T160 Starter Connections

[Duck749]

Hoping to confirm with others that the starter is wired correctly. Here is what I have:

Purple/white wire: goes from C1 of starter solenoid to to lower small spade on starter solenoid labeled IGN.

Brown/Lgreen: goes from center C2 location of starter solenoid to upper larger spade connector on starter solenoid.

Right post of starter solenoid goes to starter motor.

Left post of starter solenoid goes to -ve battery.

wanted to confirm before trying to “dry cycle” and make sure connections and buttons are good. I bench tested starter and clutch pulls and motor spins. I have also disassembled, cleaned and put new grease in starter.

 

[Rudie]

confirm
starter is wired correctly.

No.

Firstly, be careful with terminology:-

. the starter solenoid is the part in your photo;

. C1 and C2 are terminals on the starter relay, should be bolted to the underside of the battery carrier.

Right post of starter solenoid goes to starter motor.
Left post of starter solenoid goes to -ve battery.

Given the way your photo shows the solenoid mounted, these wires are connected to the wrong solenoid terminals:-

. wire from battery -ve should be connected to the solenoid terminal furtherest from the starter, closest to the cylinder block;

. wire to the stud on the starter should be connected to the solenoid terminal closest to the starter.

Brown/Lgreen:

Look more closely, you should find it is Brown/Blue.

As standard, this was/is connected to the same solenoid terminal as the thick cable from battery -ve. The terminal is illustrated and listed in the parts book - "Electric Starter Mechanism", pages 36/37, part #24, 60-4592. The terminal is drawn as flat in the parts book but it is L-shaped - Klempf's British Parts. TERMINAL, SOLENOID

Then it is the other end of the Brown/Blue wire that should be connected to relay terminal C1.

The Purple/White wire should be between relay terminal C2 and the "upper larger spade connector on starter solenoid".

The "small spade on starter solenoid labeled IGN" is not used.

No thin Red wire (original 14-strand or new 28-strand) connected to battery +ve; only the thick starter return cable should be connected to battery +ve.

Improvements to consider if reliable electric starting is required
If the cables between battery -ve and solenoid, solenoid and starter, engine and battery +ve are about 5/16" o.d., it is likely they are original, require replacement because they were under-specified. I use cable known here as "196/0.40" - 196 strands, each strand 0.4 mm. o.d. Primarily, its total conductor cross-sectional area is 1 sq.in. (in comparison, the original 'thick' cables are approximately 5/8" sq.in. ) Also try for as many strands as possible, the cable will be more flexible.

If you retain the Boyer e.i., if it is using 6V coils, replace with Tri-Spark 4V.

The standard starter relay supply - the Brown/Blue wire connected on the solenoid terminal to the thick cable from battery -ve - is unfused. I replaced the Brown/Blue wire and solenoid connection with a new fused Brown/Blue wire from battery -ve to the relay C1 terminal.

Ime, the standard alternator could not keep the battery charged for reliable electric starting if the bike was ridden for any length of time at low rpm, especially with lights on. I fitted my T160 with the high output version of the 3 phase alternator.

 

[Duck749]

. wire from battery -ve should be connected to the solenoid terminal furtherest from the starter, closest to the cylinder block;

I bench tested with the wiring this way and it rotated in correct direction. Could the solenoid just be mounted 180deg off? The smaller spade terminal with IGN is on the bottom, is this correct?

 

[Rudie]

Could the solenoid just be mounted 180deg off?

Yours is, sorry I missed that. This is the correct way up:-


In your photo, the thick cable from battery -ve and the thick cable between solenoid and starter are connected to the correct solenoid terminals.

However, neither Brown/Blue nor Purple/White are connected correctly.

As I posted earlier:-

. as standard, Brown/Blue was connected between the same solenoid terminal as the cable from battery -ve and relay terminal C1 (I connect Brown/Blue between battery -ve and relay C1 through a fuse);

. Purple/White should be between relay C2 and the spade terminal indicated by the yellow arrow in the photo. above. In your photo, this terminal is at the top.