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[Niterider]

Just wondering what the pro's and con's would be to addressing the 1800's notorious grounding problem by connecting all grounding points directly to the battery through a length of heavy gauge (8?) copper wire.  I remember reading somewhere that Kawasaki does this to avoid grounding problems on some of their bikes.  In one of the great write-ups on the grounding fix for the 1800, the author mentioned that the grounding problems arise from corrosion that develops when different metals are placed in an electrical connection.  The frame is steel, but the connectors are copper or brass.  Of course, there would still be incompatibility between the copper ground wire and any brass connectors, but maybe it would not be as great as the incompatibility between steel and copper.

Mike

[RobDogg]

I think you'd still be dealing with the same problem since the eyelet would/could corrode between the spacer/bolt/frame.  If you coat the surfaces well with dielectric after you clean the contact points then you shouldn't have much of a problem again. The metal needs air to react and corrode. By coating them this minimizes the 02 that gets in there.  I wouldn't expect to have to redo the clean up in less than 50,000 miles.  Possibly longer.

[SeaRider]

Can anyone direct me to a link that fully explains what the 1800 grounding problem is and what the fix is for a 2005 VTX?  I recall something in a thread that said Honda changed the grounds someway around that year model.

[Morgan Buchanan]

http://tech.vtxoa.com/index.php?sid=87743&lang=en&action=artikel&cat=14&id=33&artlang=en

Do a search on VTXOA and you'll find more on the subject than you'll EVER want to read.

[RobDogg]

Can anyone direct me to a link that fully explains what the 1800 grounding problem is and what the fix is for a 2005 VTX?  I recall something in a thread that said Honda changed the grounds someway around that year model.

Quickly..

The coil ground to the frame is the main problem. It is still the same on the later models.  It grounds through the threads of the mounting bolts because of paint on the frame. The poor ground eventually corrodes and the coil loses it's grounding strength.  The fix is to sand the contacts on the frame and coil and reassemble with a liberal coating of dielectric grease.

There same should be done for the secondary electrical ground under the seat. I believe the location of this one changed with the 05's so read up on it.