Topic: Headlight bucket wiring NEATNESS!?

[cookindaddy]

So I just finished matching up all the colored wires in the final stages of my 78 750K rebuild. What a mess I have made!

I have to ask if there is a neater way to do this? Even though I tried to be neat I end up with what looks like a bunch of colored spaghetti. I can't imagine that it looked this way when it came out of the Honda factory??

And now I have to gently push it all in far enough to clear the back of the headlamp. To me, it would be a nightmare to try to troubleshoot a mess like this.

Does anyone have any pictures of factory original bucket wiring? Surely there must be a better way to do this and still keep it factory original?

Thanks!

[Gordon]

That picture looks better than most I've seen.

[MCRider]

That picture looks better than most I've seen.

Yup that's my memory as well.

When i was a lad and worked in Honda shops, I helped the mechanics set up new bikes from the crate. The wiring was always a real rats nest.

The wires were new and soft, so that helped, vs an old bike where the wires have hardened up.

[flybox1]

i get nightmares when i think of opening mine up.
its hell in there!!!

[swellguy]

It honestly looks like half the wires that should be there aren't/

[Johnie]

Yah, can I have yours. Take a look what the previous owner left me with on my K4. Have it all sorted now, but he was dinkin' around in there.

[Bob Wessner]

I agree with all the comments. When I dismantled mine to send everything off for repainting, it was a couple of months (over the winter) before I was able to get it all back together. I was just happy it all worked. Yes, it still looks like hell in there.

[andy750]

Im not really sure what the problem is - its all colour-coded so like with like...what could be easier? 

[MJL]

Doesn't look so bad, compared to this.

and this



Kawasaki had the right idea using big connectors like they did, but after 34 years (its a '76) they are starting to crumble apart.

[IndyFour]

I recently put new bars on, requiring me to pull all of the wires for the hand controls.....gave me an opportunity to clean things up a bit.  After carefully untangling things and plugging things back in.....it absolutely looks NO BETTER.  I'd say as long as everything works and it all fits back in, be happy with it and ride.  

[swellguy]

Couldn't resist.

[Bob Wessner]

Im not really sure what the problem is - its all colour-coded so like with like...what could be easier?  

I'm color blind. 

Just kidding. It was more a case of stiff wires, fat fingers and one leftover wire that had me stumped for a bit.   Just like every time I have relocated our desktop computer at home, each time I vowed that all the wires would be arranged more neatly.. forget it, never worked, ha, ha.

[75cb550 (kyle)]

mine looks like it has twice the wiring as any of the pics that have been posted... i have thought about running them all into one big connector... but will probably never get around to it

[JS550]

It all goes away when you put the headlight in the bucket! Like turning out the lights for an ugly girl!

[RickRR]

It's better then mine lol !

[cookindaddy]

Thanks for all the words of wisdom! 

I'm going to have another go at it and see if I can't splay the wires out like a flower so that they don't bunch in the center like I have it now. They are in groups of course, by function and maybe I can arrange them around in the bucket like that. Should be easier to see the individual wires and it will mean that I won't have the whole mess squashed together when I put the headlight in place.

If I am successful, I will post a picture.

I'm still interested in a "how it came from Honda before the mechanics messed with it" picture if anyone has such a thing.

I did search here and I scanned the electrical section of Hondaman's book but Mark does not address it.

In my defense, I feel that the way that we fuss over the other little details of our wonderful machines that this certainly qualifies as a detail that could/should be better done.

[75cb550 (kyle)]

I'm still interested in a "how it came from Honda before the mechanics messed with it" picture if anyone has such a thing.

i'm not certain, but weren't these things uncrated at the dealer? i wonder if headlights were even installed when they got 'em... 

[MCRider]

I'm still interested in a "how it came from Honda before the mechanics messed with it" picture if anyone has such a thing.

i'm not certain, but weren't these things uncrated at the dealer? i wonder if headlights were even installed when they got 'em... 

yes as I mentioned in my post above, I was on the crew that set them up out of the crates. The front wheel was off, handlebars were turned sideways and bolted down, batteries had to be juiced, and a few other things. The headlights were in them but occasionally we had to get in one because the handlebars were sideways and had to be installed and a wire would come loose.

And I was the first owner of a brand new K1 from the factory (I was 17).

It was a mess from the factory.

[cookindaddy]

Thanks MCRider. I accept that this is the way it was back then.

This is where I got to. The key seemed to be to place the two multipin connectors at the top and the grounds (the greens) at the left. Then one by one, I undid the wires which were tangled and crossed over and re-connected them so they didn't cross over others. It might look much the same, but instead of a ball, it is a pancake and without too much trouble I can see any wire and trace it easily. And it ALL WORKS! And the headlight will fit in easily, there is lots of room now.

One thing I'd like to mention about the bullet connectors is that you can no more push a wire than you can push a string. The bullet connectors aren't properly mated until they click. So I found it useful to have a small dull flat blade screwdriver to push in the body of the male bullets to seat them properly. It was almost impossible to do it by pushing on the wire.

[luckysubie]

That looks pretty clean.  There are a couple of threads where people have cleaned up the bucket, put relays on the lights, and used double sided tape to get everything out of the way on the bucket walls.  It not perfect, but a hell of a lot better than the birds nest from the Honda factory.

[mystic_1]

Thanks MCRider. I accept that this is the way it was back then.

This is where I got to. The key seemed to be to place the two multipin connectors at the top and the grounds (the greens) at the left. Then one by one, I undid the wires which were tangled and crossed over and re-connected them so they didn't cross over others. It might look much the same, but instead of a ball, it is a pancake and without too much trouble I can see any wire and trace it easily. And it ALL WORKS! And the headlight will fit in easily, there is lots of room now.

One thing I'd like to mention about the bullet connectors is that you can no more push a wire than you can push a string. The bullet connectors aren't properly mated until they click. So I found it useful to have a small dull flat blade screwdriver to push in the body of the male bullets to seat them properly. It was almost impossible to do it by pushing on the wire.

Well done, that's more-or-less exactly how I arrange mine, but early 750's don't have the white molex connectors, just bullets everywhere.

+1 on clicking them together with a tool.  A little dialetric grease can be a good thing too.  Oh, and make sure they're shiny and clean inside

mystic_1

[69modelj]

It may help to run each harness as straight as possible into the back of the bucket too.
Tidying up things before entering the bucket, no criss-crossing there either, tends to keep things a little more organized and stresses everythung less.

[spitcrazy]

I'm still interested in a "how it came from Honda before the mechanics messed with it" picture if anyone has such a thing.

i'm not certain, but weren't these things uncrated at the dealer? i wonder if headlights were even installed when they got 'em... 

I have the dealer set up manual and it shows, as MCRider says, that the wiring was all connected by the dealer when uncrating. Always will be a mess unless you go to molex connectors.

[cookindaddy]

I think that I got it cleaned up to my satisfaction and working. (that's the important thing!)

With the wires spread out in a "pancake" it is a lot easier to see a particular wire and they aren't as likely to be damaged through rough handling. Each and every blade of every connector is clean and snapped into place.

As with the other parts of our fine old machines, attention to detail makes the difference.

Today I was setting up the points plate...but that's another story.

Thanks for all your help!

[750K8 Kev]

I hope mine looks anywhere close to that when I'm done with it.