Grounded...

[redhotspike]

Ok, so I've looked at the wiring diagram, looked at the simple wiring diagram, followed the wires, searched for similar posts, and am still having a wiring headache lol

It started with cleaning my carbs, which went ok, but took longer than expected. As a result, the wires that I unhooked in order to make room for getting the carbs on and off went forgotten as to where to re-hook them. But I've managed to put all the pretty colors back together...

EXCEPT for 4 grounds...or what I'm assuming to be grounds. I don't want to just ground them if they're not actually grounds.

For starters: on the battery side. I have one big red wire (positive to the battery), and two big black wires. One with a yellow...cap/ending. One without (you can see them circled in the picture). These two wires go down into the crankbox/stator area so I have no idea what they actually connected to.

On the other side of the bike: I have a wire from the r/r (black and white wire) which (just to double check) is a ground. Also, a mysterious black wire...I'll post the picture with next post.

Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[redhotspike]

Other side of the bike's wires

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Where are the other ends of these wires?

I suspect that one of them goes to the bottom of the engine and grounds there. I'm not sure where the other goes but it certainly looks like it connects there to the negative battery terminal. Trace it to be sure. Maybe it's the ground strap for the solenoid or starter?

As for this picture:

You've identified the r/r ground wire. It should go directly to the negative battery terminal for better charging system health. Where is the end of the other wire?

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[redhotspike]

Thank you very much!!

Two bandaids, a roll of electrical tape later...lol the little black & white wire goes to...*drumroll*...the tail turn signals. Awesome. lol So that can just get grounded to the chassis correct?

The yellow tipped wire by the battery box is indeed grounded on the chassis. YAY!

The other black wire looks (without taking the cover off) to go to the stator.

And the r/r wire will go to the battery

 

[BassCliff]

...the little black & white wire goes to...*drumroll*...the tail turn signals. Awesome. lol So that can just get grounded to the chassis correct?

Yes. Nice sleuthing.

The other black wire looks (without taking the cover off) to go to the stator.

I hope you mean the starter and not the stator. The stator should have no connection to frame ground at all, other than where it bolts into the left crankcase cover.

The starter is under the shiny aluminum cover you see below the carb intakes. Below you see the three yellow wires going to the stator. They pass through the starter cavity on their way to the stator.

I apologize for the filthy condition of my engine.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[redhotspike]

Yes - starter not stator (I did a stator replacement so the word was fresh in my vocabulary lol).
So then, this black wire should just be grounded or would it be attached to the negative terminal of the battery?
I'm very much appreciative of your help - THANK YOU!!

 

[BassCliff]

So then, this black wire should just be grounded or would it be attached to the negative terminal of the battery?

Hi,

Does the wire go from the battery area to the starter? Did you pull the starter cover to check? I'm thinking it's a ground strap for the starter.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[redhotspike]

4 months later... (life continues faster than I wish)
Yes it does go to the starter. So in this case, I should ground the wire from the starter to the frame?

 

[tom203]

4 months later... (life continues faster than I wish)
Yes it does go to the starter. So in this case, I should ground the wire from the starter to the frame?

With starter cover off, the wire that attaches to stud on starter motor is the POSITIVE feed to starter motor, so it attaches to starter solenoid. The starter gets grounded internally by being bolted into starter cavity.

 

[redhotspike]

so where does that wire attach to?? the battery? the r/r? or is it grounded? please - I just want to know where to attach that to.

 

[tom203]

so where does that wire attach to?? the battery? the r/r? or is it grounded? please - I just want to know where to attach that to.

If by "that wire" you mean the wire that is attached to the stud on the starter motor, then the other end of "that wire" goes up to starter solenoid- do you have a starter solenoid or is it missing? There are other wires that run thru starter motor cavity- these are from the alternator/ stator.

 

[redhotspike]

Sorry about the previous post - totally misread that.

Is the part circled in red the starter solenoid?
If so: where should the wire from the starter be attached to on the solenoid?

 

[tom203]

Sorry about the previous post - totally misread that.

Is the part circled in red the starter solenoid?
If so: where should the wire from the starter be attached to on the solenoid?

That looks like it ( not exactly positioned like mine, but so what).
There are two threaded studs on the solenoid. One gets connected to "that wire" coming from starter motor- there is nothing else on this stud. The other stud gets the wire going to battery positive- there might be other wires connected to this stud. Others will descend with any more info.

 

[redhotspike]

The positive from the battery is on one threaded stud. and there is a black and white wire on the other...

 

[redhotspike]

Ok... summary - found out that the wire w/ the yellow cap is the one to go to the starter. attached to starter solenoid. check
the wire w/o the yellow cap is the ground for the battery. to be hooked to neg terminal on battery. check.
Now, the real question -
that black and white wire i found on the starter solenoid...i keep loosing where it goes when i try to trace it. but somehow i believe that it is the other end of turn signal wires?? i don't know because the bike is w/o turn signals and two the wiring is a mess and three that's the only other ending black and white wire i can find.

Any suggestions? Think it'd be okay to start the bike up without this black and white wire attached?

 

[tom203]

Ok, so we've got a wire from positive battery to one stud on solenoid. Then, the other stud on solenoid has a wire that goes down and attaches to stud on starter motor. Now we need to find a smaller wire to activate the solenoid- It's probably a small yellow green wire. I'm unsure of this black/white wire, but it might be the ground wire for the solenoid. Anyways , when you press starter, juice comes down the yellow/green wire and activates the solenoid which causes the starter motor to spin. The solenoid has to be grounded for this to work.
The missing turn signals would also have used a black/white wire for grounding.

 

[redhotspike]

the yellow/green wire is already on the solenoid *cha-ching!*

i traced a different black/white wire which is the turn signal's ground (its just going to be ground wherever i find a spot lol)

so theoretically - if in following the black/white wire that was on the solenoid on that other threaded screw, that b/w wire could lead to a grounded out end? And if it is grounded, should it just stay on that threaded screw? (it's raining currently and i must wait to continue sleuthing :/ )

btw, I very much appreciate the help you are giving me -- i'm not so good with electrics but i can follow colors decently enough

 

[tom203]

Yeah, that smaller black/ wire ( about same size as green/yellow wire ) must be ground for solenoid. Raining here too!

 

[redhotspike]

well...i'm assuming the wiring is correct because the lights all work and i can hear the starter working but the engine doesn't turn over...
I'm thinking the battery may not be able to hold full charge - i put it on a trickle charger for numerous hours (overnight) and it never reached "charged"...
But the lights all work and the headlight works so i'm not sure if it's really the battery or another problem. Any suggestions?

 

[tom203]

well...i'm assuming the wiring is correct because the lights all work and i can hear the starter working but the engine doesn't turn over...
I'm thinking the battery may not be able to hold full charge - i put it on a trickle charger for numerous hours (overnight) and it never reached "charged"...
But the lights all work and the headlight works so i'm not sure if it's really the battery or another problem. Any suggestions?

You hear the starter motor working- does it sound like it's going fast? Or does it make unpleasant noises? Any clunks when you press starter button? Remember , avoid charging overnight at greater than 2 amp rate.