Engine to frame ground wire

[Stefnwolf]

Hi Guys
My bikes got the negative lead straigt from the battery bolted onto the top of the gearbox, but I can't find another ground wire from the engine to the frame. I'm guessing there has gotta be one, surely they dont rely on the engine mounts making the contact?
Can anyone tell me where it (ought) to be?

Thanks

[earlfor]

Hi Guys
My bikes got the negative lead straigt from the battery bolted onto the top of the gearbox, but I can't find another ground wire from the engine to the frame. I'm guessing there has gotta be one, surely they dont rely on the engine mounts making the contact?
Can anyone tell me where it (ought) to be?

Thanks

Thats IT. That is all there is.

Earl

[BassCliff]

Cooking with electrons

Hi Mr. Stefnwolf,

That's the setup on my bike. What's really important is to run a ground wire from your regulator/rectifier (r/r) directly to the negative terminal of your battery. Make sure ALL of your electrical connections and grounds are clean and corrosion-free, from the headlight bucket to the tail light.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[hillsy]

Most Jap bikes have the negative terminal going only to the motor. Not a bad idea to get a 2nd lead and run it from your battery to your frame. Older bikes can lose ground to the frame over time - which can lead to hard to find electrical problems.
My brothers KZ1300 had intermittent starting problems - and after months of cleaning, inspecting and replacing things it ended up being weak grounding...and under 10 Volts at the coils. A 2nd lead to the frame fixed it.

And like Basscliff said, at least make sure you have your reg/rec connected straight to your battery or you could fry your charging circuit.

[tas850g]

i was looking at my '79 r/r and unless the ground is part of the wire bundle coming from the r/r i really don't see a ground coming from it and attaching to the battery box. There is a b/w wire that comes out seperately from the other wire bundle then wraps around the r/r and goes back into the r/r in a different location on the back side of it

The wire bundle goes down and into the wires to the stator.

What am i missing here?

[twr1776]

tas850g There is a b/w wire that comes out seperately from the other wire bundle then wraps around the r/r and goes back into the r/r in a different location on the back side of it

That is the ground wire for your R/R. The additional wire is usually run from the mounting bolt on the R/R up to the negative terminal of the battery. If you havent done it yet I always drop the R/R, clean the mounting screws, area where the R/R contacts the bottom of the battery box, and use the dielectric grease when re-assembling. You can then run the extra wire up to the negative battery terminal. It is also a good idea to disconnect the negative lead to the frame and clean it up, grease, and re-assemble. On my 81 the negative battery lead looked a little suspect so I replaced it. It was about $ 8 and still available. I am still running the OEM stator and R/R and they are still charging within spec.

As Cliff said for reliability you must go though the entire harness, all grounds, and headlight bucket. It is a PITA but must be done even before the stator papers to get accurate results on your charging system. While the charging systems on the GS's are not the best out there most of the stator and R/R issues are caused by not cleaning your harness up properly IMHO.

[tas850g]

If just looks like the b/w wire goes back into the r/r but at a different location.

I'll dismount the r/r and clean up the mounting screws and run the new wire to the negative battery post. I've read alot about doing this but i just haven't done it yet.

I have gone thru the wiring harness b/c i had a short and found it to be in the fuse box. Fun winter projects.

Sorry to hijack the thread. Nice tie-in to my question.

Thanks for the help!

[Stefnwolf]

Thanks for the input guys. Answers my question and more...
Thought I was almost done with the maintenance (carbs, valves, brakes, exhauste, suspension) but now seems I have a load of electrical stuff to do. Pretty sure the old girl was charging OK anyway, but I guess prevention is better than cure.

[SqDancerLynn1]

If you work on your own car ? Battery and frame/chassi grounds are VERY important too!! Can even cause wheel/differential even transmission bearing failures

[tomcat24551]

One more question...

Is it really a good idea to use dilectric grease on all these misc electrical connections, like bullet connections, battery negative to motor, etc, etc?

Does it interfere with conductivity at all?

Can anyone answer this with certainty?

Thanks.

Tomcat

[chef1366]

Is it really a good idea to use dilectric grease on all these misc electrical connections, like bullet connections, battery negative to motor, etc, etc?

Does it interfere with conductivity at all?

Can anyone answer this with certainty?

Thanks.

Tomcat

It does the opposite. It conducts.