5 replies to this topic

[Fullchat]

Had the ground wire issue sorted at the dealers today. Tried to get them to give me the part so I could do the job myself but they weren't playing ball. Anyway when I got home I thought I would check their work and see what damage had been done. Surprised that all I found was a deep scratch on the exhaust which with some elbow grease I managed to polish out.
While I have the tank off I thought I would check out all the other connectors and grease up accordingly. Now I am stock on one in the vicinity of the ground wire connector. There are about 6 wires in and out. But there is a white plastic cover which appears to cover the joint which has a steel bracket round it. The bracket has a bolt on it which can be undone, the bracket opened up and removed.
My query is how does this connector come apart? Does the plastic cover come apart with a connector inside? Just thought I would check before I get physical and break something.

Edited by Fullchat, 29 March 2012 - 04:18 PM.

[BwanaDik]

Try Google "ground spyder site:www.fjrforum.com"

Lots of answers and pictures. You could even cut and paste the phrase above!

[SkooterG]

A photo of the connector you are talking about would be helpful.

[wfooshee]

And it's not that they weren't "playing ball." The ground spider recall is a safety recall, and they aren't allowed by law to dick around with it by letting DIY-ers handle it with parts supplied by the dealer.

I've seen other complaints that people brought their bikes in to have the initial inspection done, found that it needed the full harness, and they couldn't have their bike back until the new harness arrived in say, a month or so. Safety recall, so the dealer can't put it back out on the street until it's handled.

[gumba]

I did the OEM ground wire recall myself. Don't recall any connector similar to what you describe. The instructions with this recall were so thorough that I can't imagine fucking it up. There were a couple air guides that were kind of tricky but the rest was a piece of cake.
You'd be surprised what a 12 pack at closing time will do for dealer relations.

[Fullchat]

Well with all the useful input I've managed to sort the issue. 'Google ground wire' - that made me laugh.

There are about 4 connectors in this area including the S4, This ones a biggie. Its just a normal largish male and female connector but has this oval plastic shroud round it and then an oval metal bracket round that. Only 6 thin wires. I don't know why seems like overkill. It goes up to the left handlebar I think. Difficult to track in the headstock area.

The plastic shroud with a bit of force does split into two halves allowing access to the connector.

Throttle spring also sorted by taking off one turn - much lighter now to use. All visible connectors under the tank now coated in ACF 50 and dielectric grease.

I understand the responsibility of the dealer doing the work but I'm afraid, like others on this forum, i have lost confidence in the so called professionals who consistently manage to do something wrong. Once again I was proved right - scratched exhaust, nor did they put any grease in the new S4 joint. I call that attention to detail and that's what's lacking.