Topic: wire management

[hymodyne]

the halogen headlight i'm running uses all the available space inside the headlight bucket. does anyone have suggestions/pics for organizing the wiring that usually is concealed within the bucket?

I'm also planning to reconstruct my wiring harness. I've looked at used ones on ebay but expect that they would present new problems with old wiring. I thought about using new generic (colorwise) wire to reconstruct the entire harness then within an inch or two of the connectors attaching a small piece of the original colored wire to the, let's say, black generic wire with a piece of clear heat shrink tubing so I can follow and use original wiring diagrams.

thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

 hym

[TwoTired]

Understand that Honda used high strand count to improve flexibility and the ability to withstand vibration without work hardening the copper within.  Your standard automotive wire will not be as high a quality and is unlikely to be as robust.  Unless the stock wires have been exposed to corrosion, intense sunlight, or have the insulation coating damaged in some way, they are still as good today as they were when new.
If you are still determined to replace the wires, then look for wire that the robotics industry uses.  It will withstand vibration and constant flexing as well as the Honda selected wires.

Cheers,

[FunJimmy]

Considering only 8% of the male population is color blind, I think that is an awesome idea.
Just might use it. May I?

[rhinoracer]

I did some repairs to my harness the way you describe, it doesn't look that clean, plus I used solder on the splices which made them rigid.

I think a couple of months ago someone was building a harness with plain colored wire and numbered terminals, he offered to do extra ones for anybody interested. If you search you'll find it.

[hymodyne]

Understand that Honda used high strand count to improve flexibility and the ability to withstand vibration without work hardening the copper within.  Your standard automotive wire will not be as high a quality and is unlikely to be as robust.  Unless the stock wires have been exposed to corrosion, intense sunlight, or have the insulation coating damaged in some way, they are still as good today as they were when new.
If you are still determined to replace the wires, then look for wire that the robotics industry uses.  It will withstand vibration and constant flexing as well as the Honda selected wires.

Cheers,

So... I should focus on replacing/cleaning the connectors and checking resistance with an ohm meter?

hym

[TwoTired]

So... I should focus on replacing/cleaning the connectors and checking resistance with an ohm meter?

I would.   However, an ohm meter may not be an effective tool, unless it is capable of some very very small measurements.  A milliohmeter is a more appropriate tool for this task, along with some skilled measurement techniques.

You might try a sample comparison.  Pick a physically long wire circuit and clean the contact surfaces. Measure it's resistance.  Make a sample replacement wire similar to the routing you would use on the bike. Measure its end-to-end resistance.  Compare the measurements to see just how much improvement exists.  If you know the current expected to be used in this circuit (higher currents are more critical), you can calculate voltage/power loss differences between the sample and the existing wiring restored.  Make the decision replace vs. repair based on this information.

Cheers,