[mickey]

Good morning Gentlemen,

I hope that you're all very well. My Royal Enfield Continental GT (2015) that has only accumulated 550 kilometres has recently been stored for three months due to work commitments around the country. All sound advice on storing the motorcycle was adhered to, this included full servicing prior to storage. I was even lucky enough to have this stored in a room located inside a house which was great. However, when I was preparing the motorcycle for use two days ago I stumbled on a problem when reconnecting the battery.

The battery prior to storage was removed from the motorcycle correctly (negative followed by positive), electrolytes filled, and a trickle charger was connected to the battery every week to ensure the life of the battery was maintained for my return. Please note, preparation of the motorcycle included cleaning the battery, the terminals and ensuring adequate electrolyte levels. When reinstalling the battery, the positive was connected first followed by the negative as per common sense and the user manual. When applying to the negative terminal it sparked quite a lot, I thought this would be normal and continued to screw the negative terminal, however, a small amount of smoke was present and the sparks were quite bad, I immediately removed the negative connection. The black insulation had started to melt due to the heat and this will be viewable and denoted by the red circles on the attachment. My first thoughts were that there must be a short somewhere. Upon inspection it seemed that there was a small portion of live wire exposed (please see right red circle of the attachment). With the negative being disconnected and using electrical tape I reinsulated the wiring hoping that it could have just been a short and the wire could have been touching the frame of the motorcycle causing the short, however, when insulated correctly and reconnecting the negative, it sparked more than the last and burnt the majority of the insulation. Furthermore, it has also damaged the negative terminal from the heat.

Gentlemen, what am I missing? Please inform me that I am doing something simply and stupidly wrong. If I cannot rectify the problem on the forum, I will be sure to take it to my local dealer. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

With optimism,

Mickey

[George Baker]

Hi Mickey,
     It could be that during one of your charging sessions that the battery was charged backwards. To check, simply use a digital voltmeter hooked up red to red and black to black, if the reading is negative (IE  -12v ) that's what happened. To fix it hook up something to the battery (IE a light or motor) and let it run till the battery is flat, then recharge it correctly. Hopefully, you did not damage your wiring harness or regulator/rectifier unit.

GB

[Freddy1]

It is strange the positive cable black instead of red.
It is strange that is not blown fuse.

[tooseevee]

Good morning Gentlemen,

I hope that you're all very well. My Royal Enfield Continental GT (2015) that has only accumulated 550 kilometres has recently been stored for three months due to work commitments around the country. All sound advice on storing the motorcycle was adhered to, this included full servicing prior to storage. I was even lucky enough to have this stored in a room located inside a house which was great. However, when I was preparing the motorcycle for use two days ago I stumbled on a problem when reconnecting the battery.
With optimism,

Mickey

            There are only two ways this can happen:

                  (1) The terminals were hooked up backwards (but you say you didn't)

                  (2) The battery was totally , stone-cold dead when you hooked up the charger and you charged it backwards and the polarity reversed (as Geo. B already said).

                    I'm crossing my fingers for you that too many wires aren't jeopardized.

                     PS: One of the first things I did on my '08 AVL was replace the main fuse with a resettable circuit breaker. The next thing I did was go through the whole wiring harness and every other wire on the bike. The CB has never clicked out.

[Guaire]

I tossed the stock battery when I bought my 2014. I'm running an AGM from Interstate, a US company. Where ever you are get top quality AGM and the smartest charger you can afford.

[SteveThackery]

This is odd - why would connecting the battery the wrong way round (for whatever reason) cause this much current to flow?

The rectifier unit will be what drew the current, but isn't it protected by a fuse?  It is on mine.

[mevocgt]

Silly question, was the key in the ignition and/or in the "on" position?

[mickey]

Hi Mickey,
     It could be that during one of your charging sessions that the battery was charged backwards. To check, simply use a digital voltmeter hooked up red to red and black to black, if the reading is negative (IE  -12v ) that's what happened. To fix it hook up something to the battery (IE a light or motor) and let it run till the battery is flat, then recharge it correctly. Hopefully, you did not damage your wiring harness or regulator/rectifier unit.

