Where do you all secure your grounds?

What are some good places?

head steady to upper frame tube mount?

Somewhere around coil area?

Does the head really have to separately grounded somewhere?

Pictures would be helpful, thanks!

No all metal contact of top of engine back down to battery unless a wire attached to head. I common earthed everything in head light shell, to the shell there and then all earths, shell wire included all connected no a single bolt on rear fender to battery tray mount. Single heavy wire connected bolt to the battery with fuse in line.

Mine is only grounded with the 4 red wires to the coil bracket. I made sure when I put the frame and parts together though, all the points were free of paint, so when I got everything together, I put the Fluke on all grounds to the red wires and it was all below 0.2Ω. Just luck I guess. So I don't have a bunch of ground wires running all over the place. I don't even have the strap from the coil or frame to the head. Go figure, I was planning on having to run a bunch of grounds.

Dave
69S

When you think about it the entire subframe - gearbox-swingarm-motor is bouncing about in rubber and needs to be grounded better ,say at the back end of things where vibration is less likely to shake-snap off any wire point placement. Metal to metal contact is critical with a dab of corrosion inhibitor to assuage rust formation. In my experience, nothing kills a Boyer on a ride better than a neglected corroded groundpoint. So I vote for 2 , subfame and mainframe.Peter.

I have four;
The factory harness reds(2) attached to the coil brackets at the condensers, the factory bare cable from an engine bolt to a propstand bolt and I added a wire from the bolt hole on the frame (5/16" ?) behind the tank mount hole to a head steady bolt. All is good. You didn't state your model but this is what I have on my '69.

Tom

Tom, I too still have that black wire that went from the prop stand to the bottom engine stud, but I didn't put it back on. My plan was to mount a strap from one of the headsteady bolts to the coil bracket, but for some reason I didn't even need that. I was really planning on putting a bunch of ground wires on the bike, but found I didn't need any. The Iso rubbers don't even seem to affect it.

The red wires that I have going to the condensers on mine are double red wires on each condenser side, I really don't know where they are going on the other end except to the battery eventually. Nothing much has changed except I put the Pazon on and got rid of the condensers.



I really think when I put it back together the difference was, I made sure I had paint free joints throughout the frame, and covered them with black enamel upon finishing.

Dave
69S

Doesn't really matter as long as you don't rely on the frame to carry the circuits. Run ground wires to headlight bucket and the back of the bike. Pick one spot on the frame for your grounding point and clean off all the paint down to bare metal. Run a wire directly to it from the battery. Run all your circuits to that point including Boyer, head ground etc.

I don't recommend a ground to the top of the head. Why would anyone want to try to attach a wire to the part that vibrates the most.
I run a ground from one of the oil filter mounting bolts up to the bolt in the battery box area where the battery wire connects to the frame. That way it is tidy looking and doesn't break. Use 12 or 14 gauge except with e-start and then I use 8 gauge. The ground that comes out of the loom near the head can just be taped back to the harness. It just runs back to the battery ground in the battery box where you connect the new ground wire. Jim

tpeever said:

Doesn't really matter as long as you don't rely on the frame to carry the circuits. Run ground wires to headlight bucket and the back of the bike. Pick one spot on the frame for your grounding point and clean off all the paint down to bare metal. Run a wire directly to it from the battery. Run all your circuits to that point including Boyer, head ground etc.

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Why not use the frame as one conductor? It is low resistance and all welded so a corroded joint is not a concern. If you were dealing with low voltage electronics then ground loops could be a problem but I can't imagine where it would be a concern on a Norton. Of course you can not ground through a bearing or bushing like the steering head or swingarm. Jim

As long as you don't depend on the frame as a ground path , but use, say, three interconnected grounding points at the headlight shell, mid-chassis near the battery caddy, and the rear taillight, you'll be fine. With ONE important exception, as Les and Ron L have pointed out in earlier posts. If you have an electric start bike, then you must return these points to the engine ground near the starter, and use a single 6AWG ground wire (or better) to the battery ground terminal to avoid a fried loom on starting if the starter return wire connection loosens.

If you want the battery ground close to the starter you would want to attach it to the chaincase or the stud that mounts the chaincase to the cradle. The starter is bolted to the chaincase-not the engine. For all practical purposes anywhere on the cradle is close enough to the starter. Jim

Percolated ? an air tight jar , or EARTHS , olde Chap . :lol: .

Matt Spencer said:

Percolated ? an air tight jar , or EARTHS , olde Chap . :lol: .

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I'm positive the earth is the ground but what do you call it on Venus? I know down under it must be the sky. :shock:

English Electricians thunk of Earth as positive polarity, thank you Ben Franklin but chemists and physicians that apply currents know its really the negative electron emitter side. Can also think of -e's out Earth+ pole as the alkaline side of acid base red-ox reactions that corrode terminals. So neg-Ground battery terminals tend to fuzz up right there where ya can see it plainly while pos+Earth terminals shove it everywhere else hidden til it shows up. If males are emitters and females receivers, which planet does each return too? In Ms Peel I'm shooting for much frame return paths as I can.