Right. Tomorrow, the bolting together beings in earnest! In theory anyway. In preparation I've been checking I've got everything ready (almost certainly not) and trying to work out what goes where. So, I have a few dumb questions for those who've been here before as follows: Battery orientation - from what I've read and can see in the pictures, the the battery is orientated with the positive on the left and the negative on the right (sat on the bike and facing the pointy end). This seems contra-intutive, given that the starter solenoid and starter wiring runs on the right - is that correct or have I misread something on other posts on battery orientation? Battery to frame and frame to engine earths - I've located the correct cables in my pile of bits, and identified the frame to engine earth location (bolt on upper rear of engine casing, running to the back of the forward bolt on the RHS riders's footpeg). I've read that the the battery to frame earth runs to a point on the inner frame near the airbox. My frame has three threaded bosses on the inside of the frame in this area: two high up, opposite each other on LHS and RHS, which I presume are for the upper fairing mounting brackets, though there's very little information around on this (note: mines a half-faired, and the brackets are an S-shaped standoff-type arrangement. I'm assuming one end sits inboard of the frame and the other accepts a wellnut on the outboard side that the fairing will bolt to). There's also a similar threaded boss on the LHS, sitting below - question is, is that that where the battery to frame earth sits? Again, this is on the LHS, so, going back to the question above about the battery orientation, it would suggest that the battery is actually +ve on the right and -ve on the left, not as above. Was there a change in orientation between early and later bikes? The reason I ask about the earth mounting points is that I've had the frame powder coated, and the powder coating will almost certainly reduce the contact area available. The will be some contact between the underside of the bolts/nuts and threading in the frame, but this is less than ideal. I intend to (carefully) strip back the powdercoat in the respective earth mounting areas to improve contact. This will be much easier, before I start bolting it all back together! I guess, ultimately it doesn't matter where the earths mount to, as long as they are there and the connections are good, but getting it right first time will perhaps save some buggering about with cable lengths later. Thoughts and experiences welcome, as always. Thanks James
the standard earth you speak of is the R/H rear airbox mount screw accessed with the battery removed. The right hand screw is longer than the left for this reason as it protrudes right through the weldnut on the frame with enough length to put the earth eyelet terminals and a nut and washer etc on it.
If you look low to the left on the Engine there is a spare M10 threaded hole which is ideal to run an Earth straight from the battery - ditch the Battery to Frame / Frame to Earth affair.
Depends on chassis number... the battery ran both ways around in '92. If your positive cable has a double, plastic, multipole connector, then the battery sits positive on the RHS. If it's a long single cable to the solenoid, and a separate cable into the loom connection, then positive sits on the left.
Thanks Sev, that all sounds sensible! I do have the opportunity to check the terminals. So far as I can see they looks OK, but will take a long hard look at it tomorrow... Cheers
Exige makes a very interesting suggestion about the unused bolt hole. A great idea. The connectors on the loom are AMP Superseal and you will need specific tools to crimp them. I made my own loom as my existing one was past it's best. If you are having it powdercoated then you can put bolts in all the threaded parts that you require and later take them out, however this may be messy. I have had great success with cleaning thread by using a suitable bolt and cutting lengthway slots on it 3 or 4 with a dremel so that it essentially works as a thread chased. Simple and cheap to make. For your earth points as long as the thread is good you dont need to remove the powder coat from the surface seat. Ian
Just noticed you say 1992. Is this the last of the old or first of the new Carby as it's the later that has the Superseal connectors?
DucatiChappie I have loads of photos I took when stripping mine. Depending where in Derbyshire (I am around Worksop) you can have a copy, or if a bit far away I could post individual ones. Will have a look tonight to see what I have around the battery area. Cheers Gaz
Thanks Ian Unfortunately, it's already been powdercoated. I used a local firm rather than a bike specialist, so they were a bit fit and miss with their thread protection. There were a couple of threads that needed work to clean them up, but I got there in the end. I did grind the PC off the back of the frame for the earths, as I wasn't comfortable about just relying on the threads - with earths being such a problem it seems that the more contact the better!
First of the new (1991 was the first I think - white frame/white wheels? 1992 is white frame/black wheels). The connectors are the AMP Superseal type, and actually in very good condition as far as I can see.
Thanks Sev. Having had a good look at it today, I think it's pretty much OK, though any real problems will show when I try ti get it running I guess! Where are you based? Cheers James