Solenoid and Recifier

[Guest]

New guys to the forum, it is fantastic top be here.

Just a quick question.

I have a 1979 GS 400 and making (1st Project by the way) a cafe racer. Nothing over the top, nice and simple.

Wanting to move solenoid and rectifier (i think that is what it is).

Any suggestions where to put it? Does the actual body of the solenoid need grounding or would the grounding wire suffice?

I am after the good old see-thru frame look ( i know its not original but it is a good place to start) and purchased the Antigravity Battery this morning.

Thanks!

Dave

[chef1366]

The solenoid body does need grounded but I see no reason why you can't run a wire to a good ground.

[koolaid_kid]

The solenoid body does need grounded but I see no reason why you can't run a wire to a good ground.

I agtee. Put a ground wire on one of the solenoid mounting bolts and run it to a good ground, the battery negative terminal if you can.

[bowgen]

Fantastic. Thankyou very much.

Dave

[Steve]

Does the actual body of the solenoid need grounding or would the grounding wire suffice?

Just a bit confused, here.

In stock form, there is no grounding wire on the solenoid itself.

There are three wires attached to the solenoid. One heavy wire runs from the battery to one of the large terminals on the solenoid. There is another heavy wire that goes from the other solenoid terminal to the starter. The third wire is considerably smaller, and is yellow with a green stripe. That is the trigger wire that will engage the solenoid when the starter button is pressed. The grounding of the solenoid is provided by the case. On most GSes, the solenoid is mounted to the battery box, which is rubber-mounted, so there is a separate wire to ensure that the solenoid is grounded to either the chassis or the battery. Yes, it's a "grounding wire", and it will be electrically connected to the solenoid, but it's not permanently attached.

[bowgen]

Wow, now i am really confused.


Do I have the smaller wire grounded? Yes!

Do i need to also need to bold the actual body to the frame also? Dont know!

This is an interesting one isnt it.

Thanks everyone for your input. I do appreciate it!

Dave

[bowgen]

Thanks Steve,
I have removed the battery box as i am making it into a cafe with an open look frame.

So i do need to ground the solenoid BOTH with the actual body AND the ground wire coming from it to the frame? Correct.

Apologies for the confusion. This is my first project and i have just blown the 25amp inline fuse.

Dave

[bowgen]

I have read Steves reply about 10 times, now its starting to make sense. ha ha

[koolaid_kid]

bowgen, the solenoid needs to be grounded. In stock form the ground is understood as the frame mount, unless you buy into the "one ground for all" theory. My point was that you can mount it wherever you want as long as you insure a decent ground. Hence the separate ground wire. It works; I did the exact operation on my GPz. If it works without the ground wire, good for you. If you want to make sure it will be fine, fit the extra wire. It won't hurt, and can only help.

[Steve]

Do I have the smaller wire grounded? Yes!

Are you saying that you have that yellow/green wire that is soldered to the top of the solenoid grounded?

If you do, your starter will not work.

.

[Gumbo76]

Ground

Ok, the Solenoid, if I remember correctly is grounded to the frame by a bolt that goes through it. If you re-mount the solenoid to the frame somewhere else, you're covered., just make sure you have a clean and strong connection for the bolt. If you mount it to anything other than that, you'll need to run a ground wire.

Where the Bolt goes through your solenoid to the frame, you'll need to put the bolt through a ring terminal connector and place a nut on that bolt. Then run the other end of the wire to the battery for the best ground.

That's just my opinion, but there is more than one way to skin a cat.

-Gumbo

[hjfisk]

Or you could just get one from a Kawasaki that mounts in rubber and has a ground wire already attached to it the rest of the wiring is the same as the GS

[Steve]

Ok, the Solenoid, if I remember correctly is grounded to the frame by a bolt that goes through it.

Please provide a picture of this.

I have NEVER seen a solenoid with a mounting bolt going through it.

.