Riding the TTR250 the other day I was going full throttle then it died and sputtered to a stop. I noticed right away the battery was smoking and was EXTREMELY hot to the touch. I got away from it to give it time to cool down...acid explosions are not fun.
2 miles later after pushing it home through the woods, I started troubleshooting the electrical system. The battery was clearly shot. I put in a new battery and immediately it blew a fuse. Tried several more fuses to be sure...and they blew too. All this with both the key ignistion and red button in the OFF position.
I then got out the meter and checked the CDI, relay and switches but I cannot find a dead short. I'm about to give up and take it in to the dealership for repair. In the years I've riden this is the first and only time I've ever had a problem. Help! :(
Funny thing is with the bike stripped down, it's still amazing how hard it is to inspect the wiring harness. I suppose I could just take the whole thing off and do an inspection off the bike...but I was really trying to avoid that.
If it's happening with the ignition switched off then it is only likely to be in a short section of wiring between the battery and the solenoid.
It may be easier to see what's happening by taking off the batery and the battery box. The box is held in with three 10mm bolts. My guess is that will show you where the problem lies.
So yesterday I removed the starter coil and tested on my ohm meter. There are 4 posts on the starter coil, 2 large (that the primary ground and postive wires connect to) and smaller wires (that appear to be for the on/off switch). Checking them on the meter I find that the 2 large posts are ok...the 2 smaller post show a short...is that normal? I would have thought it shouldn't buzz unless I had the switch in the on position.