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My alternator to reg/rec connector did the same thing a few years ago ... except it was even more melted.
It was actually on one of the hottest days we've had in recent years, but I had only gone literally a mile down the road, to my local nuts and bolts emporium.
I smelled burning on arrival and I remember asking the shopkeeper if he'd been having a bonfire.
Bike wouldn't start when I left, though bizarrely it bump started easily enough and I went straight back home to investigate further.
The same bonfire smell greeted me when I got home so I knew then that it was me.
Reg/rec alternator and battery were all fine, you'll be relieved to hear, Gazza.
I have since re-routed the cables so that the offending connection is exposed and easily inspectable just below the tank, left hand side.
The connections are also now hardwired.
I used homemade crimps fashioned from thin copper sheet which I formed into a tubular shape around a fat sewing needle .. two wraps.
After crimping I covered each one with glue-lined shrinkwrap (Kay's fasteners - ebay).
The glue not only seals the joint against moisture but also provides additional mechanical strength.
I don't like soldered joints because, as Gazza points out, they create an adjacent weak point, either due to flux residue or simply the sudden change from flexible to dead rigid.
But meths will clean off rosin flux, if you must solder.
Gazza .. I'll make you some crimps and bring them, along with some glue lined shrinkwrap, to Grumpy's forthcoming meet, if you like.
Which reminds me, I promised Jerry some ages ago .. I'll make both sets while I'm at it (I still have your address I think, Jerry).
One alternative to crimps is Delphi Metri-Pack 630 series multi-connectors from Kojaycat .. rated at 46 amps.
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