where do you ground? Pictures?

Can someone help with grounding and battery terminals. I have restored much of my wiring and am needing a refresher.

mine goes to the engine block just under the rear mount(78 KZ1000)on the clutch side.

The frame will be a ground reference(just like in a car).Negative will come from the (-)Black battery terminal and usually attaches to an engine mounting bolt.

The Positive comes from the (+)Red terminal and goes to the starter solenoid, from it(on the other starter terminal)it goes to the starter motor. So when you push the start switch, a coil energizes in the solenoid(the two smaller bullet connectors), pulling in bridging the two large terminals internally, completing the current path, turning the motor and starting the engine.

it's not uncommon to pull a large amount of amps when starting an engine. Add cold, thick oil,high compression and the current may cause the heavy gauge battery cables to get warm to the touch.

Some bikes have a starter interlock on the clutch lever, so it must be squeezed to start the engine.

very helpful thanks. Do you see a ground on the same starter solenoid terminal that the positive battery leads come into?

I cant see you suffer any longer buddy:



:laugh: Enjoy...



Hmm.... that didnt work for some reason...

Starter solenoids are usually rubber mounted to avoid vibration. The energizing coil is the two smaller wires with bullet connectors, with the two larger terminals where the heavier cables go to.

Think of the starter solenoid as a heavy duty remote controlled switch. Ii acts like a relay, but can handle far greater current loads that would burn out the contacts in a relay.

You can download a nicer version here:

kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_docman&...d&gid=264&Itemid=108

calvin17d wrote:

Can someone help with grounding and battery terminals. I have restored much of my wiring and am needing a refresher.

As Frankn9 related, the negative battery cable attaches to the engine block.

Imo, this is better than attaching it somewhere to the frame, because it keeps the ignition continuity within structure of the engine, without risking possibility of less than perfect ignition circuit continuity between frame and engine.

If paranoid :lol: about "perfect" chassis wiring grounds to frame, could run a second wire from the engine bolt to a known good ground on the frame.

The connection will likely look something like these:

[Click on image to enlarge view.]




Good Fortune!

The lead which I thought might be grounding is on the top left terminal of the solenoid.

Either large terminal can go to the starter motor, and the other to the high current power source.

The S terminal is the power/switch terminal, the I terminal is for ground, and the base of those units need to be grounded as well.

So can we address the items in the picture?

The red wire in the middle I assumed was a ground? Any thoughts on why the black/yellow wire is not on the solenoid and is tucked in behind its mounting ear?

I apologize. I received the bike this way. It seems all the wiring is here but in incorrect areas. Additionally, the large diameter positive (not pictured)lead (not pictured) does not have lugs which will directly fit over the appropriate solenoid terminal(diameter is too small). Me thinks that this short lead (top left) may be serving as a connection to the larger diameter positive lead which has smaller lugs than this short 12 gauge wire on the top left.

As well, the loose black lead coming from the rectifier is supposed to join in the white terminal to meet its yellow/black lead on the backside of the 6 pin connector. Looks like they wanted to ground that directly to frame. Tying this ground into the 6 pin connector would achieve an engine ground correct?

I hope that is not too confusing.

calvin17d wrote:

So can we address the items in the picture?

:huh: I thought I did...

The red wire in the middle I assumed was a ground? Any thoughts on why the black/yellow wire is not on the solenoid and is tucked in behind its mounting ear?

Large red wires were not used as grounds. Refer to to the wiring diagram I provided. They are VERY HELPFULL.

I apologize. I received the bike this way. It seems all the wiring is here but in incorrect areas. Additionally, the large diameter positive (not pictured)lead (not pictured) does not have lugs which will directly fit over the appropriate solenoid terminal(diameter is too small). Me thinks that this short lead (top left) may be serving as a connection to the larger diameter positive lead which has smaller lugs than this short 12 gauge wire on the top left.

No problem... Looks to me that your wiring is all @#%$ed (no offence), and that solenoid unit, is not stock. Its a Ford unit scavenged from somewhere. Thats why your leads dont fit, they need to be drilled for that unit.

As well, the loose black lead coming from the rectifier is supposed to join in the white terminal to meet its yellow/black lead on the backside of the 6 pin connector. Looks like they wanted to ground that directly to frame. Tying this ground into the 6 pin connector would achieve an engine ground correct?

No. It would not make for a very good engine ground. It would just be grounding the battery to frame. The engine ground to - batt terminal should be a large gauge wire. There should also be a ground lead from batt to frame. Again, just check the wiring diagram and you can see all the required conections for ground, rectifier, regulator, everything...

Sorry, but to me the whole thing looks F'd, and all wrong. Which is why I say, hook up the solenoid like I said, and use the diagram for the rest.

Best of luck.