Triumphrat

Kev_England · 11-13-2009, 04:42 PM

Help!

A couple of us are having a difficult time figuring out exactly what purpose a lone, gangling, rogue red (earth) wire is doing on our lovely new English cloth harnesses. There's nowt in any diagram to indicate the purpose of this wire.

Please see picture below and note the red wire opposite the alternator wire. My bike is a 68 Bonnie and apparently, said wire is also appearing on 70 Bonnie harnesses.

Where should the loop connector and truncated wire connect to?

old70bonne · 11-13-2009, 06:39 PM

On my 70 Bonne (original harness still in place) the ring connector is attached to one of the studs that hold the oil tank; the end goes to the positive side of the battery.

HTH
jim

Kev_England · 11-13-2009, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by old70bonne

On my 70 Bonne (original harness still in place) the ring connector is attached to one of the studs that hold the oil tank; the end goes to the positive side of the battery.

HTH
jim

Many thanks Jim - is the ring attached to one of the top lugs of the oil tank? Also, you mean the bare wire earth is just wrapped around the battery positve terminal?
THanks again mate.

old70bonne · 11-13-2009, 08:46 PM

Your harness lacks a connector at the end. My harness has connector that enables me to attach it to the battery via the supplied battery bolts/ nuts.

old70bonne · 11-13-2009, 09:05 PM

Kev,

I am going from memory (not near my bikes) but I believe that in your pic that you posted above what you have labeled + battery is actually the ground to your rectifier. The red wire is the postive connection to your battery. It should have a similar connector to the wire you have (correctly) labeled - battery.

I'm by no means an expert, but that is what I remember from my bike, which is unaltered.

GrandPaulZ · 11-14-2009, 08:38 AM

Several points should be wired to ground/earth at various points on the frame:

-Battery positive (+) terminal
-a specific point in the ignition coil wiring (refer to your ignition system diagram)
-Rectifier stud and/or top tab connector
-thin terminal of 2MC capacitor, if used
-headlight shell
-engine (sometimes at the head area, and/or crankcase bolt/nut)
-rear fender (provides ground path for tail light)
-Zener Diode base

I may be missing one or two points...

Kev_England · 11-15-2009, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by old70bonne

Kev,

I am going from memory (not near my bikes) but I believe that in your pic that you posted above what you have labeled + battery is actually the ground to your rectifier. The red wire is the postive connection to your battery. It should have a similar connector to the wire you have (correctly) labeled - battery.

I'm by no means an expert, but that is what I remember from my bike, which is unaltered.

Many thanks Old70 - that does make sense since the ground wire is the same length as the rectifer wire - I should have guessed that!

Makes sense too that my mystery red wire hooks to the battery.

GPZ - as usual many thanks for your input! Im wondering if my chopped ground wire is the ground you refer to that goes to the engine somewhere? I seem to recal a picture of an engine and seeing a stray wire like my mystery one grounding to it? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

My main concern is that I havent been sold a "New" harness that's been molested (i.e. the chopped ground wire).

Cheers.

NJTiger · 11-15-2009, 06:36 PM

Hey Kev,
where did you get that harness?

Kev_England · 11-16-2009, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJTiger

Hey Kev,
where did you get that harness?

Bought it from Klempfs British Supply. Supposedly one of the best suppliers out there. I even bought the "best he had" which was $200.

If I cannot find anyone who knows what that stray red wire is for I think ill be giving Mitch a call!

GrandPaulZ · 11-16-2009, 11:02 AM

Just attach an appropriate eyelet terminal to it and bolt it up to the nearest, cleanest spot on the engine.