Topic: Omigod!!! Handlebar wiring???

[puppytrax]

How do you get the wiring off/on the handlebars of a 1972 CB500??? My bars are pretty rusty...and the OEM bars for a CB500 are no longer available...but the CB550 bars are still listed (twice the price!)...but how do you get the wires in & out??? Especially 30+ year old wires???

I'd like to keep the bars the same rise/pullback/width as original...but if Honda doesn't have them, does anyone know who does??? (Similar bars, I mean)...

[grumburg]

I have a nice extra set. Where are you located?

[number13]

with some gentle tugging and pushing and a few squits of WD 40 those
wires will come out. I have done this on my 500 and tried at
first to routhe the wires back thru the new handlebars. kind of a pain,
but they can be stuffed back thru. ultimately I just notched the
switch housings and ran the wires on the outside.
works just fine like that.

BTW - the low rise euro bars by Flanders
are very nice and look great.

[grumburg]

I have a nice extra set. Where are you located?

The easiest I have found is to wrap the loose connections with electrical tape to make them slide easier. Loosen the control end and pull (gently)  until you have enough to grip with wrapped pliers. Don't pull by the controls. Spray silicone in the center hole and don't be shy about it.   (WD40 make a mess). Work back and forth until you can grip by hand. Keep working and gently pulling. They will come out. I have found it easier to pull the right side first,

[puppytrax]

Thank you all for the responses! Tugging gently with lots of lubricant...sounds like a plan...

How about threading them in??? My first thought was to feed a length of fishing line through, tie the end to the bullets, and then pull it through...again gently...a new bar should be nice and smooth inside, maybe more lubricant...

Any other options???

[puppytrax]

I have a nice extra set. Where are you located?

You've got mail! I'm outside Buffalo NY. Way outside... 

[Tim.]

Don't forget to push with all that pulling 

Seriously, I've done this myself a few times, on both my old 500 and more recently twice on my 550.  You need to push on the wiring while you're applying pulling force on the other end.  I'd skip the pliers - chances are you'll just tear through some of the insulation, and wont notice till you've gotten it all back together and start shorting out and blowing fuses.

If you end up buying aftermarket bars, you'll need to drill them to accept the new wiring.  Don't toss your old bars until you have the new ones so you can copy the hole pattern over.

It's tough going, but worth it in the end.  Once you see the ends of the wires in the hole at the centre of the bars, then you can use needle nose pliers to gently pull them out and keep pulling/pushing till you can grab hold with your hand.

Patience.  Slow and steady wins this race.

[oldbiker]

The stuff called "curtain wire" in the UK is ideal for threadind new wires in. Hooks or Eyes screw into the end for joining wires onto the end. It is stiff enough and flexible enough to push into the bars and also strong enough to pull the new wiring into place.

[Dusthawk]

When I threaded my 16 inch apehangers I used heavy fishing line. I tied a cottonball onto one end then used an airhose to blow it through the bars to the exit and repeated for the other side. Once I had the lines through, I tied the other ends to the wiring then taped the end so it slid easily through the bars. Ten minutes and I was done with it.

Peace,

Jeff

[joeson]

too cool !

[puppytrax]

with some gentle tugging and pushing and a few squits of WD 40 those
wires will come out.

I tried this on a set of bent bars with grubby switches...worked fine! Thanks! I didn't have any silicone (have no idea what silicone to look for) so I used WD-40, as you said. I'll get some silicone for the install of the good wiring...if someone would be kind enough to tell me what to look for... 

...I used heavy fishing line. I tied a cottonball onto one end then used an airhose to blow it through the bars to the exit and repeated for the other side. Once I had the lines through, I tied the other ends to the wiring then taped the end so it slid easily through the bars.

That sounds like a great way to do it! No cotton balls here, but at least I know what those are...I got some fishing line at Wally World - 50# test was the biggest they had...hope that's good enough...

Hopefully, I should have a set of bars here this week to try this on...   

The stuff called "curtain wire" in the UK is ideal for threadind new wires in. Hooks or Eyes screw into the end for joining wires onto the end. It is stiff enough and flexible enough to push into the bars and also strong enough to pull the new wiring into place.

I know what you mean...probably hard to find here [small village] but an art shop should have it (for hanging pictures, I believe)...that will be Plan B...   

