Starter motor cables

[the lodger]

I thought I would post my experience of fitting Exact-Start starter motor cables to my Monster M900 ( to cure a very lazy starter )

You get 3 cables in the kit ( ES-20 in my case )
- battery to solenoid
-solenoid to starter motor
-battery to engine earth

All the cables are chunky and in truth a bit too long , which makes them awkward to fit , particularly to the solenoid. I struggled with the solenoid connections , until I gave up and removed the airbox , which makes access easier but then creates more work in terms of dismantling and then refitting the airbox to the carbs .

The kit comes with red cable ends ( x3 ), whereas I would have preferred 2 black and one red, so I just reused two of my black originals. Also the battery to starter motor cable is red , and although they say you can cover it with black shrinkwrap ( to make it less obvious ) they don't supply it with the kit I've no idea why they thought red was good in the first place.

Ok so minor comments aside , does it make any difference ?

It certainly does ! I only have to look at the starter motor button and the Duc thunders into life . Amazing difference !

So if you are blaming your high comp engine/ old battery/starter motor for a lazy turnover it's certainly worth checking out your cables first before trying the other things I have to caveat this by saying that I would not necessarily buy the kit again . It is quite expensive. I think you could achieve something very similar by removing your cables and matching them up at your local Halfords etc and save yourself a good few £s ( and get cables nearer to the correct lengths. You might get away with just replacing the starter to solenoid cable first to see if that cured your problem.

[Mr Gazza]

You can very often achieve the same result just by cleaning all the terminals and re-using the old cables.
New cables are clean, so that's an instant improvement anyway.
Fancy new cables can corrode at the terminals as well! So inspecting the connections should be an annual job.

If you make up a cable of 700mm long, it will pass over the front pot and down the nearside of the motor to the starter and become invisible.

[Davy]

Stu. Who is exact start used all my original cables from my M900 to make his kits up. I got a kit free gratis for that. Surprised you think them to long.

[Flip]

Originally Posted by Mr Gazza

You can very often achieve the same result just by cleaning all the terminals and re-using the old cables.
New cables are clean, so that's an instant improvement anyway.
Fancy new cables can corrode at the terminals as well! So inspecting the connections should be an annual job.

If you make up a cable of 700mm long, it will pass over the front pot and down the nearside of the motor to the starter and become invisible.

Totally agree with you on making sure everything has a good electrical contact but remember over time that the copper strands themselves also corrode so resistance increases throughout their length not just the terminal connections.

However, certainly on the earlier bikes (my 1997 900 included) the main issue is that the wire cross section is very much undersized and so even at their best were never really up to the job.

I made my own set up as I work for a high voltage electronics company and have the parts at my disposal and fitting them made a huge difference to the way the bike turns over and starts since doing so.

Of course the plus side is that by turning over faster it also gives the sometimes fragile Sprag clutch an easier time.

Unfortunately, the use of undersized wiring on the early bikes doesn't stop at the starting circuit but continues through to the charging circuit too.

[motomartin11]

I've seen these kits on Fleabay and was wondering whether to get one. My M750 is a bit sluggish to fire up but although the PO fitted a new battery quite recently I haven't been able to use my bike regularly due to winter weather and latest Lockdown. I used to have a Guzzi V twin that wouldn't always fire up easily although it never quite let me down.I've taken on board the above advice and it's probably best if I start by cleaning up the contacts,although it seems the gauge and age of the original cables will be a factor as well.It's quite tempting to remove the old cables and see if I can get something similar form Halfrauds maybe to save a few quid. How accessible are the cables both in terms of cleaning the contacts and removing and refitting please?

[the lodger]

If you go to the trouble of removing them , it would make sense to me to just replace them.
Be very careful when removing the cable from the starter motor. Do not allow the shaft to twist.
The awkward bit I found was replacing the cables to the starter solenoid and then trying to put it back on the rubber mounting. I could only get it done eventually by removing the airbox so I could get at it better. (You might find it easier with the original cables but the new ones being thicker are inflexible ) .All in all a PITA .....but worthwhile for me

[motomartin11]

Right-well I got in to look at the starter motor connection first today. Nice clean flat and serrated washers ,nut undid nice and easy , a bit of corrosion on the terminals and the starter pole is a bit corroded and part of it is missing but the thread is OK as far as doing up the nut is concerned. Couldn't believe how puny the cable diameter is though. Going to look at the others as and when .

[Chriswilly]

Changed Starter cable (10mm HD) with new connectors, Solenoid (which apparantly is same as fitted to
Austin Mini) along with Motobatt Battery, in March 2016 and havent looked back since.

PS. Suggest that if you use a Motobatt battery - clean the rubber sleeve and lubricate in the battery case
otherwise you may have probs getting the battery out again !!!!

[motomartin11]

Originally Posted by Chriswilly

Changed Starter cable (10mm HD) with new connectors, Solenoid (which apparantly is same as fitted to
Austin Mini) along with Motobatt Battery, in March 2016 and havent looked back since.

PS. Suggest that if you use a Motobatt battery - clean the rubber sleeve and lubricate in the battery case
otherwise you may have probs getting the battery out again !!!!

Thanks. No mine has a standard type of battery fitted just before I acquired the bike . I've had it on the Optimate today and its charged up over only a few hours. 34 degrees F in the workshop is too cold for me to investigate further today. Roll on Spring and getting Covid under control.