Wire Gauge?

[raistian77]

I think stranded wire conducts better than solid because of skin effect. Current actually flows along the outside of a wire more than inside (skin effect). Stranded wire has more surface area than solid.

Just for fun that same reason is why data lines are solid rather than stranded. As the electrons jump from wire to wire in stranded it builds up attenuation and can cause signal noise.

[Ranger]

All these numbers are giving me a headache. Maybe I should have someone good with electrical work help me out, I'd rather do it right the first time since its time consuming.

[posplayr]

Just for fun that same reason is why data lines are solid rather than stranded. As the electrons jump from wire to wire in stranded it builds up attenuation and can cause signal noise.

Skin effect is a high frequency effect (for signals that are changing millions of times per seconds). For GS purposes everything is essentially DC as far as "skin effect" and standard cross sectional area and length calculations can be used to compute voltage drop.

The stranded wire is primarily used because it can flex more than solid wire without breaking making it much more tolerant of high vibration environments (like a motorcycle or auto).

Most all the wires should be stranded (and IIRC) 18 GA, with the exception of the primary power (orange and Orange/White) and the grounds to the R/R. Also excluding the battery connections.

[82gs1100]

dont use solid wire it will break. Also the OEMs used the smallest wire they could. If your making a wire harness. Use a size larger if you can. 16 instead of 18 and so on. the biger the better but you dont want a harness thats as big around as your frame

[Curly]

All these numbers are giving me a headache. Maybe I should have someone good with electrical work help me out, I'd rather do it right the first time since its time consuming.

Let's go back to the start where you said you need to replace your wiring harness..

Why?

And if you're hesitant about the data we've given you, I'm not quite sure you're up to replacing the bike's entire wiring harness, it's actually more complex than you may think. I have my old one if you'd like it. It ran the bike, but if I recall correctly there were a few things I wasn't terribly happy with, so I bought a brand new one. Interested? Some of it has been re-wrapped, and it's been extended to put the electronics under the seat.

I'd like to see a few pictures though, showing some parts of the harness that justify replacing the entire thing.