Ignition Switch question

Hi all,

I took off my console on a 98 roadking to tighten the speedo/tach and noticed that 2 of the ignition switch wires had shorted at one time and are melted pretty bad. I haven't any idea how long it's been like this as I haven't experienced any problems. I am going to replace the ignition harness cable and what to know if I should change the ignition switch too?

Thanks

Rick

As Cowboy said!

Thanks for the input. That's what I was thinking too.

most often heat is caused by resistance, make sure the terminals push on tightly and are clean

Had the same issue on my 02' Heritage a few years back. Left my driveway and when I got to the end of the street, the bike quit running. Had no lights, horn, etc. Pushed it back home and pulled the console. Two wires along with the switch were fried. Turned out the wires overheated from resistance caused by corrosion. The corrosion was caused by water.

The hole in the console that the witch mounts in is not sealed from the elements. So when it rains or you wash your bike, water passes through the console and colletcts on the terminal plug. On mine the water worked it's way into the insulation of the terminal wire about 3/4 of an inch back from the blade connector. Over time as the wire turned a nice green color inside the insulation, it got to the point where resistance took over and the switch shorted out. Just glad I was at the end of my street, and not out in the middle of the badlands when it blew. I bought a new switch, cut the old terminals of the harness and put new ones on.