A Simple Way To Add Ground Wire Capacity

Anyway, there has been a lot of discussion about the inadequate size of the ground wire on the rocket and many people have changed it out to help improve starting. You don't need to replace the wire if you don't want to and I consider doing so to be a waste of time. All you need to do is add a 6 gage wire to the battery negative terminal and ground it to the chassis. This will add up to 70 amps of current carrying capacity from your negative battery terminal to chassis ground. It is foolish to think just because your not grounding directly to the engine that your not adding more capacity with the extra wire. Adding the jumper wire will exceed the ground current capacity that you might get if you changed your existing single ground wire to a 2 gage ground wire.


Don't ignore the Start switch. It has to pass a lot of current for the starter solenoid. It is not a sealed design and water and contaminants can get trapped inside. My biggest starting issue was due to this switch. Be careful not to damage the elements by being to aggressive. You do not want deep scratches in any of the contact areas. I used vinegar, chrome polish and a lot of patience.

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Don't ignore the Start switch. It has to pass a lot of current for the starter solenoid. It is not a sealed design and water and contaminants can get trapped inside. My biggest starting issue was due to this switch. Be careful not to damage the elements by being to aggressive. You do not want deep scratches in any of the contact areas. I used vinegar, chrome polish and a lot of patience.

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FYI....The starter switch does not handle a lot of current as it only passes minimal current to energize the starter relay. The relay handles the large current draw. Current through the switch is in milliamperes as it would be impossible for it to handle the current required for the starter. Arcing would take place and it would litterly burn up from the high current draw. The starter relay is also responsible for disengaging the headlights during starting as well. With that said, the switch does need to be in good working condition to activate the relay.
 
In my case I was having to push the starter button multiple times. Cleaning them made a world of difference. Switch has to supply .15 amps so not a lot.
 
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the starter button grounds the coil in the starter relay (and when the safety kickstand switch,clutch switch signals are sent to ecu )then the ecu sends power to apply the starter relay that supplies power to the starter solenoid which energized the starter solenoid that provides bat power to the starter.
yes you need good switches,clean terminals
 
the starter button grounds the coil in the starter relay (and when the safety kickstand switch,clutch switch signals are sent to ecu ) then the ecu sends power to apply the starter relay ....

That's not quite right TURBO', you have those polarities reversed ... the starter button actually provides Positive voltage to the starter relay;
the 'low' ("ground" if you will) is what comes from the ECU and is enabled by the clutch switch and battery voltage level.

I'm not 100% on the Rocket, but typically (on other Triumph models) the kick-stand does not interlock the starter, only the fuel delivery (which inhibits engine from running).
Maybe you can test that for me - bike would need to be in gear with stand down. It definitely won't fire, but not sure if starter will actually run.
It is quite possible I'm wrong on that last point however, with respect to the R3.
 
That's not quite right TURBO', you have those polarities reversed ... the starter button actually provides Positive voltage to the starter relay;
the 'low' ("ground" if you will) is what comes from the ECU and is enabled by the clutch switch and battery voltage level.

I'm not 100% on the Rocket, but typically (on other Triumph models) the kick-stand does not interlock the starter, only the fuel delivery (which inhibits engine from running).
Maybe you can test that for me - bike would need to be in gear with stand down. It definitely won't fire, but not sure if starter will actually run.
It is quite possible I'm wrong on that last point however, with respect to the R3.


do u want to bet a beer
 
On what - the side stand or the voltage polarity on the relay?
on the side-stand, already said I don't know for sure so no, would not bet on that.
The polarity of voltages to the relay? Absolutely!
 
i looked at the wiring diagram and u are correct i was wr wr wrong.
about the stand, if the stand is down it will not start in gear except neutral.
if the stand is up and the clutch is in it will start in any gear. side stand just signals ecu.
i think this is what u were thinking.
 
Don't ignore the Start switch. It has to pass a lot of current for the starter solenoid.

No, it does not supply current directly to the solenoid - only passes about 140mA for the starter relay which does supply the Solenoid current (which itself is about 9-10A)

Edit - sorry, bedifferent already covered this
 
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