Some wire gauge questions

[Theo]

Ok so I'm about to rewire my bike and before I order the wire I have some questions regarding wire gauges. The majority of my wiring will be done with 16 AWG but for some circuits I'll need to use different gauges and that's where I need some guidance. Below is what I think I will need. Please confirm or correct my choices.

Battery to solenoid: 6 AWG
Solenoid to starter: 6 AWG
Battery to engine ground: 6 AWG
Battery to regulator ground: ?
Battery to main fuse: 12 AWG
Fuse panel to ignition switch: 12 AWG
Ignition switch to Acc fuse panel: 12 AWG
Return Ground for all circuits: 12 AWG
Regulator to frame ground: ?
Regulator to + of battery: ?
Headlamp: 12 AWG
Horn (air horn): 12 AWG

Well those are the circuits that I'm not entirely sure about. If it's not listed, that means I'm using 16 AWG or I forgot about it. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
-Theo

 

[Nessism]

I'm not an electrical guy but I'm pretty sure your wire gauge estimates are erroring on the side of extra gauge thickness. For example, most of the main harness wires are 18g or maybe thinner, but you list 16g, and those 12g circuits are definetly over kill.

Instead of rewiring the entire bike I'd look for a stock harness in good condition. Not a whole lot of benifit from reinventing the wheel.

 

[posplayr]

I'm not an electrical guy but I'm pretty sure your wire gauge estimates are erroring on the side of extra gauge thickness. For example, most of the main harness wires are 18g or maybe thinner, but you list 16g, and those 12g circuits are definetly over kill.

Instead of rewiring the entire bike I'd look for a stock harness in good condition. Not a whole lot of benifit from reinventing the wheel.

yea I JUST wired up a 12V adapter and used 18g. I think it IT IS RATED FOR 16 amps

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

Generally the issue is the connectors especially in the wat the R/R is attached to the battery

 

[Theo]

Yes I know I'm erring on the large size when it comes to the wires but Ijust wasn't sure so felt it was better to err on the larger size. Regarding the 16 AWG, most articles I read regarding wiring suggested to use 16 AWG for the majority of the circuits. Heck even Walmart suggests the same. The 12 AWG for the headlamp is a little overkill but for the horn, that's what the instructions say to use. To be honest, my harness is fine but I'm moving things around, adding things, removing things, and in the end, it's just something I want to do. Thanks for the comments.
-Theo

 

[Nessism]

If you want to build a really nice harness I wouldn’t focus on increasing wire size I’d get some MIL spec wire with Teflon insulation. Large gauge wire is heavy and large diameter, which is a major pain to route around the bike properly - large diameter harness can get pinched more easily too. That MIL spec wiring is thinner because the insulation is more effective than cheap PVC coated wire. Use the same wire gauge as what came on the bike from Suzuki and you will be fine.

 

[Theo]

So here is my revised list based on both of your recommendations. I would still like some input on my other wiring choices and help filling in the "?". Thanks.
-Theo

Battery to solenoid: 6 AWG
Solenoid to starter: 6 AWG
Battery to engine ground: 6 AWG
Battery to regulator ground: ?
Battery to main fuse: 16 AWG
Fuse panel to ignition switch: 16 AWG
Ignition switch to Acc fuse panel: 16 AWG
Return Ground for all circuits: 16 AWG
Regulator to frame ground: ?
Regulator to + of battery: ?
Headlamp: 16 AWG
Horn (air horn): 12 AWG

 

[bonanzadave]

I?d get some MIL spec wire with Teflon insulation.

Yep. M22759/16-gauge size. You could run a welder with 6 ga. Thats good for 70 amps. Like Mr. Nessism said... use some tefzel wire. 8 ga for all the heavy battery stuff. That should be good for 50 amps.

Battery to main fuse I would up to 10-12 ga. Same for batt to reg ground.

 

[Theo]

Yep. M22759/16-gauge size. You could run a welder with 6 ga. Thats good for 70 amps. Like Mr. Nessism said... use some tefzel wire. 8 ga for all the heavy battery stuff. That should be good for 50 amps.

Battery to main fuse I would up to 10-12 ga. Same for batt to reg ground.

Cool thanks for the help. So are you saying to use 16 for the majority of the circuits because Nessism said I should go with 18. I also originally had 12 ga for battery to main fuse but was told that everything was too big.

So here is a second revision:

Battery to solenoid: 8 AWG
Solenoid to starter: 8 AWG
Battery to engine ground: 8 AWG
Battery to regulator ground: 12
Battery to main fuse: 12 AWG
Fuse panel to ignition switch: 12 AWG
Ignition switch to Acc fuse panel: 12 AWG
Return Ground for all circuits: 16 AWG
Regulator to frame ground: ?
Regulator to + of battery: ?
Headlamp: 16 AWG
Horn (air horn): 12 AWG

 

[Nessism]

I used 14 gauge on my R/R feeds but 16 is plenty since it can carry 22 amps. The largest fuse on a GS is 15 A, so 18 gauge is good enough for almost everything in the main loom

 

[Theo]

I used 14 gauge on my R/R feeds but 16 is plenty since it can carry 22 amps. The largest fuse on a GS is 15 A, so 18 gauge is good enough for almost everything in the main loom

Good point. Well since it seems that 18 awg is perfectly acceptable, I'll just reuse the old wire harness where I can. Also the the alternator can only put out about 250 watts for a total of 20 amps at 12 volts. So I guess for stuff like battery to main fuse, 12 AWG rated at 41 amps is overkill. 16 awg would cut it but I usually like a little wiggle room so was thinking to up those to 14 awg. Or is 22 amps for 16 gauge a conservative rating? Thanks for all of the help so far.
-Theo

Hopefully this is my last revision:

Battery to solenoid: 8 AWG
Solenoid to starter: 8 AWG
Battery to engine ground: 8 AWG
Battery to regulator ground: 12 AWG
Battery to main fuse: 14 AWG
Fuse panel to ignition switch: 14 AWG
Ignition switch to Acc fuse panel: 14 AWG
Return Ground for all circuits: 16 AWG
Regulator to frame ground: 14 AWG
Regulator to + of battery: 14 AWG
Horn (air horn): 16 AWG