Electrical problems?

[nbsledder]

The sled is a 1998 xtc 700,at first i lost my tach and then my lights and then it started working bad,thought it was the stater,put a new one on same thing,took it off put another (used)no fire put new one back on ,no fire took it back off and the stater was hot,almost to hot to hold ,after turning the engine over with the electric starter.Does anyone know what i should be looking for?

 

[OnDaTrail]

I would start by checking your wiring harness. I don't think it would cause the starter to run hot but your other problems sound as though some wires may have worn through. You typically see it it under the engine or up near the cowl hinges.

 

[cajones2]

When I had a 95 vmax 4, I put the hose clamp back on with the ears facing up. It actually wore through the insulation on the wire and shorted it out. It would blow all of my light bulbs in the entire system. In this case, everything ran fine otherwise, but the lights kept blowing out all at once. I can say that you do not want to get split off from the group in northern wisconsin on a trail at night with no head light (aside from a mini mag) while running on fumes...but I was the first sled on a groomed trail which was nice.

So, in my case the lights blowing out was due to a short caused by the hose clamp. Perhaps you can look for a wear, a pinch or even mouse damage.