Battery ground question.

[Agemax]

I am in the process of moving my battery to inside the rear seat cowl on my GS1K.
My question is, does the battery have to be grounded direct to the engine, or would grounding it straight to the frame be OK?
would i also need to ground the engine to the frame as well?

[hampshirehog]

If you think of the frame as a (thick) wire it'll help you decide. If the connection between your battery and your frame is clean (no paint as well) and your engine and frame is clean (same thing with the paint) then you are ok.

[Agemax]

i guessed that would be ok i was just wondering if battery cable lengths would have any kind of adverse effects (on charging etc.)

[posplayr]

I am in the process of moving my battery to inside the rear seat cowl on my GS1K.
My question is, does the battery have to be grounded direct to the engine, or would grounding it straight to the frame be OK?
would i also need to ground the engine to the frame as well?

As Hampshiredog said you don't have to run a long ground wire. You will have to run a long positive from battery to starter so reducing the ground wire will be only a partial savings considering the positive must be extended. If I was going to try and shorten the battery negative cable, I would run a short ground from battery to a location on the frame that is free of paint and use dielectric grease. On the engine side you could possibly just rely on the frame mounting bolts for the connection between engine and frame, but it would be better to run a short jumper from the normal case grounding bolt to a convenient frame ground prepared as described before. I'm not sure however if there is any technical or ascetic reason for removal of that single ground wire.

[Agemax]

i will run a short cable from the engine to the frame as well.
as mentioned in countless threads, you cannot have too many ground wires!

[MisterCinders]

i will run a short cable from the engine to the frame as well.
as mentioned in countless threads, you cannot have too many ground wires!

Under Posplayer's single-point ground theory, I thought you could have too many ground wires, at least at the battery end. When I relocated the battery, I rearranged all the wiring according to the Charging Health thread. So all my grounds convene at the R/R, including the frame ground. Then I ran one wire from the R/R to the battery negative. The only other ground to my battery is the fat #8 ground for the starter. FYI - soldering 8 gauge wire to extend that is a fat PITA. That thick wire twist takes forever to heat up.

[Agemax]

Under Posplayer's single-point ground theory, I thought you could have too many ground wires, at least at the battery end. When I relocated the battery, I rearranged all the wiring according to the Charging Health thread. So all my grounds convene at the R/R, including the frame ground. Then I ran one wire from the R/R to the battery negative. The only other ground to my battery is the fat #8 ground for the starter. FYI - soldering 8 gauge wire to extend that is a fat PITA. That thick wire twist takes forever to heat up.

the only fat cable i got from the starter is a red+ to starter solenoid then red+ to battery +. i have no -batt cable from the starter!!

[Redman]

Running batt neg thick cable to frame, could work. But then all the starter motor current will have to go thru motor mounts. ANd this must be the reason they ran the big thick negitive cable to the engine.

.

[Agemax]

Running batt neg thick cable to frame, could work. But then all the starter motor current will have to go thru motor mounts. ANd this must be the reason they ran the big thick negitive cable to the engine.

.

i was going to run a short cable from engine to frame, then a short cable from battery to frame at the rear, or i may just run one long cable from engine to battery...........not sure now

[tkent02]

i was going to run a short cable from engine to frame, then a short cable from battery to frame at the rear, or i may just run one long cable from engine to battery...........not sure now

Make them fat enough cables and it should be fine either way.

[Agemax]

Make them fat enough cables and it should be fine either way.

any ideas what amperage the starter draws so i can get some right size cable?

[tkent02]

Anything equal to or bigger than the stock cable should be good enough, shouldn't it?

[Agemax]

i hope so, i got a couple of metres of black cable the same size as standard, just have to get some red and a few crimp connectors for the ends

[salty_monk]

Length has an impact on the amount of current a wire can withstand without overheating... You might want to go up a gauge depending.

[MisterCinders]

The stock wire is 8 gauge. I just extended that.