Electrical & fuel pump questions

Hi. New to forum and to Interceptors (I'm a BMW guy). I picked up an '86 VF500 that's been sitting a few years. I got it running by bypassing the fuel pump relay, but it poured out gas from the carbs so they're off being rebuilt. I have 2 questions: First, there's a fuse holder w/out a fuse under the seat. Red wire, always hot on one side. Is this stock, and if so where does it go. Weird sized fuse, too. Second question: I put a vacuum to the petcock to ensure fuel flow, switch on ignition, but no flow from the pump. I jumped the plug the relay goes into, and got great flow. I replaced the relay, no change. With the new relay, all I get is a single click from the pump when I turn the ignition on. What am I missing here? Thanks in advance, David

 

First of all, the 86 doesn't come with a fuel pump. It was gravity fed with quite a few changes to accommodate it. 84/85 have fuel pumps and relays.

The fuel pump will not pump on a stock system unless it is being cranked or running. You jumped the relay to verify the pump condition, good. Now hook everything back up and see if it pumps when you are cranking the engine over when holding the starter button.

Additional, I install parallel toggle switches on all of my bikes so the relay operates as stock, but I can "prime" the fuel system and fill the empty carbs with a flick of a switch. Handy as shit so you're not draining your battery with empty carbs. Also very handy WHEN the relay fails out on the road. Yes you can eliminate the relay, it is a "safety feature" so a crashed bike does not continue to pump fuel when the engine dies, but the key is still on.