Jennifer's Makeover

[Sci85]

Wow very nice. Now that I'm back in the states, I got some parts ordered and will be getting to work on the bike again. Rewiring is one that I don't look forward to but seeing what can be done like this is encouraging.

Do you have some pics of how you put the new plugs onto the old wires? Oh, and where did you get the new plugs (in case I missed it)?

[cowboyup3371]

You can get new plugs at www.easternbeaver.com. Great site and although he lives in Japan, I'm told he gets things here pretty quick. He does have a minimum order of $25 so keep that in mind (shipping will be outrageously high until you get over that).

[Flyboy]

Hi Sci, don't sweat it, I am sure you will be just fine, it is not rocket science.
the plugs can be got from any auto electrical outlet, there are a couple of places on the web that the guys here use as well, not really sure of their names now, as I don't use them.
I did not take pics of the process, but what I will do is shoot a little "how to" for you and anyone else who cares for it when I get into the garage next weekend, so if you can sit tight until then.

[Redneck]

I did not take pics of the process, but what I will do is shoot a little "how to" for you and anyone else who cares for it when I get into the garage next weekend, so if you can sit tight until then.

Man that would be awesome. I am an electronics man but I have never used those type of connectors and was wondering how hard they are to work with. I really want to change out a few on mine and I dont want to use a wad of bullet connectors. I will be eagerly waiting next weekend.

Paul

[pete]

Looking good Stan! You'll love yourself for replacing those dodgy old plugs...

[Matchless]

Stan,
Excellent! You most likely did that already, but just in case.
The board must be sprayed with some moisture protecting substance. I find that Tectyl Clear works very well and a thin layer over the components and the bottom of the PCB gives good protection. There are obviously much more expensive solutions available from from Mantech or Rabtron electronic supplies or you may have something better at hand already.

This morning I spotted a GS being used as a delivery bike in Cape Town and I got this sort of sad feeling when I saw it. What a waste.

Keep well.

[Sci85]

Hi Sci, don't sweat it, I am sure you will be just fine, it is not rocket science.
the plugs can be got from any auto electrical outlet, there are a couple of places on the web that the guys here use as well, not really sure of their names now, as I don't use them.
I did not take pics of the process, but what I will do is shoot a little "how to" for you and anyone else who cares for it when I get into the garage next weekend, so if you can sit tight until then.

Yeah, no problem there. I'm headed to Detroit for a couple of days anyway and I'd rather do it right once then 3 times wrong haha!

Really appreciate you putting together a how-to. Will save a lot of folks a lot of wire and heat shrink!

[rustybronco]

Where about in Detroit are you headed? in the city proper, suburbs of?

[Sci85]

Hey Rusty. Our office is in Livonia and it looks like I'm headed to mason, southfield, and troy over the next two days. I'll be in Livonia tomorrow night so if you're over in that area, first brew's on me!

[Flyboy]

Oh dear, what have I gotten myself into now, uuurrrrmmm, I have suddenly been deployed to Outter Mongolia, no internet access, damn, sorry okes, would have loved to do it, should be back by....uummm, September.

Andre, yeah, I didn't use anything as fancy, just coated it with some cheap and nasty rattle can clear coat to seal it up, hope it works.

This morning I spotted a GS being used as a delivery bike in Cape Town and I got this sort of sad feeling when I saw it. What a waste.

Hey, be nice, that statement represents Jennifer, she was a "delivery" bike for 10 years of her life, how do you think I got to chalk up so many Km's.

[Redneck]

Oh dear, what have I gotten myself into now, uuurrrrmmm, I have suddenly been deployed to Outter Mongolia, no internet access, damn, sorry okes, would have loved to do it, should be back by....uummm, September.

Well I have been told the Tibetan monks have pretty good satellite feeds, and you could always just wrap some aluminum foil around a metal coat hanger and stick it in your ethernet port.

Paul

[Flyboy]

Not much got done on Jennifer this weekend, with the honey do list, pretty much just worked on continuing to get the storage bin that lives under the tail piece cleaned up and free of the red paint. Anyway, thanks to a bottle of brake fluid it is almost there.
I didn't have time for much else, so I never got a start on the wiring harness, but a few guys asked me about putting new connectors onto the harness, so I quickly just grabbed an indicator to get a few pics for you all, hope it makes sense.

The connector itself is is a two piece affair, the housing and the actual connector.
The connectors can be bought in whatever configuration you need, 1,2,3,4 connectors, up to 8 I think, 8 is the biggest I have.
The terminals come in little packs of 100 in a pack, they are a few bucks for a pack.
The female terminal fits into the male housing and the male terminal fits into the female housing, here you can see them.


You can see that the housing has a groove in it at 90 degrees to the slot where the terminal fits in, it also has a step in this groove to locate the little tang on the terminal, this tang works like a barb on a fishing hook, once it is in, it cannot pull out backwards.

Here you can see the groove with the step and the tangs on the terminals




These terminals do not require any solder, they simply crimp over the wire, you can add a drop of solder if you feel strongly about it, but I have been using them for 20 years and never had a problem with any of the wires ever coming loose, or bad contacts, I also find that if you do solder them, it makes the terminals difficult to bend over and grip the wire, also difficult to fit into the plastic housing.
Ok, the terminal has two sets of "ears" that get bent over the wire to grip it and secure it to the terminal itself.
Here you can see them, the shorter front ones, to grip the bare wire and make contact, and the longer ones at the rear, go over the insulation to grip the wire and protect it from being pulled out of the terminal should it be pulled on, here you can see how it supposed to lie in the terminal, note the back pieces that fold over just over the insulation.
This wire on our bikes is pretty thin, so I strip a piece off, twice the length I need, fold it double to give it more wire to grip.



Here you can see the wire folded double and layed in place, where it will be crimped in.



Here is the terminal crimped onto the wire, ready to go into the plasyic housing, note the slot for the tang on the terminal.





Insert the terminal in from the back of the connector and push it all the way forward until you hear the tang, click into place behind the step in the connector.





Give it a good tug to make sure it is locked in properly and the wire is secure in the terminal and call it done.



Easier than falling off a log.
Hope it made sense and helped someone a bit.

[Redneck]

I love you Man....see I told you, that you could find an Internet connection in Tibet.


Paul

[Flyboy]

hahahaha, Paul, I really felt a bit sheepish putting it up, it really is quite self explanatory if you have the pieces in your hand, even a sword wielding Knight from the 1400's could figure it out, hey but you asked, personally I just think you wanted another ogle at my mom jiving to her Ipod.

[pete]

Stan... thanks for the tutorial!

However... I would tin before crimping the wire and then solder afterwards...

That's just me though