The two red wires going to the fuse box on my 1975 cb550 F1 usa are getting warm while the ignition is turned on. Is this normal? If not has anyone any ideas as to what may be cause?
Thanks Ian
When you say getting warm while the ignition is turned on do you mean without the engine running? In this case heat generation is normal as long as it's not crazy hot.
In the 1960s on Minis doing this was generally to be avoided as depending on the position of the points coils could get very hot indeed together with the wiring. I once accidentally left the ignition on overnight whilst working on the car, luckily the battery was not in great condition - I was lucky not to have burnt out the coil.
As has been said cleaning up connections will help reduce the issue. There does come a point where old wiring can become badly oxidised within the insulation such as in rear lighting looms that can be replaced quite easily. Other areas of concern are where wiring is moved around such as headstock area or subject to lots of heat such as close to a hot engine.
I replaced my loom on the 400 to avoid future problems but it was probably not necessary. On my 500 I have retained the old loom as it appeared to be good visually - it just needed the outer tape binding replacing. On the 500 K1 my loom is not particularly expensive so I might regret not replacing it if I encounter problems.