GB

I spoke with the person who charged the battery throughout the three months and he was confident that it was charged correctly. Nonetheless, with your sound advice George I applied the voltmeter, however, it showed +12V. Regardless with this showing me +12V I was still confused to why this is occurring and thought to drain the battery completely flat and recharge it to rule this out in the case of human error. I drained the battery with some vehicle lights, recharged and tried to reconnect the battery this morning, and . . . sparks, heat on the wires causing little to no damage on the new insulation that I applied. There is still a huge amount of power being drawn from somewhere.

            There are only two ways this can happen:

                  (1) The terminals were hooked up backwards (but you say you didn't)

                  (2) The battery was totally , stone-cold dead when you hooked up the charger and you charged it backwards and the polarity reversed (as Geo. B already said).

                    I'm crossing my fingers for you that too many wires aren't jeopardized.

                     PS: One of the first things I did on my '08 AVL was replace the main fuse with a resettable circuit breaker. The next thing I did was go through the whole wiring harness and every other wire on the bike. The CB has never clicked out.

I can assure you all that the terminals were applied correctly and this can be identified in the picture attached.

I tossed the stock battery when I bought my 2014. I'm running an AGM from Interstate, a US company. Where ever you are get top quality AGM and the smartest charger you can afford.

I will be purchasing a top quality AGM immediately.

This is odd - why would connecting the battery the wrong way round (for whatever reason) cause this much current to flow?

The rectifier unit will be what drew the current, but isn't it protected by a fuse?  It is on mine.

This is what has left me so confused Steve.

Silly question, was the key in the ignition and/or in the "on" position?

I can assure you that the key was not in the ignition and/or in the on position.

Thank you all thus far for your informative responses. I will be sure to continue to update this thread if any findings and hopefully a fix. Have a great day!

[gizzo]

Have you spoken with your enfield dealer about the possibility of warranty work? This shoudnt be something you have to fix on your own if its a new bike with warranty.  good luck.

[Freddy1]

Search failure (troubleshooting):
It is necessary a multimeter used as ohmmeter.
Remove the battery and remove ignition key.

between the positive cable and ground must NOT be continuity.

[mickey]

This could be a stupid question that I may not be able to redeem myself from, however, if you can please reference the attachment on my initial post, is the ground wire correct?

[gizzo]

Looks right. How about that warranty?

[mickey]

It is still covered by the warranty which means I will be transporting it to my local dealer this week. This has left me confused, I cannot understand why it would be drawing so much power when connecting the negative.

[longstrokeclassic]

Perhaps a direct short to ground via a failed rectifier?

[mickey]

Perhaps a direct short to ground via a failed rectifier?

This seems to be the most plausible.

[mattsz]

I will be purchasing a top quality AGM immediately.

Can't hurt to have a good battery, but I don't think your old battery is the problem here, so a new one won't fix it.

Please let us know what happens with your dealer...

[mickey]

The problem has been rectified with no damage to the motorcycle. The culprit, the ground wire was touching the positive terminal creating a short circuit when connecting to the negative terminal. All the wires have been insulated and the ground wire repositioned so that it cannot contact the positive terminal.

Thank you to everyone who responded with sound advice, I appreciate it.

[Arizoni]

It's a good idea to check out all of the wiring on Royal Enfields to see if any of them could possibly rub on the frame, engine or covers.

If they could rub, I suggest buying some lengths of 5/16" and 3/8" vinyl tubing.

Cut a piece of it long enough to cover the wires in the area and then slit it down one side from end to end.
Prying the slit tubing apart, it's easy to put the wires inside the tube which will now act as a super insulator and prevent any future contact.

[gavinfdavies]

I'm glad you've sorted it. I was about to suggest the same solution... don't ask me how I know... 

I think I connect the same wire as you to the wrong terminal. As I recall, the wire in question is something like an earth line from the reg rec or the battery box/frame. I mistook it for a positive feed to the reg reg, and so connected it to the positive terminal! OOOPS! Big sparks and melted wire. All sorted now, similar to you.

[mickey]

It's a good idea to check out all of the wiring on Royal Enfields to see if any of them could possibly rub on the frame, engine or covers.

