Battery post melted.

[DonnaB]

1981 1100 gold wing. Started my bike today, got 1/2 mile down the road and it died. Just a click sound with the ignition. Checked my new battery, the positive post was melted! Thoughts?

[winguyjo]

look for loose, dirty or corroded electrical connections, frayed wires, bare wires shorting to ground. was any other recent work done to this bike other than new battery ?

[Rambozo]

More than likely the poor connection was right at the battery. They need to be clean and tight. When in doubt measure voltage drop across them under load.

[DonnaB]

The connections were tight on the battery. I have been told it is probably my starter for there to be that much electrical draw. Oil change and new break pads were the only recent work and I did those myself.

[Rambozo]

If it was the starter drawing too much, it would melt both terminals. Also the wire itself would melt as that is what should be the weakest link. In your case the weakest link was the positive terminal. Because it's close to the battery, acid corrosion can work it's way inside the wire right at the terminal, too. Then the resistance goes up and they get really hot. These are old bikes and it's not uncommon to find damage that took years to develop. That's why taking measurements to confirm connections can be a big help. You can also measure the current draw of your starter to see if it is going bad or not.

[WingAdmin]

Rambozo is right. The problem is between the battery post and the terminal. Any corrosion, dirt, oil, anything that's going to cause resistance, will create heat when current is drawn. The more current is drawn, the more heat generated. The more heat generated, the worse the connection gets, which makes it generate even more heat...until something melts.

[DonnaB]

Can’t thank all of you enough. I will start my investigation tomorrow. Here’s to hoping it is just a cable wire that needs some TLC. I have had this big since she was new and not ready to give her up yet! Again thank you!

[WingAdmin]

Did you track down the cause of this problem?

[JoBoy68]

while bringing my 83 GL 1100 back to life , the battery got so hot you could not touch it , turned out the negative cable attached to the motor mount was bad a lot of rust
cleaned the connection point replaced the cable and all was good . Later on, I found wires going to the solenoid looked cooked so I replaced them