TOPIC:

Okay so I have a 81 kz440 and it fires right up after I charge the battery, but then I noticed today when I when to go restart it the negative wire (it's super chewed up from PO) was really warm, almost hot. This is there it grounds to the frame. And after a couple minutes of cranking it the battery was dead. Do you guys think replacing this wire will help me out?

Richardb98 wrote: Okay so I have a 81 kz440 and it fires right up after I charge the battery, but then I noticed today when I when to go restart it the negative wire (it's super chewed up from PO) was really warm, almost hot. This is there it grounds to the frame. And after a couple minutes of cranking it the battery was dead. Do you guys think replacing this wire will help me out?

You're cranking the starter for a couple minutes? That an awful lot! If it cranks that long without starting you have a different set of issues to deal with. I would recommend starting with a complete tune-up. Ed

Richardb98 wrote: Okay so I have a 81 kz440 and it fires right up after I charge the battery, but then I noticed today when I when to go restart it the negative wire (it's super chewed up from PO) was really warm, almost hot. This is there it grounds to the frame. And after a couple minutes of cranking it the battery was dead. Do you guys think replacing this wire will help me out?

Could be a bad connection. Heat comes from power dissipation which is given by:

P = I (squared) x R

If there is a crummy ground connection it will have some resistance there and the high current it takes to crank the starter will cause heat. It will also cause a voltage drop which will make the starter crank weak.

A bad battery cable + a weak battery = not enough power to the coil, wich means weak spark. If carburetors and valve lash and timing ( or any one of them) are far from factory specifications, then the engine will not start. You can try replacing the negative battery cable and be certain it has a clean connection at each end, but ultimately, a good tuneup according to the factory service manual will be needed to insure an easy starting, smooth running engine.