electrical problem

[bamalancedriver]

  This morning I was riding home from work and I stopped to adjust some of my gear and while in neutral the lady just died. No lights would come on and would not start. I took the right side cover off to check the fuses and when I touched the starter relay the lights came back on and she started right up and I rode home with no problems. After arriving home I went back  to check the bike and the lights will not come on nor will it start. I checked all the fuses again and all is good there. When I checked the starter relay again I noticed where the wires come down from the wiring harness it had gotten hot and melted the plastic. This plastic is red in color that sets on top of the relay and covers the 30 amp fuse (fuse is ok). Wires are intact but one is melted more than the others. 
  The question I have is will the starter relay stop all electrical power to the lights and is the starter relay bad. My bike is a 98 tourer.
  Thanks ahead of time for all you guys do.

[SCain]

Read this, sounds like the same problem.
http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,13097.0.html

[Sourdough]

i had the same problem as you are describing.. if you scroll down in the link
SCain provided there are some nice photos.. I used the parts shown there and it
was a fairly easy repair. I think my problem was caused by improper wiring
of acc lighting by the previous owner(no relays). Since I repaired everything
I've had no further problems. Hope this helps...

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

Been a few years since that's happened to me but I think it will cut everything. Mine had evidently gotten water around the fuse and though the fuse was good, when I pulled it I saw that the fuse socket was overheated and bad.

[Thunderbolt]

the fuse connection from either water or loose connection has caused it to overheat and cause a "bad" or loose connection.

[R J]

Ya need this repair kit to splice into your wiring.   Have to move the red wire in the socket to match the Valk.    This is a repair kit for an older Gold Wing.

[RonW]

The question I have is will the starter relay stop all electrical power to the lights....

That RED WIRE which plugs into the starter relay powers the fusebox, and then from there, all things which branch off from the fusebox. Yes, in-between there's the ignition switch but the red wire is the original +12 tap. If the terminal on the red relay wire is toast the symptoms mimic a bad main fuse, but then the lights, etc, goes on again by its own self. Then off again. Be grateful that the faulty terminal doesn't shut off the power while you're in the middle of traffic. That can be bad. Perhaps, the alternator provides a surplus of power while the bike's in motion that's sufficient to power the bike through the electrical connection that's hanging on by a thread. So, the bike only dies when you stop. Dunno know the mechanical reasons, but it's been good e'nuff for me.

It's probable that if the red 4P connector at the relay is bad, that the 4P connector at the other end of the same red wire is toast too. That other 4P connector is white (translucent) so it's easier to detect visually the telltale burnt marks. It might be worthwhile to check the second 4P connector. How about the 2P connector on the alternator/RR? R J's suggestion of replacing the red relay 4P connector with the Gold Wing kit is right on the mark (photo above). Even if the side clips on the red 4P connector are passable....enough to grasp the starter relay, which they probably aren't....the plastic material is now so brittle that the partitions between the individual internal sockets have literally fallen apart. The female metal terminals don't seem to remain securely on the prongs without the aid of the red cover. Meanwhile, here's a diagram I drew up to illustrate how the RED WIRE at the starter relay serves as a main electrical artery. Arrow denotes direction of electricity.





As with all things Internet, don't rely on my words alone....

the fuse connection from either water or loose connection has caused it to overheat....

That's what I'm thinking also. Probably water from washing.