A few questions about kick only

[danisawesome]

Hello everyone! I just started getting to work on my very first XS400 (and motorcycle at that). I'm going to do kick-only and just purchased this battery from BatteriesPlus earlier today:

Now for the questions...

I've seen people post pictures of them running batteries similar to this with the same style small blade terminals. What are you guys doing to connect your battery cables to the battery since the connectors are different and appear to be designed for a smaller gauge wire? Is it ok to change to a smaller gauge (12 or so?) for my battery cables since I won't be using my starter? I have tons of 12 gauge and up laying around, but none the size that the original cables are, so it would be nice to use something that I have plenty of and have female connectors for.

Can the box to the left of the fuse box in the following picture be removed when going kick-only? What else should I be eliminating by chucking the starter (besides the starter itself, of course.)?

I think that's everything for now... I'm sure I'll have lots of questions very soon. Excited to finally get going on this thing!

 

[DanMach]

Go to local parts store, pick up matching end terminals for your battery wires. Swap those onto the battery cables.

High fives.

 

[Drewcifer]

Agree with Dan, and if you can get a brass brush you should clean and use dieelectric grease on all your frame grounds. They look rusty.

Have fun!

Drewcifer

 

[danisawesome]

Alright, I will have to try another parts store because the one I went to only had connectors up to 10 gauge. Also, the positive connector to the starter relay is maybe an inch or 2 long, which is why I was curious about changing the wire size, and ultimately tossing that relay, since I don't have any of the stock size laying around.

And yes, definitely going to be cleaning up the grounds. Bike sat slightly covered for 10 years outside, but it runs! Although it is barely running on one of the cylinders, but I haven't gotten around to testing the coils yet, so that might become another thread if I can't figure it out.

 

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

I wouldn't use dielectric grease for the grounds, since it doesn't really conduct electricity. It is really just meant for spark terminals to prevent leakage and keep the boot sealed. Permatex has a copper-based anti-seize grease that I use for grounds instead. The dielectric won't really hurt anything if the bolts are tight though.

 

[dO-bOy]

12g is more than enough, I think I have 18g coming off the battery I'm using which is cigarette pack sized. My advice for you is if you have any electrical gremlins or charging issues, they will rear their head very soon

 

[danisawesome]

I wouldn't use dielectric grease for the grounds, since it doesn't really conduct electricity. It is really just meant for spark terminals to prevent leakage and keep the boot sealed. Permatex has a copper-based anti-seize grease that I use for grounds instead. The dielectric won't really hurt anything if the bolts are tight though.

Thanks for the tip! I'll have to keep an eye out for that when I'm at the parts store again.

12g is more than enough, I think I have 18g coming off the battery I'm using which is cigarette pack sized. My advice for you is if you have any electrical gremlins or charging issues, they will rear their head very soon

Thank you! I went ahead and did some 10g because there were two spools laying around and it fired right up! I guess it's time I start a build thread.