wiring around the steering head

Ever since I pinched the wiring around the steering head in the fork stop, the routing has been an issue for me. Has anyone come up with a clean way to deal with that ? It seems like keeping it out of the steering stop, keeping it from getting chafed on the edge of the tank, and keeping the wires from work hardening and breaking would all be good. Any solutions ? Pictures would help.

Thanks

Greg

hehe glen Commando too often become a thinking man's past time. The correct factory kit for type of bars should allow cable and wire loom to dodge both the pincher and rubbing the stem or number label raw nor tugging on the under spine cluster flock connectors. I asked other lists on every item routing to realize factory got it pretty right with some exceptions to improve on. Most of what we end up with has been non-factory altered. Protective soft rubber tube came installed on my 1st '72 but not the 2nd but 1st one had number tag rubbed raw almost obsuring the numbers but the 2nd one didn't.

Here are some things that I did with my bike trying to clean up wiring and cables around the steering head. The first thing I did when I rewired my motorcycle was to route the instrument wires into the headlight instead of under the gas tank where they were originally routed. I have a 1974 Norton, possibly the earlier Norton's were wired in the headlight in the first place.

The second thing I did was to replace my headlight with an old BSA headlight unit because I wanted to use an ammeter. One thing I came across though is that the wire strap that holds the harness down in the headlight was too short for the Norton Commando. So instead of making a longer strap I used a tie wrap anchor held to the headlight shell with a Number 6 screw. I figured that one advantage of the tie wrap is that it could hold the wire harness securely in the headlight shell. This way the length of the harness between the headlight and the frame could be adjusted and not work loose by pulling out from the headlight shell and hanging up in the steering lock. Here is an example:





As for the handlebar wires I routed them as per original on the left hand side of the motorcycle. However, I fabricated a steel bracket so that I could mount a nylon cable clamp to support the wires. It attaches to the bolts that hold on the spark coil bracket. The screw that holds the nylon clamp is a flat head Number 10/32 structural screw that is welded to the bracket. This prevents the wires from chafing the fuel tank. Here is a picture:


I also addressed the control cables. I made a clamp bracket which is identical to the wire clamp bracket. Here is a picture:


To finish off my cable routing I fabricated a bracket to hold a BSA cable guide. This bracket mounts to the underside of the top steering yoke. I tapped the threaded hole of the handlebar clamp all the way through the steering yoke then I mounted the bracket with a short bolt on the bottom. This kept the cables from flopping against my freshly chrome plated headlight shell. Here are a couple pictures:




This may trigger some ideas for you. I hope this is of some help,
Pete

Nicely done, one of my pet peeves is to see a restored bike with a rats nest of wiring.

Most folks still don't realise the difference that cable routing makes also. Clutch pull etc.

There are probably not many more fussy about wire and cable routing then I am...
I tie 2,3,or 4 black tie wraps together to make a loop. It is installed at the bottom between the front down tubes and the coil brackets then over the top of the main back bone. Pull it up tight then snip the excess. You now have a non restrictive line to hold the harness away from the tank. the throttle, choke and clutch also go inside the nylon loop. Been doing that and showing this technique for over 20 years. Also prevents everything from slipping down into the turn stops.

I too zip tie bundle the spinal cluster crossings to control its congestion spreading but PeterJoe's brackets sure look thought out well and inspire me to mimic on Peel project. Trixie also sports Amter in light shell just for looks. I installed a bigger wire clamp in shell and made its shell fastener a definitive common point to terminate various Earth return wires. Gave up on pilot light as hardly ever park with lights on and not a requirement in the states.