Electrical Panel Ground Wire Gage Question

[srsupertrap]

Many of the early GS's or at least my GS1000E has a floating electrical parts panel under the left hand side cover where the starter relay, R&R, fuse box etc are all mounted in a tidey arrangement. We all know or have experienced first hand the charging problems which occur when the electrical panel ground wire loosens or starts building up resistance as corrision occurs. This leads to the Stator papers

My question and it may be a dumb question is this, the factory Suzuki manual starter system diagram on Pg 11-7 illustrates the starter relay electrical circuit. Since the starter relay is grounded to the electrical panel, Is the gage of the electrical ground wire gage critical to the proper operation of the Starter system? My electrical panel ground wire is 16 Gage and connected to frame were the battery ground & all other grounds are connected.

I am not sure of the answer but I believe it should not be because it's only completing the starter switch circuit. Correct me if I am wrong.

TIA

[Jaguarjoe]

If all it does is ground the return side of the coil then yes, 16ga is fine.

[psyguy]

I am not sure of the answer but I believe it should not be because it's only completing the starter switch circuit. Correct me if I am wrong.

TIA

correct, that is only the relay switch ground wire

[duaneage]

You can put a lot of current through a single 16 ga wire at 12 volts. Nothing to prevent running a second but you want to avoid difference of potential between two ground runs. This can cause a loop where a small amount of voltage flows between them.
The hardware you speak of floats on rubber mounts to protect the electronics from vibration.

I have a separate ground lead for my solenoid. I got stuck at Home Depot one day because of a bad ground connection on it.