Starter motor cables

[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.

[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.