three yellow wires smoking ?

[Neosophist]

The connector is well known for burning out.
Have a look inside if you can get it apart.

The brass male/female blades corrode and cause a high a resistance joint and the high current present is enough to char the metal and the wiring insulation. The heat is enough to melt the plastic connector, as the blades are incased within the connector body with little air cooling.
New connectors and blades are available from VWP [Honda do a repair kit including wiring tails] but a better solution may be using separate bullet snap connectors.
If using crimp joints, then solder then as well, the original crimp may be a part of the problem.

Photo of 750 connectors.

Yes, listen to this man, he knows what he is talking about.

The above info is spot on :)

The most common cause of this is corrosion.

Check the output afterwards to make sure all is wel but manytimes this can be the only issue.

[jo]

My regulator went about 3 years ago i swapped it with a cheap second hand £13 one i got off this site and its been going strong ever since!

Don't speak too soon!

Cheers arsey30 mine looked exactly like the one above have now sorted it and is as good as new :) cheers for the help.

Also, before you run the bike again, I'd do a quick voltage test on it, make sure its not making silly numbers, there's a good reason why the connector has melted!

[Neosophist]

My regulator went about 3 years ago i swapped it with a cheap second hand £13 one i got off this site and its been going strong ever since!

Don't speak too soon!

Cheers arsey30 mine looked exactly like the one above have now sorted it and is as good as new :) cheers for the help.

Also, before you run the bike again, I'd do a quick voltage test on it, make sure its not making silly numbers, there's a good reason why the connector has melted!

arsey30 already wrote the reason. The connectors melt because of corrosion.

They are exposed to the elements so moisture and shit from the road can get in there, overtime the connection becomes worse.

This poor connection has a higher resistance than a good clean connection, which causes the current drawn from the genny to increase to keep the voltage up. This melts the connector block as this extra load also causes a lot of heat.

If your "lucky" the connection will break quickly and no more damage will be done, if your unlucky youll have a shitty connection for a long time, this extra load will overheat and melt your genny as well as the plug.

I caught my NC30 one early, just showing signs of melting about 3 years ago and repalced the plug with an AMP type waterproof jobby and no issues with it since.

I wasn't so lucky with my NC24 though,melted into a big mess and melted the genny along with it.

So thats why it would melt, but your advice of checking the system fully is also bob on.

Anytime you identify and fix a problem no harm can be done by checking it twice, might find further issues that can be fixed ahead of time saving more hassle or you might just verify its fine.

[arsey30]

Connector open to atmosphere so corrosion/oxidation can form on the surface of the contacts. [The main fuse holder connector can fail in this way too]
Filling with silicon grease will help.
I believe that the original wire crimp is also a real problem [a friend measured the resistance across joints to confirm this]
So, both of the above give a high resistance joint that builds up enough heat to melt the plastic connector housing and make the wire insulation brittle.

Honda supply a replacement connector kit that comes with a short wiring tail to connect into the loom, but the wire gauge is thicker than the original, are they trying to reduce the heat around the connector?

I have replaced many burned out connectors, [voltage was correct] but always soldered the crimp joints.

[Sunnyday]

Replace & Solder the wires together thats a better job than crimps its not as if you need to take if of all the time, done mine 10 years ago granted its been sat for years but never had a problem since , i also upgraded the wires from the generator/ alternator all soldered job done.

[arsey30]

I have removed connectors and soldered the wires together in the past, but now choose to replace the connector with crimp and soldered terminals.
If the charring is slight around the terminal, new ones can be fitted into the old plastic housing.

Rick O sells all of the parts.