A member on the cog site, Just Cliff, had trouble he traced to one or more of the ground clusters.
Reported to the UK forum at least once or twice. I would also think they may be more susceptible to this the farther north you go.
And no, Brian. I'm not making this up...LOL.
The main failure points for the C-14's main electrical system are the two connections to the battery, and the two heavy ground lines connected to the frame just in front of the battery box. All four can be looked at / cleaned and tightened w/out removing any fairing or anything else.
Just so any newbies that might come along aren't confused, there is some stuff that needs to be removed. To get at the ground to frame problem (I say that because that is the usual culprit when C14 electrical gremlins pop up on a good battery) you need to remove the plastic battery cover on the right side of the bike. One screw for that. To access both battery terminals you need to remove the inner metal battery cover. 4 screws for that.
I went searching for the post from Justcliff and couldn't find it. I do recall it as well so I'm sure it's either over there or here but I'm not having any luck. The forum over there has been "updated" and Justcliff is now just that, "Cliff" so if you search try his new name even though when he was quoted it still shows up as Justcliff. We need Cliff ...er...Justcliff to come set us straight here and give us a link to his post.
Just so any newbies that might come along aren't confused, there is some stuff that needs to be removed. To get at the ground to frame problem (I say that because that is the usual culprit when C14 electrical gremlins pop up on a good battery) you need to remove the plastic battery cover on the right side of the bike. One screw for that. To access both battery terminals you need to remove the inner metal battery cover. 4 screws for that.I took a look at the new site and it looks like the search box is unavailable unless you submit. Am I missing something?
I went searching for the post from Justcliff and couldn't find it. I do recall it as well so I'm sure it's either over there or here but I'm not having any luck. The forum over there has been "updated" and Justcliff is now just that, "Cliff" so if you search try his new name even though when he was quoted it still shows up as Justcliff. We need Cliff ...er...Justcliff to come set us straight here and give us a link to his post.
I took a look at the new site and it looks like the search box is unavailable unless you submit. Am I missing something?
I took a look at the new site and it looks like the search box is unavailable unless you submit. Am I missing something?
So many ways to answer this...
Well, I live near a coast (less than 10 miles from the Atlantic) and have not heard of any ground clusters failing or giving trouble.
So much for 'what we have heard'. Anybody got any actual data?
Brian
I had a ground block corrode several years ago. It caused my headlights to go out, my high beam & blinker indicators to burn continuously, also the blinkers burned dim & steady.
Best I can remember there are 11 of these blocks in the harness. The one that caused me problems was right by the air filter access. You can feel the little square lumps in the harness. You have to cut the wrapping open to see them.
I simply cut out the block & soldered the wires together then put a wire nut on & taped it up good.
My bike is stored in a semi climate controlled building & primarily used for travel. It has been ridden 10's of thousands of miles in the rain.
This one is a Yuasa which I thought was pretty decent. Other preferred batteries?
Thanks, Matt
Thanks for posting this (or re- posting it)! Very interesting.... That looks like one- half of a connector that does not have the other half connected to it. ?My 99 VFR800 had a ground cluster like that and the VFRDiscussion forum alerted me to it as a potential cause of multiple intermittent electrical gremlins. This one was also buried in tape and had 12 wires. However, it was not corroded in my case and not the cause of my gremlins. The eventual fix was a total wiring harness replacement.
Very disappointing on a Japanese bike. The one thing Japanese mfg's have always commanded, at least IMO and IME, is wiring. What you show there is more typical of American wiring, unfortunately.
Again, thanks!
Brian
I ordered one of the batteries off Amazon that Maxtog linked to. It came in last night and I installed it this morning. I cleaned all the cable connections in the process. Bike fired right up like it is supposed to. I guess I will have to be a bit more careful about keeping it on a battery tender.
I have an ‘09 so my battery top is held on with a rubber strap over the battery. The tops fit like it always has.
..anyway..back to the OP..(Matt,.. remember him?)..
and now as I go down the original post I see a spam link at the bottom, he really sold it this time. We've been had guys....but we showed him as we made it useful anyway.