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To the guys who have done a full rewire.

  • Thread starter Thread starter landshark
  • Start date Start date
L

landshark

Guest
I am contemplating a full rewire on my bike, 81 1000G with an Acewell Gauge.
I dont want to get rid of anything like indicators e.t.c, i just want to "clean it up" and get rid of the mess in the headlight bucket.
So i am wondering if there is any advice out there from people that have done this. Kind of a do's and dont's i guess.
Thanks.
 
Don't skimp on materials. The cheap connectors are just that - cheap. Keep the same wire colours if you want a simple life. Trying to remember that you have replaced the red and white wire with purple complicates things; wiring the whole loom with one colour only just makes things challenging (been there, done that - it was challenging).

And take photos / make little sketch diagrams as you go, especially remembering the routing.
 
And make sure you can match each wire to the schematic. PO's and just plain inaccuracy can cause lots of headaches as many times the colors won't match what the schematic say's they are supposed to be so check it now while it's still on the bike, each and every circuit. Good luck!
 
I'm glad you asked this because I was wondering the same thing; especially how folks duplicated the few splices in the original harness (i.e. orange wire)
 
Like already said use quality wire and connectors. Go the extra mile and solder all connections and heat shrink around them. Pre route all your wires to where they need to go loosely zip tied. After that you can start working a master harness from the main connection location and work each wire off the main loom to where it needs to go. Leave about 6" extra to each location as you usually miscalulate or sometmes find a better route. when everything looks good and you have a main harness and pigtails everywhere you want, then do the solder and heat shrink on each connector. Make sure you slide the heat shrink on the wire first as its easy to do the connector and forget that there is no shrink on the wire. Use dialectric grease on connections and some kind of casing over the looms to protect the wires. If you want to go nuts use silicone over connections that may become corroded easily. I love wiring and when done right it is extremely satisfying and fun. Just take your time and have a factory diagram in front of you. After doing a couple circuits the wiring for each function should start to make sense as to what wire is there for what reason.
 
Thanks Guys,
I might take my time and collect all the necessary connectors and different coloured cables and then get stuck in.
I think it can be done much better than it is, but if i do it i dont want the bike off the road too long, so i would have to really get stuck in over a weekend.
 
Not to steal your thread sir Landshark, but I was wondering what if you were just removing the cluster wiring. can that be done so or will it interfere with some other component>?
 
Unless the connectors on your existing harness are messed up I'd leave well enough alone, or just fix things that are broken. There isn't a whole lot of value in rebuilding a harness that is working right now. If you really want to do something pop out all the terminals from the plastic shells and clean the corrosion off the brass, then put them back. I say this as someone that transformed a 1000GL harness into a 1000S harness. A LOT of work; splicing, cleaning, wrapping, grafting, etc. Worked out in the end but not the kind of thing I'd recommend just because.

Oh, and soldering wires together is less reliable than crimping. Not some Harbor Freight crimping mind you, but proper crimping with a mechanical lock on the terminals like the OEM's use. Soldering makes for brittle joints which can break and come apart.

Good luck
 
Thanks Nessim,
I am still in the contemplation stage, but the wiring harness is just one of those things that sh1ts me and i think can be done better, dont ask me why i'm just weird?
I plan on pulling out the engine for a rebuild and clean e.t.c. one day, so this may not happen until then.
Anyway, hopefully i can either get it planned and ready, or realise that i am dreaming!
Cheers
 
landshark said:
Thanks Nessim,
I am still in the contemplation stage, but the wiring harness is just one of those things that sh1ts me and i think can be done better, dont ask me why i'm just weird?
I plan on pulling out the engine for a rebuild and clean e.t.c. one day, so this may not happen until then.
Anyway, hopefully i can either get it planned and ready, or realise that i am dreaming!
Cheers
Click to expand...

There are a lot of wires up there, but few of them are not doing anything. If tou don't want your kill switch, and clutch interlock, that is a number of the wires. If you don't like self cancelling turn signals, that is a couple more. Don't want a front brake light switch?

I would suggest that you figure out precisely what you have, and start from there.

Because a number of the items that are on the handlebars run off power circuits switched from the ignition switch, there is a lot of wiring running back to the fuse panel from the ignition, then back to the handlebars. In-line fuses instead could save some of that I supose. I wouldn't call it better though.

What is your objective? what are you intending to make work better with your modifications?
 
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