Building a Wiring Harness..

[Nerobro]

Well, skreemer and I tried to start my 550 last weekend. We failed. There's a shorted or broken wire in the wiring harness. The sheathing is cracking, the wires are knotted and nasty. The whole harness is a mess. It's got to go.

I would like some recomendations on suppliers for new metal connectors for the plugs. I would also like recomendations on a crimp tool. I would also like suggestions on a wire supplier.

I have basicly determined that I'll need to go monocolor on most of the wiring harness. Replicating the stock harness colors would be prohibitatively expensive.

While I'm at it, I'm going to wire in a headlight relay, and run 10g wire for the headlight. I'd also like to add a sidestand neutral cutout.

tips? Tricks? things to avoid?

Whats wrong with the harness

• Turn signal wireing useless.
• Random Blowing Taillight Bulbs.
• Start Button does not trigger relay.
• Stator wireing a mess
• RR "sorta" doesn't fit in stock location. (woo cx500 r/r)
• Vinyl covering cracking
• Wires crimped and evidently broken internally
• Some shattered connectors

So it's definitely time to replace that harness.

 

[duaneage]

I would try and find a wiring loom in a junkyard from a car, it contains lots of different colors of the correct size wire. Going monochrome is a risky proposition.

I use a crimping tool from Klein tools that is solid steel, not those stamped junky kinds.

For a good supply of the connectors you'll need and the crimp tool go here:

http://www.matelectronics.com/images/Catalog%20Pages%20-%20PDFs/98.pdf

Best prices on bulk I have found. They also have wire at reasonable prices in different gauges.

 

[BRycraft]

Wiring harness Rebuild

Wiring harness Rebuild

I rebuilt my wiring harness off my 82 GS850GLZ. I first found picked up a couple of wiring harnesses off EBay, you would be surprised the condition of the wires. I salvaged all the connectors I could, between my original ones and the ones off the extra harnesses I got was more then sufficient, I have spare connectors and wires now. This was the best way to get all those different color wires, if you go mono color and you have a problem you could be in trouble. I also did a google search for MOLEX conectors and you will find numerous places that sell all kinds of molex connectors, ( that is the term of the plastic connectors in the harness) I found crimping tools, molex pins of all sizes. I was able to order some replacement crimp connectors and have a factory terminal end when done. You do need a molex crimping tool as they are specifically designed for crimping the small legs on the pins. Between spare pins I was able to gather more than enough wires of the correct color to in fact rebuild my harness. It takes time but well worth the effort. I know my wiring harness like the back of my hand. I look at a connector and know what it is servicing, it helps too if you ever have a spot of trouble, you wont be looking in areas that have nothing to do with your problem.
I also took apart the left and right hand controls, inside there are brass connectors that get corroded, I cleaned up all the terminals, lubed it carefully and they work like new. Be careful of the left hand controls with the turn signals and headlamp controls, there are a couple of small BB's and springs that help it return back to center when released. I purchased a spare off EBay because one of my springs was powder when taken apart. I was able to rebuild it with the 2 combined parts. They are not cheap to purchase new so better off servicing them. Also take pictures witha digital camera because there are no diagrams of how it goes back together, and should it come apart in your hands like it did me, it takes a bit of scratching your head to figure out how it goes back together.
There is also a website called www.andersonvintageparts.com that sells all old Suzuki parts and they do sell NEW wiring harnesses, providing they are in stock and sell for about $80 well worth that price if they have yours.
Good luck and take your time it will pay off in the end..
Bill

 

[Nerobro]

Hmm... NOS sounds good. I do know my electrical system better than anybody should :-/ I've had to repair so much previous owner crap.

Sadly they don't have any harnesses. I actually have three harnesses I could pick apart to do this. I guess I should. Allright, probally a next weekend project. Woo...

 

[biker66]

I was in the same situation, lots of electrical troubles combined with a wiring system molested by previous owner(s). Always wondering what would fail next ride...

I rebuilt my whole system, wires, connectors, fuse holder... the lot.
This was six years ago, never had an electrical problem after that !

It takes some time drawing the wiring, choosing cables/colors and finding suitable connectors. But hey, it's definitely worth it !

Some pictures can be found on my site under 'My bike/2000' and 'Modifications/wiring'.
Remember, nothing is, or have ever been standard on my bike...

 

[argonsagas]

I would look for a decent harness that could be put straight in, but, if you are buying a used one there is no guarantee that it will be perfect.

A new one...if you can find it....will be expensive.

If you wish to run mono-coloured wire go ahead, but a very small and inexpensive precaution is in order.

