no the solenoid is on the inner primary

here is what I have come up with

I disconnected the wire coming from the regulator at the main breaker
on the post with the wire from the solenoid no short

that wire connects to a post under the coil with the wire from the regulator, I assume that post is insulated because it is mounted directly to the frame.
I had it running prior to the solenoid issue so I am thinking the connecting post is still insulated and the regulator is bad

CONFUSED YET??? I SURE AS HELL AM!!!!

I know this sounds

 

If you disconnect the wire from the regulator to the breaker under the seat, the short is gone? And if you reconnect the wire, the short is back? That is, if you disconnect the wire from the regulator (regulator output,) you can start the bike and it runs and no sparks fly?

 

I HAVE NARROWED IT DOWN TO THE REGULATOR WIRE THAT CONNECTS TO THE SAME POST ON THE MAIN BREAKER THAT THE solenoid wire connects to.
I unhooked that and no short.
that wire leads to a frame mounted connector below my coil the second wiore on that connector leads to the regulator.

would a bad regulator cause the short or could it be the stattor feeding back?

 

haven't tried to start the bike. but yes the short is gone (only) when the regulator wire is disconnected

 

Regulator shorted unless the wire itself from the reg. is shorted somewhere.
Not familiar with the connection stud by the coil, might want to disconnect the reg. wire at that point to verify no short in that area.

 

Now reconnect regulator wire and unplug stator conn. if short still there = regulator if not stator

 

I think the diodes in the regulator would have to be bad for a shorted stator to cause sparking but couldn't hurt to try that .

 

Thanks for all the help today!!!
Got it figured out!

 

Uh, no, highbarst, that's not how you diagnose a stator short.

Anyway, Jim, there should be nothing inbetween the regulator and the breaker but the regulator wire. I don't know what a post under the coil is supposed to be, but I don't think the MoCo put it there. The wire from the regulator goes to the breaker with no stops inbetween.

So, if you figured it out, tell us: What was the exact problem?

 

This thread reads like a comedy routine.....