I keep reading about moving an earthing point further back, when I was researching about tank removal. Can some one explain, I don't see any earth points under my tank.

If you have your tank off look for the brown wires.

They all go to a point on the frame. About mid way down the tank.

About half way along the top tube on the left side, under the tube, it's a socket head or 10mm head screw with about 5-6 brown wires going to it.

never heard of mooving the earth point al ...maybe i misssed something

it would be good practice to remoove all the eye terminals from the bolt nut arrangement periodically and clean up all those terminals though (lots of suggestions for cleanup proceedures throughout the forum )

Right, I've found it.

Next question - Why? The reason is not apparent to me yet.

Alheng wrote:Right, I've found it.

Next question - Why? The reason is not apparent to me yet.

Why is it there or why would you clean it?

Cleaning is important to keep all the bits working properly. Due to the location it is easy for dirt and crud just to accumulate and destroy the earth for most of the elektrickery bits.
Just undo the bolt. Count the number of wires to make sure they ALL go back and give them a rub or wipe with a cleaner. Check the bare metal on the frame is clean then screw it back up.

Why is it there and not somewhere else? Ask the Germans.

rossco wrote:

Alheng wrote:Right, I've found it.

Next question - Why? The reason is not apparent to me yet.

Why is it there or why would you clean it?

Cleaning is important to keep all the bits working properly. Due to the location it is easy for dirt and crud just to accumulate and destroy the earth for most of the elektrickery bits.
Just undo the bolt. Count the number of wires to make sure they ALL go back and give them a rub or wipe with a cleaner. Check the bare metal on the frame is clean then screw it back up.

Why is it there and not somewhere else? Ask the Germans.

the earth point near the steering head is verry wise idea ....electrickery when it draws current arcs in on a intermittent metalic contact point ....like steering head bearings ...etc this action pits the metal surfaces ...and we dont want that ...do we ?

this is a well known issue in many bikes

besides it gives a good earth reference for all those important ecu stuff ...without a big long cable that may get crushed etc ...heading back to the battery ...dont forget the altenator mounting points are pretty close to the rhs frame mount ..so electricall a short path to the rest of the wiring hookup stuff

so ..... hope that helps

The cleaning I understand and it looks like there is no need to move it. Cheers!

I believe that moving the earth point is in reference to removing the tank...to be precise, moving the earth point to allow you to just move the tank out of the way instead of disconnecting and removing the whole tank.
It goes hand-in-hand with lengthening the fuel hoses.

Or I could be totally barking up the wrong tree!

I thought it was too but it's not connected to the tank in any way.

There are some K100 and a few K75 that have or usually had an earth strap from the frame to the tank apparently it was put there on the police bikes to prevent static interference on the two way radios. This could be the earth that is being refered to.

Ah so!

must have had a mental block out ...yes i had to remoove seaniis earth strap when we went in there ...easy put it back on if you fit it up with a 5mm speed nut other wise the nut on the inside is a pita to remoove and replace ..

Rick is right on the money there the Police bikes did have an earth strap which made it a pain to remove the tanks if you keep it just modify it to a pull apart spade connector.
Regards,
K-BIKE

G'day All, When the tank was off ,I removed all the earth connections.I bolted a bar to the frame and ran a new cable from the bar to the neg.side of the battery.Then I reconnected all the earth wires to the bar.I also ran a cable from the neg.side of battery to the bolt securing the starter motor. All this to prevent any earthing problems.Sorry to bore you with this stuff which was picked up on previous posts. Cheers Tom

Alheng/RickG/Blakey

I put up a post about lengthening the fuel lines and moving the earth point back.

I have an earth on the left side of the tank and yes mine is an ex police bike. I did not increase the length of the earth, just moved it back because it then allowed the tank to be raised and moved back without disconnecting it. One could lengthen it but then its one more thing to get tangled if it is too long. There are some more earth points further back but I found one on the left side that allows the tank to be lifted up enough to leave clear access to the electrical box without any disconnection.

The fuel lines on my bike were perished and BMW sold me a 1m length of fuel line to cut to length. The lines on the bike looked perfect but after a couple of tank removals I realised there were well perished. So, with the new fuel line I made them longer, again to allow the tank to be lifted up and back to allow clear access to wiring under the tank and the coolant refill above the radiator.

Of course this also allows clearer access to check any electrical connections under the petrol tank without taking anything apart.

It also means if I do have to remove the tank it is easier to move it back and get clear access to the fuel line clamps and the frame end of the earth rather than fiddling inside the LT fairing with flexible socket drives............

92KK