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Shortening looms - what's the best way?

3K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Oli 
#1 ·
Its winter, and its time to do some fiddling with my 97 Fireblade .

Last year, I took the fairing off the bike, stuck on two big headlights, and some flat bars I had just folded the loom into a bundle and stuck it all under the tank. But something bad happened, and shorted the speedo, so its time to do things properly.

I bought a small universal speedo and idiot lights rev counter etc clock with a bunch of wires sticking out of it but no wiring diagram, so I need to cut my loom, so why not do it factory style? ;)

I have an idea where I create a junction box out of my current loom and place it under the tank, in the space on the frame behind the headstock. This box would use a collection of multi terminal connectors so I can cut the loom, and plug the end components all into the same box.

So using a 4 x 4 x 2 inch plastic box with the terminal blocks on one side, leading to the smaller terminal blocks on the other side of the box.

Is this something people do? I'm looking for inspiration on how best to do it.

Thanks
 
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#2 ·
The best way is to build a full custom harness using new wire and high quality (ideally waterproof) connectors.

The way I actually did it was to strip off the stock harness, yank the gauge / idiot light / atari box from the core, pull out any wiring related to relays or turn signals, and re-connect the remaining wires as needed with no concern for actual terminal ends by just mashing together whatever connectors they had with pliers and electrical tape. There's still a lot of extra length in places, so it gets wadded up under the seat and wrapped to the frame with bicycle inner tube, in full view. There's a big gap between "what people do" and "the best way"....

Sounds like you are shooting for a sensible middle ground, so I say roll with it. I don't know why you would need such a big terminal for just a universal speedo though. If you are looking to get rid of excess length in other wires, it makes more sense just to shorten each wire at an existing connection, rather than stick in a NEW connection.
 
#4 ·
sounds like a plan boss, any time I've shortened looms for bar controls etc i've just snipped individual wires resoldered back together , slipped on a bit of heatshrink. mind stagger the cuts or you'll end up with a big lump of snipped and joined wires
 
#6 ·
Having looked again at my bike, I realised I had it right first time.
The issue is that I need to cut so many cables at the same place, so I can't stagger it - that is why I need the junction box.
If I am going to have to cut all those cables, I need to be very methodical and probably use a much smaller box, with far less cable!
Think this is going to be one of those where you have to write a plan!
It will be a tiny wiring diagram in a box!
 
#7 ·
On those bikes, if you stuff the wiring where you have in mind, it can upset the bike's breathing. How about fitting stick coils, then you can use the space where the coil packs currently sit?
 
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