vf500 electrical/ignition/etc troubles

Hello friends,
Ive got an 86 vf500 with the dreaded starter switch deconstruction problem. The previous owner took the assembly apart and I've been jumping the contacts to try and get it fired up.

Tonight some kind of trace between the horn and starter side of the contact assembly somehow shorted and started melting, then the horn and tach went nuts before I could switch the key off. Now I have no spark.

Before I dive into the wiring schematics and pull out the multimeter, I thought somebody here might have a better idea than I of where to start looking.

I appreciate any insight you guys have to offer.

 

Fuses. But since things went all melty I suggest you dig out the multimeter and find all the shorts and "fixes" that have been done to that bike. If you find more than 5 or so splices that are not factory splices, it may be faster and better to rewire everything with new and good wire. Not the cheapest but still cheaper than buying a new harness from mother honda. Some skills are required to do this properly, I would not suggest doing this type of work if this is your first harness rebuild.

 

Yup. In my frustration, I didn't bother to check the fuses. In my defence, it was getting cold, dark, and rainy.

Replaced the popped fuse and clipped the headlight wires on the start switch, and all seems to be well, for now... I'll probably do the wiring come winter time. There are a number of questionable splices around. But I've cleaned up the most egregious examples and all seems to be well, so I will roll with it for now.