Defused

Just back from short ride shaking down the roadster. Interupted at mid-point by total lack of electrics. Easily traced to the melted fuseholder. This was a/r on the new wiring loom just fitted, but looked to have cracked and then the loose fuse made enough heat for the plastic to melt. Driving with lights on made for more current & heat. Return journey with twisted wire connection & no fuse. Any special recomendations of better fuse holders, or was I just unlucky with this one? :?

Grounds are a problem on Nortons.
If you are running a stock harness, there are three grounds that come together under the tank at the head steady.
Many times one these crack or break from the vibration.
One goes to the headlight, one to the heat sink diode (can't think of it's name right now) down by the right footpeg, and the other to the battery.
Check these out.

If you want to stay with the single fuse, get an inline blade type fuse. This way you can get a replacement fuse nearly anywhere. My personal choice is a small 4 or 6 circuit fuse box that takes blade fuses. Then I separate ignition, lights, and horn on their own fuse. Also I like using small relays for these to insure full voltage to these devices.

Keep it simple. Mine used to overheat with lights on and I changed to a car blade type. The cheap plastic holders are really only good for low power radios...5-6A?and at 9-10A with lights is too much for them with 120W passing through. Just add a couple of insulated 6,3mm females to the leads and connect direct to the fuse. Mine floats above the battery but keep it clear of the battery bar just in case! You can buy the female holders but I find the fuse on its own works fine.
I'm in Fleet so maybe we'll see each other on the road sometime.
Cheers.

The old 'British' fuses like the 35A 1.1/4" (32mm) glass type generally found on British bikes are normally marked and referred to by their 'blow' rating, unlike other countries that mark fuses with the 'continuous' rating like the Japanese 25mm glass fuses and the ceramic or spade types now more commonly used (sometimes you will now find the British type marked with both ratings).

So a 35A British fuse needs to be replaced with a spade type of 17.5A (approx.) as the continuous rating is half the blow rating, the nearest equivalents being either 15A or 20A.

Thanks for all the help - Blade type looks the way, so I should be back up & running at the weekend. I'll look at some separate circuits later, I guess that a few more return wires wouldn't hurt.

Keith1069 - hope to catch up on the road sometime - once my radius of reliability extends 15 miles. Until then I'm the yellow roadster being prodded on the roadside.

As L.A.B says use a lower value fuse than the 35A original. I use a 15A after two 10A items blew. That's been in for 3 yrs now.
Mine used to be yellow too (and spent its share of time by the roadside too) then black and this year white with JPN No 10 stripes. Next year who knows! It's getting a fairing, clip-ons and rearsets so with a paintjob being needed on the fairing the rest could change too. At least you're riding yours. Watch out for the part time portrait photographers on the Hogs Back, I nearly got caught a few weeks ago.