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The other day I rode in the rain for about six hours. When I took the key out of the ignition, the plastic on the key had melted to the key ring and one of the keys on the key ring had the end cooked off where it was shorting out against the rear footpeg holder. When I put the positive end of a voltage meter into the ignition and the negative end to the peg holder I get a twelve volt courent. When I do the same with an ohm meter it shows zero resistance. The bike continues to run fine and my battery stays charged. Any thoughts?

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Any thoughts?

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Yeah.. that ain't good. Something has gone terribly awry.
Do you mean that you stick the voltmeter lead into the key hole and get a voltage reading? If so I'd look towards the ignition switch itself... the frame is supposed to be grounded but the keyhole is not supposed to be hot.

Yea, That does not sound good. It sounds like your ignition switch has some issues like Chy said. I would not run it till you got it straightened out. Just my opinion though

It doesn't sound like a full time short which is why your battery still holds a charge. But the switch should not do that when a key touches ground... I'd be wary of riding until that's sorted out. It sound like you need to replace the ignition switch.

Thanks for the input. The answer to chy's question is "yes." When I put the positive probe of the volt meter into the ignition and touch the negative probe to the frame I get about a 10 volt reading. I'm keeping my eyes open for a used ignition switch. Pinwall says they get bought up as soon as they hit their web site. Apparently this problem is not rare.

Rare? Maybe not extraordinary but infrequent nonetheless.

Was working on removing boatloads of di-electric grease the other day. Bought burnt the headlight connector clear plum up. Maybe your ignition switch is grease shortening too?

And your switch could have been contaminated with water which won't help.

Bend the tabs back then pull it apart to check. Can't hurt and is probably repairable.

Problem solved. Wires on the Positive termanl of battery were too close to the side of the battery tray which also holds the ignition switch on the bike. Tray, battery cover, ignition, and keys were all charged with 12V. All is well now. I am putting a rubber barrier between that terminal and the battery tray so this won't happen the next time it rains.