Battery Question

[Yusiro]

Hello All,

I have almost finished rebuilding my 1982 XS400 Heritage special... All there is to do now is connect my battery.

This should be pretty easy to do... but this being my first build I have a small question. The bike was mostly a basket case, with several bits missing here and there. Everywhere I have read says connect the Red Positive first, followed by the black negative. The problem is I only have one rubber boot, it's black, and it's not on the bike - it came in the basket separate.

My question is this: which terminal should be towards the front of the bike? I really don't want to connect the thing backwards and (best case) have to replace fuses.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'm dying to attempt starting this thing!

Thanks in advance,

Yusiro

 

[HoughMade]

On my '79, negative is towards the front, but I would just look to see which cable connects to the frame at some point- that one's negative.

 

[Yusiro]

Thanks very much - I'll follow the cables to the frame.

I Appreciate it!

 

[63-Coupe]

On my 82 Heritage Special the negative is towards the front. The positive is at the rear, goes directly to the starter solenoid, and is fairly short. There is a black rubber boot over the positive and nothing over the negative as there is no need to put one over the negative as that is ground through the frame anyway.

Rule of thumb is to always disconnect the negative first and reconnect it last on any negative ground vehicle.

 

[Yusiro]

Well that confirms it then - Negative towards the front. I'll put the one boot over the positive and leave the negative naked.

Thanks for your help gentlemen!