Topic: Shrink tubing

[DanJ]

 I've tried a couple of different things and nothing looks quite right, what do you guys use for shrink tubing when you restore electrical wires?

[goldarrow]

Habor freight.  Sometimes I use two layers

[dlhoulton]

I've used this stuff. Got it in different sizes so I don't always have to shrink it.
http://www.wirecare.com/products.asp?prodline=H2G
Looks like OEM covering. Stays glossy and is abrasion resistant. Used it to redo sub harnesses, handlebar wires, etc.

[bjbuchanan]

The suppliers of stock type wire sheathing is oregon motorcycle parts and vintage connections. I think there is another supplier but I can't remember.

You can use shrink tubing but it isn't gonna look like stock. What I like to do is use shrink tubing without heating it. It is softer and moves around easier before it gets heated. Still doesn't look stock but it works well.

[70CB750]

I use HF shrink tubing and also this tape:



since I dont care if it looks original or not.  The tape works better than normal (glued) electrical tape.

[Muckinfuss]

Harbor Frt. + Liquid Tape from Home Depot

[lrutt]

what exactly are you trying to do? There is very little actual shrink tubing on a stock harness. If you are trying to replicate the stock plastic tubing then I think the site you need is Vintage Connections or some such. They have the tubing, connectors, etc. I bought the crimp and connector kit but not any tubing from them. Their crimper and connectors are first rate BTW.

[PeWe]

Braided sleeving is very useful. The 2 cables to engine from starter solenoid and rectifier has braided sleeving that look tired after decades.
I used something like this on my CB750.
http://www.hellermanntyton.co.uk/site/products/braided-sleeving/hegp04/170-10400
http://www.nelcoproducts.com/expandable-sleeving

Press it together and it wil swallow the big connectors like a Python snake, then stretch it and it will become slim protecting the cable as an extra skin. I did not remove the old sleeving.
I have it protecting other cables too.

Shrink tubing where I have repaired a wire or extra insulation like the stupid short red wire close to the battery plus pole going to rectifier close to the starter solenoid. I was very close to miss that the misplaced bulletplug was damaged and very close causing a short against the frame. New thinner pin/socket (flat) with extra crimp hose.

[DanJ]

what exactly are you trying to do? There is very little actual shrink tubing on a stock harness. If you are trying to replicate the stock plastic tubing then I think the site you need is Vintage Connections or some such. They have the tubing, connectors, etc. I bought the crimp and connector kit but not any tubing from them. Their crimper and connectors are first rate BTW.

As I've been disassembling the front end, some of the black covering over the wires (Example wires leading to the lights from instruments) is brittle and cracking in half. I'd like to replace it with something that looks original.

[flybox1]

+1 PeWe
braided wire sheathing
protective, remains flexible, and wont dry out and crack.

[lrutt]

what exactly are you trying to do? There is very little actual shrink tubing on a stock harness. If you are trying to replicate the stock plastic tubing then I think the site you need is Vintage Connections or some such. They have the tubing, connectors, etc. I bought the crimp and connector kit but not any tubing from them. Their crimper and connectors are first rate BTW.

As I've been disassembling the front end, some of the black covering over the wires (Example wires leading to the lights from instruments) is brittle and cracking in half. I'd like to replace it with something that looks original.

Then vintage connections is your friend.

http://www.vintageconnections.com/

checkout the sleeving section.

[MCRider]

Agreed. Their sleeving is what they say. Here's my problem. Since its not shrink, you can't get all the wires thru with their respective male ends, and still have the sleeve fit snug, like on an instrument bundle for example. If your ends are off, or you cut them off, then you can get the wires thru by themselves and recrimp the endings.

This was too much work for me and I don't like the way my crimpings look. So I cut the stock cracked sleeving off, found some gloss black shrink on eBay and resleeved my K1 instruments. I shrank the sleeve down only about halfway, with a heat gun, and really like the result. By only partial shrinking the wires inside can float and the bundle stays flexible, and the sleeve stays mostly unwrinkled. If you shrink it down tight the bundle becomes hard as a stick.

 I fed the sleeving up into the instrument so it doesn't have that stock look of high water pants where the individual wires colors peek out right at the instrument, like socks on high water pants.

While I think it actually loks bettter than OEM, it doesn't look like OEM exactly, and if that's what you want, VintageConnections is the place.

[dlhoulton]

When I re-sleeved my hand control wires going to headlight bucket I took off the one "square" connector/plug then used this tool to pull wires with male and female bullet connectors still on. Kind of staggered them so they weren't all in a bunch, and some tape to hold them in place. The tool was also useful for pulling sleeved wire bunch through handlebars. Got the tool in the "electrical" dept. at Lowes. They come in different sizes.

[PeWe]

Maybe something here?
http://www.vintageconnections.com/

If the harness is too old and rotten, there are new to buy on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
I ordered the harness to 4 pilot lamps from Yamiya.750 when my home made fell out of the lamp holders too often

[bjbuchanan]

Tape a single wire to the end of the bundle and tape the bundle with a taper. This gets the bundle through with sleeves and the ends on. I have done it plenty of times now. Just pull and push until it is through. The single wire makes the bundle stay small and helps fish it through fast when you start.

[DanJ]

Good info guys, Thanks

Dan

[Bodi]

For harness sleeving heatshrink tube, although floppy when unshrunk, gets too stiff when shrunk and won't enjoy constant flexing as is required around the steering stem. I'm impressed that Hondaman could part-shrink the stuff: not easy.
I use glue coated heatshrink when making permanent splices - like when removing the troublesome bullets in the alternator circuit behind the engine cover. This stuff has a hot glue layer inside the tube, and makes a totally waterproof cover over the soldered wires.
You can find original style plastic sheathing online, the braided stuff is pretty nice but won't look stock.