New harness or not?

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C

Chester

Joined
Mar 28, 2010
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92
'74 MKIIA

Hey gents,
I'm at the putting the harness back on stage, and wanted to bounce this off you.

My harness is visually alright....still supple and all. No corrosion.
Or is it one of those items that are a "must replace" at this stage?

Does a new one still come with that big multi pin connector? ..............why?

Just pickin' yer brains!
 
Chester... If the wire harness still looks ok, is supple, and shows no sign of corrosion, there is no reason to buy a new one.
However, the Lucas multiple pin connector ( and other connectors) must be checked, as the metal "tubes" inside loose their springforce with age,
or sometimes split, with poor electrical contact as result.
My Mk2A had a lot of unused wires in its harness, which I all removed. After wrapping the harness in new non -sticking black tape, it looked like new again.
 
I'm using my original '69 harness if that's any consolation. It doesn't have that connector though, I did have a problem with the ignition switch the other day because I left the ignition on for several hours in the garage.

Dave
69S
 
Thanks for the thoughts guys!

I like the part about getting rid of all the unused wires too.
That big connecter block is not in great shape (the rubber) but the connecters themselves look just fine.

Some Harley head told me that a Harley harness is around the $60 mark.
Why is the Norton one $140 ? Special Andover wire or something? ? ? ? ? ?
 
As a bit of an aside, I made my own connectors using woven tinned-copper ground strap (about 1/4). I placed it inside shrink tubing, pushed in the bullet connectors far enough to overlap it and then shrank the tubing to hold it in place. I have to use a razor knife to get it apart but I like the flexible connection in a vibration prone application.

I actually stole the wooven ground strap off some Frostex heating cable. I few feet of it makes lots of connections.

I agree with taking out unneeded wires and wrapping with new tape. I did mine a small section at time while it was on the bike.

Russ
 
Peter R said:
Chester... If the wire harness still looks ok, is supple, and shows no sign of corrosion, there is no reason to buy a new one.
However, the Lucas multiple pin connector ( and other connectors) must be checked, as the metal "tubes" inside loose their springforce with age,
or sometimes split, with poor electrical contact as result.
My Mk2A had a lot of unused wires in its harness, which I all removed. After wrapping the harness in new non -sticking black tape, it looked like new again.
Click to expand...
Working on my harness also so..
Whats the trade name for the Non sticking black tape?
Will rubber splice tape do the job just as good because I have that in my tool box?
 
Chester said:
Some Harley head told me that a Harley harness is around the $60 mark.
Why is the Norton one $140 ? Special Andover wire or something? ? ? ? ? ?
Click to expand...

Probably volume.
 
Hi Chester and others,
When I rewired from scratch about 9 years ago this is what I came up with to replace the multi connector under the tank. So far it has worked perfectly. I found it at Radio Shack, they are also available with fuses. The aluminum backing was just a piece of angle stock I had laying around. The directional flasher is held on with a little patch of Velcro.

GB

New harness or not?
 
Maybe it's just me, but I thought the cost of a new wiring harness was inexpensive as compared to the total cost of the restoration. One less thing to have to worry about, a dry rotted wire harness that fails in the middle of a road trip.
 
Hey spiermoor
I grabbed some today It is 3M Linerless Rubber Splicing Tape from an electrical store.
 
I'm running the original harness and every original electrical component works flawlessly (although that can't be said for the ignition system as I converted to a Power Arc E.I. -excellent btw). Anyway, make sure ALL of the wire connectors where the bullets connect are PERFECT. I found MANY with cracks that would go unnoticed without a visual inspection and would have surely led to gremlins, shorts, head-scratching, etc. If you've got the extra cash get a new harness.....although it is kinda nice to know that the forty-year old harness can still do the job.
 
My harness is in great shape, except for this.. is the rubber block available anywhere? I have the ability to get thoroughly industrial and replace it, but kinda looking for the path of least resistance here.. so to speak. :lol:

New harness or not?
 
DogT said:
I knew there was a reason I liked my '69.

Dave
69S
Click to expand...

Yeah, if the wiring was in poor shape, I'd probably re-do it with several improvements. But, thankfully, the only mods anyone ever did to this was the addition of the Boyer ignition. Pristine compared to some butchered wiring I've seen over the years.
 
Leave it. Nothing against your abilities but most people do a crappy job when they "improve" the wiring from what i've seen. Check and probably replace especially any double connectors. They almost always split and then there is no tension to maintain the contact.
 
concours said:
DogT said:
I knew there was a reason I liked my '69.

Dave
69S
Click to expand...

Yeah, if the wiring was in poor shape, I'd probably re-do it with several improvements.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure you got the fact that there's no connector like that on the 69/70. No turn lights, no assimilator, and it even had separate circuits for the two spark plugs. I'm still using my original harness with a couple of splices from a previous owner that I fixed. It's a study in simplicity. I love simplicity, since I'm stupid of course.

Dave
69S
 
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