[squirrel_hunter]

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

Hahahahahahahahaha! Did you get a fright?

A fright? I nearly **** meself, thought the bike was possessed before I realized I was doing my best to hot wire it.

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

When you say 'the circuit to the starter motor removed', do you mean disconnecting the heavy wire from the solenoid to the starter motor?

Yes. If I have that wire from the solenoid disconnected I can turn the ignition on and get the lights on the dashboard without the fuse blowing. Does this point to a fault with this wire?

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

If it's only the main fuse that's affected, then the fault must lie somewhere in:

• The output side of the fuseholder in the solenoid.
• The wire from there to the ignition switch.
• The ignition switch itself.
• The wire from the ignition switch back to the fuse board and the pre sub-fuse contacts therof.
• The live branch into the the regulator.

These are the only parts that are solely behind by the main fuse, all the other wiring and electrical components are behind the sub circuit fuses.

With the multimeter set to its bleeping continuity tester I have tried the following:

• The output side of the fuseholder in the solenoid. - The red wire from the cap of the solenoid to the fuse box.
• The wire from there to the ignition switch. - Thought you meant from that wire to one that the switch gear connects to (there is a red one up at the connector block that has continuity) but I realize I read it wrong and you mean the ignition switch with the key. But I can't workout from the map which wire I've just found.
• The ignition switch itself. - Which wire's do I test here?
• The wire from the ignition switch back to the fuse board and the pre sub-fuse contacts therof. - As above, though I think it will become obvious once I start testing it
• The live branch into the the regulator. - Got continuity from the cap of the solenoid to the reg rec connectors.

I've also swapped over the solenoid with a known working spare I have and there is no change to the fuse blowing.

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

There is also a permanent live to clocks which may be cause of it.

Which wires in which blocks do I need to check for this?

Originally Posted by dizzyblonde

red wire nearside of fairing, green and furry in connection blocks, to the side of clocks???.

And you've lost me here...

Interestingly the alarm is now playing up. I have it in service mode for the disconnection of the battery but it's not registering once the battery is removed and with the alarm in its normal mode I can disconnect the battery, and it will briefly go off. Its a Datatool Veto. However I would guess that the alarm is a symptom rather than a cause of the fault.