Chassis grounding?
 

I'm connecting a trickle charger to my bike... from the looks of it, the negative post is grounded to the chassis, correct? What's a good spot to attach the negative alligator clip to the chassis? Right now I have it attached to a bolt on the exhaust but I'm worried this may not work with an aluminum engine (since my chopped exhaust is only mounted to the engine, not the chassis).

Also, can anyone explain the significance of mounting the charger to the chassis instead of the battery post?

Charger
 

I would suggest a quick disconnect plug type wired directly to the battery terminals. You won't get a better ground than that. That really makes it nice & easy.

If you use alligator clips you should try to attach to battery terminals if possible as the frame grounds are sometimes questionable.

:2tup:

Re: Charger
 

Yes and yes. :tup:

With a sealed battery, there is no problem connecting both leads directly to the battery posts......by whatever means.

With a vented battery, they recommend making the ground connection last and away from the battery on the off chance there is enough hydrogen gas floating around to make a POP. Highly unlikely, IMHO, even with a conventional battery.

You have a set of pipes/muffler connected ONLY at the engine ?? That's NOT a good plan.

Re: Charger
 

Thanks guys, seems it's safe to just connect to the terminals. I guess lawyers wrote the instruction manual.

Sounds bad doesn't it? Actually I meant it's not bolted onto the chassis anymore, I do have it latched firmliy to the right footpeg mount, which is plenty since there isn't much of an exhaust left. Strangely enough I left the charger on the exhaust last night and it charged fine.

What exhaust did you end up using? Last I knew you were still running a straight pipe.

Still running a straight pipe. It runs fine with the carb mods I've done, but some backpressure wouldn't hurt.. might try to weld in a small baffle or something.

Baffle
 

Here's one at JC Whitney for $4.50. No muss, no fuss.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/S...101&sku=baffle

:chop:

A Battery Tender will come with a set up for alligator clips and a harness for the battery so you can just plug in anytime with minimum fuss.