[mkramer1121]

What I did when I replaced my RT hand switch was feed the cables through as far as possible, gently grab the ends I could see with needle nose pliers (grab the plug, not the wire), make sure I had each end through then finished feeding it.  What we do at work for electrical assembly down channels is run the equivalent of a clothes hanger down, curl the end, then loop a few wires through it.  You then electrical tape it together and pull it back through.  Hope this gives you some more ideas.

[puppytrax]

I actually found another thingy at Wally World...a "leader" for fishing line...it's 24" long, braided steel wire, 50# test...and has a loop on each end (clips also, but they can come off)...

Feed it through, make a slip-loop on one end, snag the wiring in the loop, and tug it through...

Sounds easy...

I'll try the monofilament fishing line first...and do the thick wire bundle *before* the thinner one...   

Gotta get me some of that silicone...a quart bottle should do it, I think...   

[csendker]

Late to the game here, I just noticed this, but I've been following you're 'OEM Bars thread'.  When I changed out my bars to OEM this winter, I used an electrician's fish-tape for pulling conductors thru conduit with lots of silicon spray [generic WD-40].  Maybe even some white grease too if I recall correctly.  Worked great.  And I just noticed you're listed as located in WNY...where?  I'm in Lnacaster...

[puppytrax]

... I used an electrician's fish-tape for pulling conductors thru conduit...

Is that the thing that looks like a Chinese finger-cuff???   

...I just noticed you're listed as located in WNY...where?  I'm in Lnacaster...

I'm just North of Lockport...

[tsflstb]

Thank you all for the responses! Tugging gently with lots of lubricant...sounds like a plan...

I am genuiniely shocked that no one has stepped up to comment here.

[csendker]

I am genuiniely shocked that no one has stepped up to comment here.

We have strict moral standards here in Western New York. 

I'm just North of Lockport...

It's a small world, my Aunt & Uncle live in Pendleton.  carl550K on here is from Lockport with a '76 550K.  WNY seems to be a 550 town.

[puppytrax]

WNY seems to be a 550 town.

I blame Anna Kohl for that!     [inside joke]

[puppytrax]

OK; got my OEM CB550 handlebars straightened out to "almost perfect", which a good friend tells me is the time to stop before I screw it up completely. The logic is that nothing can ever really be perfect, so if you stop just short of  perfect, you'll be good to go! 

I clamped the bars to the bike upside down, so I'd have a stable work area, and where I could see and tug on the wiring.  I reinforced any gaps in the wiring sheaths with shrink tubing from RatShack. Then I took my 24" steel fishing leader and fed it through the bars, one leader for each side. No need for cotton balls, it slid right in...and then I looped the outer end around the wiring and elect taped it nice and tight. Didn't need any lube, it pulled/pushed right through. Throttle wiring first, then the clutch wiring. Flip the bars right side up and fine adjust the clamps so the pins fit in the dimples. Feed the clutch cable through and fasten; feed the throttle cables through and fasten them also.

Pretty much done for now. I'll clean up the throttle and the bare end of the bar where the clutch grip fits with lacquer thinner, and see how far I can get the grips on without using tire lube...   

A big "Thank You!" to all you gentlemen for your suggestions! This was much easier to do than to describe!   

[csendker]

Congrats!  You make it sound almost easy.  I fought for a couple of evenings, but won in the end.  Now to just reconnect the rats nest in the headlight bucket...

[Dunstall_74]

I recently threaded a set of NOS switches into my clubman bars, and what actually worked perfectly was a good old fashioned electric guitar string.  If you've got an extra set of strings laying around, thread the end of the string(I used the D string for the left switch and G string for the right) through the switch hole and out the hole in the center of the bars.   Then the fish eye on the end of the guitar string is the perfect anchor to use electrical tape to tightly tape the hell out of the wires, this way, no slippage.  Then lube up w/some silicone spray and yank 'em through.  I actually used a little bit of vaseline, but probably not recommended since it is petroleum based.

[puppytrax]

I recently threaded a set of NOS switches into my clubman bars, and what actually worked perfectly was a good old fashioned electric guitar string...

I don't know what guitar strings are made of, but the fishing leader is steel cable...about .025" dia... 

It has a loop on each end; I just made a cinch knot and taped it. Perfect! (Well, as close as I'm liable to come to being perfect)

[3 sticks]

Lesse... .025? Thats about a D string. And you can get guitar strings made out of anything from nickel to nylon; but steel is the standard for electric solidbodys.



...yeah i'm into guitars pretty deeply....



cheers; will