2002 Honda Foreman ES 450 4x4

Ok i haven't ran it since the first of june and i plan on going 4 wheelin tomorrow so i go out to check
and make sure everything is good. Starts up just fine, and i let it run for about 20 min. Starts to get
dark out so i go to take it on a test run, anyway when i hit the button for the lights, the display/speedometer
goes blank and the bike just dies. Haven't been able to electronically start it since. It will shift through the
gears but the display is still blank and the electronic start won't go. However, i can turn the key and pull start it
and it'll run. I checked all fuses by the battery and one was blown. Ya know how theres the row of 8 fuses, then that little pack or two (25) fuses, one of those blew. So i replaced that fuse and i'm still having the same problem. Battery is fine, topped it off with water and it was charged. Any ideas.

 

have you charged the battery? also make sure the connection isnt fouled

 

Which fuse blew (should be labled), did the main fuse blow too??? (the one that looks like a metal bar, in a seperate smaller case then the one with 8 in a row). If it blew again after replacing it, then there's still a problem with the circuit. Since it went when you turned on the lights, check all wiring to the lights. Sounds like a short in the wiring, sometimes it gets damaged by debris from mudding.

 

Theres a little box next to the row of 8, and theres two 25 fuses in there, the one rear one blew. I checked all other fuses in that compartment, are there any other fuses besides those 8, the two together, and the one separate one?

 

If the fuse blows after you turn the lights on, it's a short to ground after the switch. You'd have to buy a honda manual with wiring diagrams, but it sounds like you got a wire that's rubbed into the frame somewhere causing a short-circuit, which blows the fuse. That's the bad news.

The good news is, it sounds like it does it every time you put a new fuse in and turn the lights on. Much easier to figure out rather than one of those "every-other-thursday-going-over-the-railroad-tracks-with-the-girlfriend-on-the-back-the-lights-go-out" sorta problems. Buy a bunch of those same fuses, and start trying things until the fuse doesnt blow anymore

 

Its not blowing anymore of the fuses. Last we went wheeling somehow, both battery cables broke, so we just gerryrigged some 14 gauge solid copper wire running from each battery cable on to the battery, so i think thats prolly my problem, not getting enough voltage, although it worked just fine before. So i'm gonna replace those two wires with some 6 gauge and see if that helps.

 

If the battery cables broke, why don't you fix them with the proper cables instead of rigging them? Halfway fixes in the electrical system will continue to cause more problems that could eventually get very costly.

 

yea man u could very easily burn the four wheeler up like that dude, i wouldnt cut corners on the electrical stuff

 

It was just a temporary fix to get back to camp.