If they could rub, I suggest buying some lengths of 5/16" and 3/8" vinyl tubing.

Cut a piece of it long enough to cover the wires in the area and then slit it down one side from end to end.
Prying the slit tubing apart, it's easy to put the wires inside the tube which will now act as a super insulator and prevent any future contact.

This is great, I will be doing this very soon.

I'm glad you've sorted it. I was about to suggest the same solution... don't ask me how I know... 

I think I connect the same wire as you to the wrong terminal. As I recall, the wire in question is something like an earth line from the reg rec or the battery box/frame. I mistook it for a positive feed to the reg reg, and so connected it to the positive terminal! OOOPS! Big sparks and melted wire. All sorted now, similar to you.

Gavin, you're spot on! I hope that it didn't cause too much damage to the wires, insulation and rectifier. Any irreversible damage that needs to be replaced?

[mevocgt]

Spring check list....

Battery
Tires
Wires
Mice.......

[gavinfdavies]

This is great, I will be doing this very soon.

Gavin, you're spot on! I hope that it didn't cause too much damage to the wires, insulation and rectifier. Any irreversible damage that needs to be replaced?

looks ok and has been running fine for months since

[hpwaco]

I found a black wire with a ring connector hanging near the positive battery terminal on my 14gt.  Thinking that it might need to be connected to the + battery post (although everything seemed to be working) I touched it to the + post and drew a large spark!   Fortunately nothing blew or burned up!  It is now covered with electrical tape an tie wrapped out of the way.  I have no idea where the other end of the wire goes as it disappears behind the airbox.  And again everything is working!

[Arizoni]

Black wires on a RE are almost always a ground wire.

Connecting it to the + battery terminal created a direct short to ground.

As long as the ground wire didn't over heat you probably didn't do any damage.

[matthewreichlin]

For anyone reading this for information, yes, there is a black wire with a ring that sure as heck looks like it should be connected to the positive.  From working on old bikes, there are often a few wires to connect, so it is natural to do so.  I had battery out for afew weeks and forgot how it came out, so came to the internet. Now I know. t hanks guys.
 

i think that is supposed to be connected to the frame maybe where the bracket bolts the battery in. 

I found a black wire with a ring connector hanging near the positive battery terminal on my 14gt.  Thinking that it might need to be connected to the + battery post (although everything seemed to be working) I touched it to the + post and drew a large spark!   Fortunately nothing blew or burned up!  It is now covered with electrical tape an tie wrapped out of the way.  I have no idea where the other end of the wire goes as it disappears behind the airbox.  And again everything is working!

[Alan France]

Have you checked that you havent attached the earth wire to the positive terminal? Its a stupid design but there is an earth which attaches to the battery cradle. It comes off when you release the bar which holds the battery in. It goes back with the screw to the battery bar when you put the battery back on. If you are not familiar with this its easy to attach the earth to the positive battery terminal with the lead and screw both to the battery terminal. Connecting the battery earth to the battery causes a dead short. Easy done. Why RE put a + ve and - ve wire together is beyond me. Its also beyond me why all motorcycle manufacturers make getting at the battery so difficult especially as most are laid up in the winter - in countries which have proper seasons!

[matthewreichlin]

Yes, that is exactly what he did.  Hope this helps anyone else with similar problem. 

[hpwaco]

I hadn't had the battery out when I discovered the suspect black wire.   Perhaps it was an oversight on the dealers (REFTW) part when they prepped the bike and installed an agm battery and charging pig tail.   I can't tell from my wiring diagram where the battery negative is connected to frame ground.[

[Arizoni]

I'm not sure where the heavy black ground wire attaches on the CGT but basically, all of the UCE motorcycles have two separate ground wires.  The heavy wire is for the starter motor ground and the small, lightweight wire is for all of the other electrical parts like the headlight, EPU, Fuel injector and its pump, the charging system, etc.

In theory, having a dedicated ground wire to all of these parts is a goodness.  Of course it becomes a real badness when the damn little ground wire loses its conductivity with the main heavy ground wire or the battery terminal.