Earth Wires

[nhewitt]

Should all earth wires be bolted to the frame?

I have a few in the front of the bike where the headlight is and they are just hanging around loose.

If anybody could help I would be grateful.

Cheers

[stinkwheel]

They should eventually contact either the frame or the battery negative.

The parts of the bike that move with the steering though do not have a very good electrical connection with the rest of the frame. It all essentially sits on the steering head bearings which are covered with grease that acts as an insulator.

As such, earths from componants attached to the steering are often hardwired back to the main part of the frame via the loom. Another way of doing it is to add an earth strap connecting the bottom yoke to the frame, essentially earthing the yokes and headlamp shell.

In any case, wouldn't do any actual harm to connect a ground point to the earths but if the electrics are working ok, it's already been taken care of.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[nhewitt]

thanks for the reply. I'm having trouble with my lights. Everything was working and then my regulator failed. I have put the new regulator n and now the lights don't work. the are very very dim with just a tiny glow on the tip of the bulb. the brake light works fine and also indicators and horn fine. I assume a wire isn't connected properly somewhere

[stinkwheel]

Stating the make and model of the bike would be a good start.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[nhewitt]

Its a Derbi Senda

[Raffles]

nhewitt, I suspect that you already knew the answer to your question before you posted.
As Stinkwheel said, the front end of most bikes are semi-insulated from the main frame and the grounding can only be brought up to an adequate standard by adding supplementery earthing wires.
____________________
A good loser will always be a loser.

[unitynotsocri...]

you could try adding another earth wire into the light earths,but your time would be spent going over the connectors,specially underneat,clean and inspect them,and make sure the generator plug connector is clean.
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