Topic: Wires outside of bars..PICS NEEDED!

[shizzomynizzo]

Hi guys and gals,

I have seen a few posts where people ran the wires outside the bars instead of drilling and running them through.
A relief has to be cut, or a notch to allow the wires to come through the controls.

anyone have pics of a notch they made?

It seems like it has to be huge for all the wires on the right side. Just want to see what it looks like before I do it.

Thanks

[Gordon]

Sorry, no pics, but the notch is pretty much exactly the same size as the bundle of wires.  You cut the notch to about the right size, fit the bar, if it's not big enough cut a little more, and repeat until it's the right size. 

I think if you try to cut based on a picture of a notch that somebody else made, you very well may end up making it too big leaving room for the wire harness to move around causing the edge of the notch to cut into the wires and shorting them out. 

[shizzomynizzo]

Sorry, no pics, but the notch is pretty much exactly the same size as the bundle of wires.  You cut the notch to about the right size, fit the bar, if it's not big enough cut a little more, and repeat until it's the right size. 

I think if you try to cut based on a picture of a notch that somebody else made, you very well may end up making it too big leaving room for the wire harness to move around causing the edge of the notch to cut into the wires and shorting them out. 

I understand how to do it and to make it the same size as the wires, but I want to see how it will look before I do something that cannot be reversed.

[Fritz]

Hallo!

I've just received a new right control for my '75 550.
It already has a notch:

[Gordon]

Hallo!

I've just received a new right control for my '75 550.
It already has a notch:

Fritz!  You can't post a picture like that and then not tell us where you got it!

[Fritz]

Fritz!  You can't post a picture like that and then not tell us where you got it!

Your are right. That was really rude!

David Silver sent it over the Channel:

http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/parts/part_5001/

The starter button is wired black and red/yellow. The head light will stay on while operating the starter.

[Gordon]

That's cool!  Did the '76 550F come stock with the wiring outside of the handlebar? 

At $73 each I'll probably just stick with my home-cut switch pod, but it's nice to know there are good options.  Thanks!

[Fritz]

Did the '76 550F come stock with the wiring outside of the handlebar?

Dunno. My bike is a German '75 model and it had clubmans on it when I bought it earlier this year. I replaced with a Tomaselli which came without the holes so I'm very happy with the switch from DS . What I do know is that my '75 is quite differnent from the US model (handlebars, turn signal, tail light, tank colour/decals at least) and the fiches that I've checked on www.cmsnl.com indicate that the US handlebars are drilled.

[Don R]

The new replacement switches are made in china and have the wiring notch to make them fit more applications. The late model bikes had the wires outside the bars. On my 750  75F I wanted the original look so I used the old bottom with the new start switch moved into it (I had to ream the hole a little for the start button) and the new top with the old red engine kill button. (the new kill button was purple)

[Toxic]

Sorry don't have a pic but it is easy to do and since the relief is on the bottom of the housing it looks factory.  A little touch up paint and you would never know.

I would advise getting a proper carbide cutting bit.  I use a 3/8" and it worked real well.

I tried using a dremel with a 1/2 course sanding roll and it was not doing a good job.

The carbide bit set me back about $27.00.

The whole right tool for the right job thing.

One important note is that when carving out the cut-out you want to make a small Shield to fit between the housing and the internal wires.  I took a 1/2 X 2" strip of metal and shoved it between the inside of the housing and the wires closest to the cutting bit.

This way you won't have to take the whole assembly apart and the wires will not be damaged.

[HawaiiMike]

My U.S. '76 CB550 has the wires in the handlebars.

[Duke McDukiedook]

Some bikes run the wires in the bars, some run them outside, YMMV.
I drilled holes in the bottom of both my controls to get them to fit on the Raask Jota bars I installed. Works fine save that pesky blinker control, always wants to give me problems...

[celebutante]

I did mine with a dremel with a routing bit and it worked fine. The thing no one has mentioned is that the metal is pretty soft (I assume it's aluminum)... obviously it's more work than wood, but as metal goes, it was a lot easier than I expected. The only drag is that little metal slivers fly everywhere (more a problem for me because I did it at my kitchen table!). Just be sure and clean up really good, because you don't want those inside the housings shorting things out.

Obviously you want the notches on the bottom so you can somewhat hide the wires under the bars. Couple of zip ties, and you're set. If I can do it, you can 

[SWEETPEAUK]

cb 400/4 and CB750 F2 controls The F2 ones have a milled out notch on the right control, and a new bottom casting for the left one.
See picture. I would not think a pair of s/h controls would run to much on ebay.