Very.

 

I think you nailed it down, guys. It looks like it's a common ground distribution for all devices on the steering. This arrangement makes sense to me, rather than splicing a common ground wire to connect said devices (would be labor intensive), or having each device with a wire connected to frame (unreliable, prone to corrosion, ...).

 

Red and PSUdude, would a continuity check between the plug and the frame tell me what you are asking? I'm not sure how to check the resistance, or if it's isolated. I actually have a decent meter, but I only know how to use about 20% of it
I guess even if it is isolated, taking the plug off and shortening up the whole works wouldn't change anything electrically. It would save me 8-10 inches worth of 14 strands of wire.
Thanks, Dan

 

Yes, if you put your meter on the ohms setting and put one lead on one of the wires in question, and the other one on the frame and your get no reading then the grounds are isolated. I don't know why they would do that but what the hell.

 

Thanks Red, I'll try that.

 

Dan - Nice investigative work!
Following up on RP's instructions for your ohm meter. Ohm is a measure of resistance. Zero means no resistance and a direct connection. Something above zero means resistance. Pick up one of your resistors that you bought for messing with the ignition switch (could be a 100-ohm resistor) and measure across it and should get some resistance (about 100 ohms I'd suppose ). So, with the ohm meter, you should get zero (or some VERY small number) from that ground block and the frame. Could check between the block and to the frame, and then to the battery. I checked between battery (-) and frame before and got a zero with my meter.

I think this is used, like someone said above, because it provides a good, solid common ground point with very little labor required. Looking forward to your report back on trimming a few inches off the mess. Now how do the down-under bikes do the same thing without this unit??

 

The frame will be grounded and will be at the same potential as this connector and b- on the battery.
Otherwise the temp switches, the neutral switch and anything else thats grounded through its body, and not a separate wire, wouldn't work.

 

Not to mention the spark plug.

 

No resistance. The plug reads the same as the neg post of the battery, and the frame. I have been happily cutting and soldering up my wire harness today, hope it works out.
Dan

 

Oh Dan!...I'm sorry I got here late and that you already cut that wiring bundle. Those ground wires are absolutely essential for the proper grounding of the ignition flux capacitor. Other functions such as the auto-muffler-bearing luber and windshield propwash dispenser will be disabled. However, the worst loss is that the gyroscope in the oil pump will be intermitent, resulting in the necessity of having to run premix for engine lubrication. I really hate to be the bearer of bad news.