my ignitions switch and I am having a problem with the red ( hot wire ) getting hot as you can see its been melted.

I still have voltage behind the fuse panel where the neg and postive connector of my ignition switch is. Yes the fuse panel area where the hotwire for the ignition switch gets real hot !

heres the history.
A few weeks ago my bike wouldnt cut on ( not lights no nothing ). I tapped the top of the fuse panel and the lights came back on. This happened a few times but eventually the bikes electricity wouldnt come on at all. I then got behind the fuse panel and moved the red and black connector where it connects to the underneath of the fuse panel. The lights came back on. I washed the area with battery terminal cleaner because there was alot of battery corrosion around the plug. That fixed it ! Rode around about 2 weeks and ....yep, the bike cut off again. Messed with the connector ( on the side of the road ) and couldnt get it to come back on. Friend took me and my bike back to the house. There I messed with it some more but to no avail. So with the burnt connector I thought " I will take off the ignition switch and replace it ". Just to eliminate that possibilty. As I write this i have not replaced the switch but it is on order now. So I took the switch in the house and took the base off the lockset and moved the steel balls around to see the springs behind the balls were good and yes they were. So now I " SLAPPED " the base back onto the lockset. I say "slap" because its an equation I think had something to do with what Im getting ready to say. I then did a continuity test as the manual said do and all wires showed continuity. How much ohms it didnt say but it had some so in other words..... continuity !

I thought this was strange I took the ignition switch back to my bike and I connected the black/red wire connector back behind the fuse panel and lo and behold the lights came back on ! Well I am scratching my head now !

I wonder if my hand tapping on the cover of the fuse panel was really causing a vibration to the switch which was right next to the fuse panel. Well anyway as I said the lights came back on , the bike cranked up and everything worked fine ( not riding it cuz the headlight still hanging out and the ignition switch is hanging out)....BUT I put my fingers on the hot wire and yes, its still getting hotter than a firecracker. Area on top of the fuse panel is hot too. Im wondering if somewhere in the base of the electric switch there is a partial ground causing the extra amperage draw at the ignition switch's hot wire. Is this possible ? Also the hot wire gets hot while the ignition switch body is not touching any other part of the bike.

ps.The bike never cut off while riding it. It always went dead after cutting off the switch.

update... sanded the contacts where the connector is and coated it with dialetric grease.
UNPLUGGED all FUSES so the while the bike is running with NO lights at all, the red wire to the ignition switch gets warm but then as soon as I add any fuses to cut lights back on it gets very hot and with the headlight on it the red wire gets superhot. Ive bought this bike about 6000 miles ago and had no problems with it.

What the hell is wrong with my bike ? !

You can see where it plugs in the back of my fuse panel at ... http://www.pbase.com/image/137666355


Thanks for any response !

Holland


1983 Honda Shadow VT 750 C