Battery and Fuse Questions

Hi All... Okay... I had a detailed description of my life over the past two years while not being here on the site... then I hit the w
wrong button and "POOF"...

Anyway after two year of no Silver Wing I took it out of storage, washed it, and attempted to charge the gel battery after there was no response when turning the key on... long story short, the charger couldn't detect voltage so it didn't work... today, ran jumpers from car to bike, let set for ten minutes, and built voltage up to 4 volts so that charger lcould make connection... hit the "charge" button, it charged for a short time, and then showed full charge and went to "float"... disconnected leads, but still no response when key turned on....

Had previously turned on the key when hooked to the car battery and it all lit up... also, checked Wing battery by itself and it only shows three or four volts... yet full charge when charger hooked back up... just cannot figure this out... wondered if maybe a fuse was blown when I plugged the hooked up charger back into the wall receptacle ( it seemed like a pretty hot spark )...

So, checked the two underseat fuse boxes and they were okay... am I understanding correctly that there is a "MAIN" fuse also...??? Where is that thing located...?? Need help on this problem please...

If a fuse was blown I don't think it would show 3-4 volts... My experience with gel batteries is that if they sit too long they do NOT come back. My advice is invest in a new battery. Good luck.

Hello Dick. Nice to hear from you again.

That main (30 amp) fuse is located at the starter motor relay. Ya gotta remove the left side (rear) panel which covers the main ECM computer. Locate the heavy black wire which comes from the battery box. It’s ahead of the ECM. That heavy black wire connects the battery hot side to the starter relay. The relay is covered by a rubber boot. IIRC Move the boot out of the way to expose the main fuse.

Let us know how you get on with this.

Put the jumper cables back on car not running. If all lights back up it's not the main fuse. Never jump start a motorcycle from a running car way to many amps into system tends to fry things. Battery sounds like toast.

...with Marmalade! When I bought my gel battery some 6 years ago I was advised that they don't like being left unattended. Battery tender essential

Well... here's the latest update... I ordered and received a new battery then installed it today... started and ran good with no other problems... until... went to properly air up the tires and found that the rear tire valve stem (a 90 degree type) was cracked open...  living in a new area, I've been searching for someone who can work on bike tires (mine's a darkside unit), and finally had my son-in-law put me in touch with someone he worked with, ya' know, like 30 years ago... will be a couple of weeks to get in to him unless I can convince him that the job shouldn't take too long...

Anyway, until then I'll have to rekindle my knowledge base on removing that rear wheel... have read up on several posts here and see it wont be all that much of a problem... Will also use "cosmic_jumpers" efficient sequencing from another post... (I've considered trying to break the bead on that thing and then putting in a new stem myself... but really want someone who can do it much faster that I ever could...  will keep y'all posted

Oh yeah.... thanks to everyone on the previous info I received on the battery problem too !!

One other question... do I need to remove the brake disc to have it worked on??? Don't remember having done that before... thanks again...

Dick, I do hope I’m wrong in this, but even if you could successfully break the bead on a darkside tire it’s going to be damn near impossible to get in to replace the stem. It’s worth a try though. But steel yourself for that shop to tell you that they can’t get it off without cutting it off. It’d be best to bite the bullet and have a new scooter tire ready for that shop to install along with a proper Honda right angle stem. 

Yes, err on the side of caution and have the brake rotor removed so that the shop doesn’t damage it. They’re gonna be struggling with that job anyway. And do mark the tire rotation on your old tire and/or wheel too.

Good luck

Thanks, Tim... Will keep that in mind...

I found the right-angled valves were prone to split, simply because I found it difficult to get fingers in to support the valve while I pushed on the pump nozzle; it was a two-handed job
I had straight valves fitted and bought a removable right-angled adaptor and flexible extension, similar to these, which solved that problem for me - I repeat: for me.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184395285649?hash=item2aeed0c491:g:KYwAAOSwBnVW-ADF

and

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222344016098?hash=item33c4bc70e2:g:rDAAAOSwOtdYTuAO

Hey!!! Thanks, Mike... something else to think on... looks like the thing to do to so I don't get a repeat on this item... !!

Okay... air stem is changed out (to a straight type) but not without consequence... rotated the wheel and found out the tip of the longer straight stem was "just" hitting a flange area on the top of the rear drive case. Decided rather than driving another forty miles each way back and forth to the cycle shop and another 20 bucks to change it out again, that I would grind the offending flanges out of the way... (I know, probably not the "coolest" thing to do)...

Anyway, did the deed, finished all the assembly, made a couple of around-the-block runs, and am ready to hit the road again after I get all my "other" things taken care of... so... just a reminder if you get your rear wheel air stem changed... make sure it clears any other obstacles...

Glad you've managed to sort it.
The man at the garage fitted mine - short, fat ones - so it didn't occur to me that there might be a problem.

I should have added to my first post in Capital Letters that:

I DON'T LEAVE THE ADAPTOR ON THE VALVE!

Yeah, Mike... in hindsight, wish I'd had one of those "short" stems installed also... good idea to think about for anyone else who gets in this predicament.

I also replaced my rear valve with a small straight one. Works much better than the original.