Raid your girlfriend/wifes stores of nail polish and select different colours...NOTE different COLOURS not different shades of one colour.



Choose any wire from the harness, write down its colour and then paint on a bit of nail polish at several points along the length of its replacement. Write that down, too. If your selection of nail polish is limited either buy more or use two colours for positive identification. Write everything down.



This is all you need to do to ensure correct ordering of your wires for the future, and you can keep the page(s) you wrote in your repair book/manual for future reference.

S T R O N G

N O T E

Remove ALL tape before opening even a single connection in the harness. You will find colours and wire thicknesses (gauges) vary considerably as you encounter splices inside the harness, and circuits you might think are separate are linked in there.

The tape must be off because you need to be able to pull the wires apart far enough to clearly identify which ones are connected where BEFORE pulling apart any connectors.


When doing the replacement, do ONE wire at a time, including all its branches/splices.


Check and double check the length of every wire, before cutting a new one.

Include the connector in your measurement. Then add at least one inch to the length, including the connector. You may find you lose this when wrapping the new harness, but even if not, you will have a welcome bit of play in fitting the new wires in place on the bike.



EDIT EDIT


If you are using only one thickness/gauge of wire be sure you add even more extra length, as the bulk will be greater than the original when your harness is completed. Additionally, using a single gauge wire throughout will make the harness less flexible, so it will not bend into the same places quite so readily. That means it will take up more space, and you will definitely need more than one inch of additional length to deal with this.

 

[Nerobro]

My intent was to go with finer gauge wire. And softer insulation. right now several high amp circuts run though the left side grip. and I dislike that. I was going to break out the 10g wire to handle any high amp circuts.

I was actually hoping to end up with a lighter harness in the end ;-) As I can get rid of several of hte circuts.. that I don't use. And I'd like to add a neutral cutout for the sidestand.

 

[POULSEN]

I am replacing the wiring harness at my 77' GS550 in these days. I decided to skip the existing wiring, and start all over again, for the following reasons:

The original harness is equipped with one 16A fuse. (At my bike a previous owner had changed that to a 0 fuse system :? )
To protect a wire with a 16A fuse, you will need all wires to be app. 1.5mmsq.
I too, would like some thinner wires, so i have put in a 6 fuse box under the seat (where the toolbox used to be).

Almost all power (except Starter) goes through the ignitionswitch. It is a big load for a small switch, so i have added a main relay, close to the battery driven by the ignitionswitch.

In Denmark we ride with the ligths on at all times - so why not have permanent ligth on?
This could however result in lack of power during start, so i have added a cut-off relay, which only gives power to ignitionssystem (and starter) during start.

I am not fond of connectors in the "free", so i have added a connection point inside the headligth.

I am not so worried about a B/W wiring system, and have used multicore cables Std. industrial. If properly documented, the wire should be recognizable from its connectionpoints.
For documentation, i have chosen to use MS PowerPoint. Not because it is the best for the purpose, but because it is widely used, and probably will exist for several years to come. I have divided the diagrams in several pages, making it A4 printable.


The documentation, including some pictures could be found at: http://home20.inet.tele.dk/xxxxx/

For inspiration of how to do - or not to do :-D

Stig

 

[Nerobro]

stig eh? Watch much top gear? What's "stig" mean anyway?
Either way you've made my day. Thanks man.

 

[robert_r_lefebvre]

3 basic colors

3 basic colors

For what its worth.

You could probably confidently go with 3 basic colors, red, black, and white. The red wiring would signify power (i.e. +12V).
The Black wire would represent ground.
The white wire would be everything else. To identify the a white wires ends you can slip on cable markes that are premarked with numbers. That way if you have a problem in the future you just need to look at the cable markers to identify the wire of interest. (I.e. White wire going from ignitor unit to coil would be white and identified with cable markers at each end with say number 56.)

Bob

 

[scotto58]

Hi
I just stumbled onto to this and thought you might be interested.
If you're going to build a new harness check out www.midwestactioncycle.com. They have wire in different gauges/color combos and the plastic multi pin connectors available. Go to their "criuser/touring" section on the left side of the page then at the bottom click on the Tucker Rocky catalog. the stuffs listed under the Electical section.
The wire is $4.45 per 25ft roll.
Good Luck

Scott

 

[Clone]

Get yourself some ribbon wire. It is 8 wires connected together in a flat ribbon, mostly used on trailers. I think you can get 12, 14, 16 and 18guage. Each wire is different in color and you can buy it by the meter.8)