| Author | Message | ||
     No_rice |
so does anyone know, what does the smaller of the 2 ground wires make function?  i was changing the battery in my 08 today and the positive was hooked up. when that smaller wire touched the negative terminal my tail light kicked on. when you also connect the other ground it shuts back off. i tried the same thing on my 09 and obviously it didnt light up like that. i am figuring there is a short somewhere in that part of the wiring and that is whats randomly draining my battery. my warrenty expires in april so i wouldnt mind figuring out something to start with before its done. | ||
| D_adams |
Bolt it back together, let it die, have the dealer fix it. Also, you can purchase an extended warranty from HD, I was quoted $1200 for 3 years. I figure it's probably a pretty good deal, since one clutch puck failure comes close to that by itself. | ||
| No_rice |
im at a dealer everyday so im not to worried about it, i just dont have a manual here and was wondering if anyone had come across something similar. i thought i remembered someone deciding that there bike had some kind of short in the tail light something or other and it was draining there battery | ||
| Ccryder |
1st weekend I had mine I left off that small ground wire and the lights went crazy. I tried retracing all the small lighting changes I had just done and still had lights do crazy stuff even w/o the key on. After waking Zac up at an EARLY hour, we figured out that I had not hooked up all of my ground wires, namely that smaller one on the negative terminal. Just like magic, all was well with the world. I don't think what you are experiencing is from that ground wire. That ground wire does have a lot to do with the lighting circuits and their grounds. Hope this helps. Later Neil S. | ||
| Captain_america |
In my 09 there are two small wires like that also. They go to a plug under the seat for a battery tender I'm assuming? | ||
| No_rice |
no, i have the battery tender leads also, but i moved them out of the way for the pic. if it did the same thing on my other bikes when i connected it that way i wouldnt worry about it. but they dont. just my 08. and the light pulses really fast. nothing else is on when its doing it. just the tail light. | ||
| Chevycummins |
If I remember correctly that wire is for the rear lights. My book is at home so I can't check for you right now. | ||
| Tibman260 |
Gentlemen, what you are experiencing is a ground loop within the electrical system. There isn't a short, if there were you would blow a fuse. The extra smaller ground eyelet is there for a reason, to make sure the bike has enough ground points for the whole system. Just keep everything connected like it should be. PS. No_rice, since your bike is an 08 you might have the old cluster on there which caused the battery drain. Have your dealer replace the cluster with the latest one which should be running SW6.2 | ||
| Therealassmikeg |
That small connector is one of 2 main chassis harness grounds. It just happens to hook up to the B- terminal instead of the chassis. The components on this ground circuit consist of the following: voltage regulator, starter solenoid, fuel pump and sending unit, key relay, main ignition relay, l/s r/s turn signals, tail lamp,and license plate lamp. |
