positive battery cable

[stancotreau]

I went to the dealer to buy a positive battery cable for my GL1100. They are discontinued, has anyone used a cable from a different bike on theirs?? it seems as though it would be easy enough to find a substitute cable???? I was thinking of just getting a cable from the local auto parts store and crimping appropriate lugs to it... any reason not to do that??

thanks
Stan

[virgilmobile]

Just keep the wire size and length the same.I would solder the terminals on tho.Use a propane torch,solder paste and silver solder.Any cable will work,if it meets the size and length.It can be longer if it's larger.

[starfleetengineer]

Making a cable is very easy!! Just be sure it is the same length and the same diam or bigger. Be sure to solder "not crimp" the ends on. Crimping will allow corrision in and you will loose condutivity!..

[littlebeaver]

There's one other way you could do it, go ahead and crimp it, but cover all the exposed wires with JB Weld, none of the elements will ever get to the wires thus no corrosion.. It takes a while to dry so do it and set aside for 24 hours in a warm place.. Or shrink wrap it with shrink tubing..

[WingAdmin]

But soldering does one other thing: It solidifies the interior of the joint, keeping it from moving and working its way loose. JB-Weld might cover it to keep air/corrosives out - but it won't necessarily keep the cable from working free inside the connector. A propane torch and some solder is the quickest and easiest way to do it right.

[littlebeaver]

Well, I hope he figures something out because his bike won't start without a positive wire hooked up, my way isn't always the best or quickest but it works for me.. You guys are like cavemen always wanting to play with fire.. This guy should solder it as mentioned above...I know lots of guys that have never used a torch to solder as plumbers do, I was trying to make it easy for him..

[stancotreau]

thanks for the input, I have no problem silver soldering the ends on.... I am a machinist / welder so I silver solder quite often. My concern was more the size of the cable..... it sounds like as long as I keep it the same / or larger in diameter I should be OK

thanks again
Stan

[dingdong]

Electrically, larger is okay. However too large and it won't be flexible enough to easily connect to the solenoid. It is a very short cable.

[starfleetengineer]

Well, I hope he figures something out because his bike won't start without a positive wire hooked up, my way isn't always the best or quickest but it works for me.. You guys are like cavemen always wanting to play with fire.. This guy should solder it as mentioned above...I know lots of guys that have never used a torch to solder as plumbers do, I was trying to make it easy for him..

Fire!! Fire Good Fire Friend...Me love fire

[littlebeaver]

Well I like playing with mud patties..So there..

[stancotreau]

Just keep the wire size and length the same.I would solder the terminals on tho.Use a propane torch,solder paste and silver solder.Any cable will work,if it meets the size and length.It can be longer if it's larger.

I have a question. why is it important to keep the length the same? is it cosmetic? or, is there a electrical reason.?

I ask because I just put in a used cable, longer in length and now I only get a click at the solenoid..new battery, cable out of a '09 VTX. any and all comments are welcome. I do need to figure this out.

(I tried to jump across the two solenoid terminals and got nothing)

[WingAdmin]

The longer the cable, the more resistance. In our applications, the cable length difference isn't going to be enough that it really makes a difference. It's pretty tough to stuff a foot or two of extra cable in there - something that can be done easily in a car.

[Bertbart]

I have a simple solution. Go to a high end car audio shop and get them to make up a cable. They will solder the ends and shrink wrap the ends as well. I had one done for $12.00.

[virgilmobile]

If you jumped across the starter solenoid and nothing,I suspect the starter is not working,or a bad ground.

[stancotreau]

i think it has to be the starter.... i get 12v at the starter when the button is pushed.... starter, right???

[thrasherg]

Yes, or a bad earth to the starter!!

[littlebeaver]

I would make sure the ground at the frame connection from the battery is cleaned up well, make it shine.

[stancotreau]

ok, will do....... thanks

[stancotreau]

I was just thinking.... I took the negative cable out from the frame a while ago, cleaned it and reinstalled it. What I did not do was sand the frame clean.... it is quite possible I just put a clean cable back in a dirty space. I'll check it out tonight

[stancotreau]

I checked out the ground at the frame... sanded everything until it shined as was suggested. still no go on the starter

so, it has to be a bad starter..... I'll pull it out later this week.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, it did help me to troubleshoot

[OldSchool_IsCool]

One other point not mentioned yet, use stranded COPPER wire of the same size and length. Strand count/size not as important, but match that too if you can. Saving a couple pennies with aluminium wire will cost you a few extra headaches if not a bike!

[littlebeaver]

So it's not your ground at frame, it's not your solenoid, It's not your kill switch, It's not your positive wire, so I would remove the starter and clean it up, follow Wingadmin how to for that, if I could do it you can do it, if you find the brushes burnt up it could have been a bad ground that caused it, now your ground is good so you won't need to be concerned about that in the future and now your electrial system will be better, another guy burnt his brushes up and it was a bad ground at the frame..What I did with mine was change the solenoid with one off a Ford f-150 and cleaned up my starter and I never have to worry about my bike starting again, before it would carry on like it wanted to start then hesitate and then it would start..Now...Yes everytime, it hasn't hesitated yet Stan you are doing the right thing by checking off all your problems on the outside first but now you need to operate I think but I could be wrong as I often am my wife says..

[stancotreau]

I am going to disassemble the starter this weekend... I'll let you know

[littlebeaver]

Hey Wingadmin or anyone isn't there a way to jump the starter direct from the battery just to see if it would turn?

[WingAdmin]

I suppose you could take a big thick wire and connect the battery positive post directly to the stud on the starter. That would be a method of ruling out everything else in between, I suppose.