electric connections

[jabberjoe87]

Before I deem the bike ready for the riding season I want to check the grounds, as my headlight is dim. I have never had a charging problem knock on wood, but i want to check my grounds and clean them to prevent anything from happening. One problem: I don't know were all of the grounds are that i should be looking for. Any info on cleaning connections and the like would would help me out alot. Thanks.

[duaneage]

Before I deem the bike ready for the riding season I want to check the grounds, as my headlight is dim. I have never had a charging problem knock on wood, but i want to check my grounds and clean them to prevent anything from happening. One problem: I don't know were all of the grounds are that i should be looking for. Any info on cleaning connections and the like would would help me out alot. Thanks.

Headlight bucket has a multi connector ground that comes out and goes to the frame near the horn, or at least it should. This grounds the turnsignals, the dash lights, and the headlight itself.

Turn signals have ground wires that come back to the harness. This is spliced under the tape to a single black/white wire that goes to the frame.

The battery box and other metal parts have ground leads that connect them together, and end up at the battery - terminal.

The RR, ignitor, and or turn signal controller may be grounded to the metal battery box. Better results are had with frame grounds instead.

The coil mounting bolts are actually grounds for the secondary and need to be good connections.

Last, the battery ground lead to the engine handles 25 amps when the starter turns over, clean this one good and replace the large connectors if they are beat.

[posplayr]

Ground loop link

The RR, ignitor, and or turn signal controller may be grounded to the metal battery box. Better results are had with frame grounds instead.

I started a new thread about the R/R grounding.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=978254#post978254

Pos

[duaneage]

Just find all the Black wires with White stripes that connect to the frame or metal parts and make sure they are in good shape. Replace connectors at the ends with new ring terminals and scrape rust from the mounting location before reconnecting. The paint over the bolt or use battery terminal grease to prevent rust.

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. jabberjoe87,

CLICK HERE for electrical tips on cleaning and repairing your wiring harness.

Take off your tank, seat, side covers and you should be able to see most of the connections on your wiring harness. Also clean the connections in the headlight bucket. Take all the connectors apart and spray them with contact cleaner. If you have some dielectric grease to put them back together with, all the better. Don't forget the turn signals themselves. Take them loose and clean the washers and the frame where they connect. I use a small wire brush to scrub away corrosion. Disconnect and reconnect the bullet connectors a few times to ensure good connections.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[duaneage]

Fortunately this is a once every few years efforts. Most connections have not been touched in a long time. Replace corroded bullet terminals with new bullets, the alloy material lasts longer than the brass does. Some riders use 1/4" spade terminals in the belief they get a better connection. The contact area is no different for bullets, but new ones are better than old.

I replaced the ring terminals on the grounds with new terminals too. Get a decent crimping tool made for the job. You can get a Klein crimper at Lowes for about 15 bucks. It works better than the crimper that comes with terminal kits.

[jabberjoe87]

my pops used to be an electrician and i have access to any tool i could ever want. Just never went over any electrics on these bikes. Thanks for the great help guys