Topic: making own electrics?

[red_haint]

I'm nowhere near that stage of redoing the electrics, but planning ahead, is it reasonable to say that the wiring can be completely redone and new harnesses made on a 78 750? Just a quick look at the rats nest says the system is so corroded as to be unreliable and i'd just plain feel better if I had new wires throughout.  I also plan on getting different controls so maybe it would be easier?? oh, I can follow directions easy enough, but I have no real experience in creating circuits and whatnot, but I can generally muck through it and figure things out.

[bryanj]

Methodically, carefully and sensibly and then its easy--HONEST

[red_haint]

are the connections made with regular connectors? No special stuff like the modern bikes?

[bryanj]

If you are building totaly from scratch use whatever connectors you want, The original Honda bullets are an odd size( i know where i can get them in UK but not US) but the spades are standard.

[kettlesd]

Bryanj is right on the money. I was terrified at the prospect of having to remake a harness for a 550 i once had - only to find it not a bad job at all once i got at it.

 Use your old harness as a template so you know the guage/length of wires you need. If you plan on buying one large spool of wire for all of it that is fine, however you do need to color-code each subsystem (turn-lights, horn, points, etc) for future use and troubleshooting. I bought a color-pack of different color shrink tubing, cut them into 1/8" slices, and used different combinations of color tubes to label the terminal ends. Try to match up the stock codes as much as possible, but make good notes in your manual of any non-stock labelling combos.

Good Luck - please let us know how you make out.

[spitfire]

Have a look through this

http://www.sohc4.us/forums/index.php?topic=13258.msg128318#msg128318

[SD750F]

red_haint,

Or you can look here:

http://www.sohc4.us/forums/index.php?topic=15885.0

Scott

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Stock OEM style connectors kits at www.vintageconnections.com

[medic09]

so my wife was perusing a Shadow forum (she rides a Shadow 600cc) and showed me your post.  how's the project coming?

[red_haint]

i'm just getting started with it! I'm payin cash for everything so the going will be slow, I just want to plan ahead, nothing like getting a good head of steam going and then hitting a wall when it comes to an important part.

I like the heat shrink color coding idea, might end up doing that as i imagine multi colored wire is a little on the high side, thanks for the help!

[kettlesd]

Glad we could help. Speaking of Heat shrink, i shoudl add that i bought a 5-foot piece of  1" tubing and fed all the made up wires through. Shrunk 'er when i was done. Did a fair bit better job than wrapping with tape to bundle 'em together.

[Raul CB750K1]

I will put my two cents here. If you are going to do everything from scratch, forget about connectors. They are there just to speed up things at the assembly line. They tend to loose, rust and create problems in the long term. Just get yourself the schematic, make sure you understand everything, and run the wires directly from point A to point B. When you have to splice use the soldering iron. Plan ahead how many wires will go where in order to put them together inside the tubing, and that's it. That's what I'm going to do with my spanish Sanglas resto.


Raul

[Rsnip988]

Northern tool sells waterproof connectors that you crimp and heat which seals swimingly,   couldnt find them anywhere else


I redid mine from scratch as half of them had been chopped out for some reason, its simple if you can follow the elec diagram in the manual adn you have the whiz kids around here if yuo get really confused

Good luck

[BobbyR]

I will put my two cents here. If you are going to do everything from scratch, forget about connectors. They are there just to speed up things at the assembly line. They tend to loose, rust and create problems in the long term. Just get yourself the schematic, make sure you understand everything, and run the wires directly from point A to point B. When you have to splice use the soldering iron. Plan ahead how many wires will go where in order to put them together inside the tubing, and that's it. That's what I'm going to do with my spanish Sanglas resto.


Raul

Raul is correct. connectors are for factories, not good connections. A good solder joint with some shrink tubing is cheaper and better if you need to splice. You would of course use connectors for things that need to be unplugged like the headlight bulb. But from A to B a solid run of wire is best. You would be surprised how much extra voltage eliminating connectors would yield.

[oldfart]

If you are building totaly from scratch use whatever connectors you want, The original Honda bullets are an odd size( i know where i can get them in UK but not US) but the spades are standard.

The bullets and the canon plugs are both available from Honda, and from a number of other sources, in the U.S.  As for making your own harness however, I would discourage it.  Look for a good used on on eBay instead.

[CrisPDuk]

Not done one for my bike (yet), but i have built looms from scratch for two rally cars and a road car in the past.

I would echo what bryan & Raul have said, slowly and methodically is the way to go, use the old loom as a pattern to get your lengths roughly correct. As Raul says, avoid the connector blocks, run your wires A-B where possible. The blocks were just put in by the factory to make assembly easier and allow different options packs to be used (see the thread about the spare green wire).
Also, on any connectors you do retain, say for the lights, ignition pack, switchgear, etc, give them all a good coat of dielectric grease when assembling.

Oh yeah, and document everything as you do it, not afterwards. As well as diagrams make a schedule of your chose coding AND STICK TO IT! It makes life so much easier in the long run

PS: Bryan, you have any objction to me pinching your heat shrink colour coding method? It must be far less time consuming and more durable than my previous paint or tape methods!

PPS: For anyone who's interested, it is possible to remove nearly 80kg (160lb) of ancillary wire & connectors from a mid 90's UK spec hatchback and still have it run & operate correctly I dread to think how much unnecessary rubbish a new car contains