Under tank wiring

The wiring loom connectors under the tank on my 73 interstate is a bit of a mess and interferes with the twin carby slide cables. what is the best way to tidy this up?

dgwilson

Straight up front. do yourself a huge favour and replace the connector.. and or secure .

I was bailed up with this rats nest last year and for the first time in 30 years of bikes , had to trailer the bike.

I replaced the loose bullet connectors with blade connector block/s. That block is a real BS issue.

You can extend the wires.. or whatever you feel your wiring skills are capable of ~ but extend and secure is my strong recommendation.

You mean this kind of mess, 30+years on the bike with lots of extra wiring in a harness that was designed to fit all models, my bike is a Mk2 but the harness has all the wiring in it for the Interpol and an electric start.


I built a new harness over winter using modern connectors (AMP Mini-Mate) and relocated the Boyer in between the coils. Head steady is now Dave Taylor type from RGM. The under tank wiring now looks like this...


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Tim

Very tidy Tim, i have an amalgum of your two pics. Dave Taylor h'steady and Boyer squeezed into the rats nest. Rats nest is on the to-do list.

One query, the earth wire that used to connect to the old headsteady is presumeably the red wire on the left of the second pic? I put mine "temporarily" under the nearest rocker spindle cover bolt - not sure if that was a good idea or not. Seems to work so far.

RATS NEST

That is the rats nest that I have in the first pic. It must come standard with all Commando's?
So what is the best way to tackle a new harness?
Do you strip the old one out and use it as a length guide, or loom the wires up according to the wiring diagram. and hopefully swap over in an afternoon. I want to keep riding while I make the new loom if possible.

That second pic inspires me to have a go, its really neat!

Thanks

ntst8 said:

One query, the earth wire that used to connect to the old headsteady is presumeably the red wire on the left of the second pic?

Click to expand...

Yes I used the threaded insert for the old head steady rubber as an earth point.

dgwilson said:

So what is the best way to tackle a new harness?
Do you strip the old one out and use it as a length guide, or loom the wires up according to the wiring diagram. and hopefully swap over in an afternoon. I want to keep riding while I make the new loom if possible.

Click to expand...

If your bike is standard with points/zener/rectifier its probably easier to take off the old loom and use it as a pattern. If you have a boyer/podtronic or similar setup its easy enough to make a new loom on the kitchen table with the odd visit to the garage to get lengths/postions correct with the final fitting on the bike - thats what I did.

I can e-mail you colour wiring diagrams (standard and with Boyer/Podtronic) for the Mk2 if they are of any use.

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Tim

An Intriguing concept as I want to build the complete or part loom for my project .

Is there anyone .. dealer / trader that can supply original colour coded wire/ cables to rebuild these things?

I am in Australia. I have never found a trader that has this luxury at hand.

Earth Points ~ As long as there is a solid earth point and link from the frame to engine it does not matter where the standard/ original earth point is.

The best way to approach a rewiring job is to have it laid out on the workshop floor and consider each section as you go. It is just too hard to try and in particular, to match it up in length while mounted.

Always be generous in lengths. If the original section is 12" , make yours 12 1/2" , or 13" . I tell you it is a right bitch to find you have made it too short !

(Consider even adding several extra ( 3mm ) cables. Even if they run the length of the bike, they may prove an asset later on. )

Additionally ~ plan your project. Ask , can it be improved? Would circuit breakers be a better deal than fusing. Would relay/s be more effective in lighting?

BUT definitley ditch that ~~~ multipin block under the fuel tank. Either eliminate or modify it !

I guess this comes easy as I spent many years in the auto electrical trade, (before I decided I detested it ! :lol: ) But I always did enjoy designing and rewiring complete vehicles.

Stuart SS said:

Is there anyone .. dealer / trader that can supply original colour coded wire/ cables to rebuild these things?

Click to expand...

I used Vehicle Wiring Products in the UK they supplied all the wire, connectors and PVC tubing, the only wire colour they didn't have was light green/brown.

Excellent point about the planing, I drew mine out on a PC weeks before I started to optimize the wiring especially as the original switchgear has been replaced with Yamaha items and the ignition switch is courtesy of Suzuki. The flasher unit and solid state warning light control now live in the headlamp shell.

Additional fuses are a good idea my loom uses 3 with a dedicated fuse for the Boyer.

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Tim