Starter grounded?

[mwfutch]

I have an 82 with a simplified wiring diagram from this site. I have been running kick only for about a year and just recently decided to throw a real battery on it and hook up the electric start. As I was hooking everything up I put the meter on a bunch of different stuff just trying to make sure everything was getting power that should. Well the cable from the solenoid to the starter which I was pretty sure was for carrying + 12 to the starter is an excellent ground right now. I thought starter grounded through bolts and that cable should only carry positive. I took it off the solenoid and its definitely the cable. Is this normal? Anyone with any input I would really appreciate it!
Thanks,
Mike

 

[XSLeo]

Yes, the cable from the starter relay to the battery carries power to the starter.
There is a cable from battery positive to one of the big lugs on the starter relay.
The cable that goes to the starter hooks to the other big lug. If you have everything else wired right when you push the start button it trips the relay closing the contacts inside so power flows to the starter.
How are you checking for ground? If you just touch one probe to the cable and the other probe you will get continuity. Power flows down the cable, through the starter to ground. Your meter will show this.
One thing you can try is to hook a set of jumper cable from a spare battery, the one in your car will work fine. Just don't have the car running. Black cable from battery negitive to a good frame ground on the bike. Hook the red to positive and touch the other end to the cable that goes to the starter.
Make sure the bike is in neutral.
This should spin the starter and if everything between the starter and crank are functional, it will spin the engine.
If it does then it's fine. Now hook the cable from the starter to the relay. Unhook the jumper cables. Try the start button. Does it spin the engine?
If so your golden, if not you need to do a bit more trouble shooting.
Leo

 

[retiredgentleman]

Saying that the starter motor cable is an "excellent ground" does not really define it's resistance to ground.

The starter motor normally only has a resistance of 0.1 ohms. So, if you think 0.1 ohms is an excellent ground, then you are right.

If you were to connect battery+ to one side of a small incadescent bulb, and connect the other side of the bulb to the starter motor cable, the light will light up with normal brilliance. The starter motor cable and the starter windings are of such low resistance that any circuit with relatively high resistance (low current draw) will work just fine.

This is just basic Ohm's law with series connected loads.

 

[mwfutch]

Thanks, I will go ahead and hook up everything as planned. I think I let myself start over thinking on this one. I'm going to get In the shop tomorrow and hopefully all is well, thanks again. You guys are an incredible resource and myself and thousands of others truly appreciate you sharing your knowledge