Maybe put your ****ing tongue on it.. like that video of that idiot over in India that put his tongue on a coil wire and his buddy ****ing knocked the **** out of him.....

 

Ha Ha ha! Don't do that- tastes like lightning

 

Thanks for all the thoughts/ideas/comments!

Here's the update: Not much of an update, really. I went next door and bummed a 12mm wrench off of Mark. Put it on the terminal (CAREFULLY....the battery is still connected and I've had enough excitement for the week) tried giving it a little snug. It certainly wasn't loose at all. I ended up giving it maybe 1/16 turn at most, but that's about as tight as I dared crank on that stud.

So I don't think this was caused by the nut being loose on the stud.

Anyway, gave her another shot today, and she turned over without drama. No fire or anything.

Looked over the wiring as best as I could (seeing as how my good magnifying goggles are at home) and they look fine. I don't see any evidence of melted insulation. In fact, looking it all over really well, I don't see any evidence of the fire at all. The boot doesn't show any melting or anything else.

It's not as if this is a new install. I rode the bike all summer with this setup.

So I'm trying to get my head around the idea that this is somehow related to the cold. Hotrod commented that it's hard to see how the battery could cause this, and I agree. The only thing battery related I can think of is that somehow in the cold the battery decided to go nuts and send more amperage down the cable than it could handle. That feels like a stretch. It's hard to imagine enough amps going through those cables to instantaneously start a fire. The closest thing I've got at the moment to a theory that makes any sense is that a spider or something decided to build a web down in there, and when I hit the starter the web was carrying current and got smoked, which was enough to start some stray oil on fire.

That sounds pretty ridiculous to me, but it's all I've got.

Other than keeping a keen eye on it the next time I go to start it after an extended period, I don't think there's anything to be done here.

 

Omaha, that's a head scratcher for sure. Spider web sounds as right as anything else at this point.

 

Per google, silk is slightly conductive, conductivity goes up with humidity. Head scratcher for sure. Glad it ended up being no damage. YD

 

Here ya go:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fire-Gon...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Im glad you havent had any more issues! I hope you can get a few more rides in this year!

 

Not a good feeling seeing your bike on fire Omaha! At least you were able to put it out with no damage.

I carry a FireAde aerosol AFFF extinguisher in my saddle bag.

 

I don't blame you, we all know what happened to you a couple years ago very sad thing. It's always good to be prepared....

 

If the large terminal on the starter had dirt or corrosion preventing a good connection, it could arc and heat up enough to burn. The arc may have welded the terminal to the stud so it seems OK now. I would take the cable off and tighten the nut underneath, inspect and clean the terminal and retighten the outer nut. Look for black arc marks.

But when you work on the battery cables, always disconnect the negative battery terminal first (reconnect last). Your's wouldn't be the first battery to explode.