Rewire...The WHOLE BIKE

Has anyone rewired their bike if so.. Can it be done cheaply? if So, how?

Ive been researching that very thing and I'm not willing to rewire the whole thing wire by wire. the only solution is a new harness. $269.00 for my KZ1000 from: www.americanclassix.com/

Re-wiring the whole bike is deffinately not necessary, but if your obsessed witht he idea, it can be done but not cheaply.

You deffinately need to use all the oem colors, or new colors and make yourself a new diagram. If you use a spool of one color, it will be a nightmare later to diagnose anything! :laugh:

New harness is the best way I think, then just make your own branch connections as you like.

GL.

One item not mentioned in rewiring your bike is for the most part the Japanese used non tinned(not solder coated wires) in the harness.

A tinned wire is more resistant to corrosion, unfortunately it's stiffer and will suffer metal fatgue especially around places that flex a lot(like where the main harness(or loom for the Brits and our friends to the north).

Darkangel wrote:

Has anyone rewired their bike if so.. Can it be done cheaply? if So, how?

Yes, with a used harness off fleabay.

I had to hand wire about half of an old Jaguar once. WAYYYY more work than it sounds like. Buy a harness.

Wiring a bike from scratch can have a wide range of difficulty. A bare bones setup where the switches etc are already in good condition can take about 4 hours. That's with about 90% all new wires. If the bike is to be basically stock and the components are messed up or missing, a scratch re-wire can take days.

For a bare bones, you would use new wire from rolls. It's easier than trying to disassemble a stock harness. If you are going to keep everything on the bike, a harness is a better way to go, but I have not yet seen a used harness that didn't have at least a half dozen spots where the wire was broken (but still making contact) or were hanging on by a thread. Also, they all have the bad spots in the same place, so many times another used harness will have the same problems as the existing harness.

The holy grail of doing a complete, stock rewire is to get a NEW stock harness. At anything under $400, it's money well spent.

With scrathc wiring, the main determining factor is experience, as is with just about everything. My first scratch rewire took about 2 days. The same rewire would probably take about 4 or 5 hours. The first time, you spend a lot of time looking at diagrams etc. After a few years, you just do it all from memory.

If you realy want to rewire your bike, make sure you have all the many and various connectors,wire of the correct size and color, wire strippers,terminal crimpers and wrapping tape.

Electrical Connectors, Wire, And supplies
www.easternbeaver.com
www.vintageconnections.com
www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu
www.electricalconnection.com
www.electricalconnection.com/electrical-components/hitachi.htm


Motorcycle Wiring Repair Supplies
www.mcmelectronics.com
Tena Auto Ranging Multimeter
72-7750

---

Dry Vinyl Tape From Tape Brothers
www.tapebrothers.com

Dry Vinyl Tapes are non-adhesive plasticized polyvinyl chloride film tape. Easy unwinding characteristics - tape clings firmly to it’s own backing for tight wrap. High elongation and good strength to permit trouble-free binding of wiring harnesses for the automotive industry. Dry vinyl tape also used for plating applications- high stretch, good “cling” characteristics and great conformability provide for superior masking in hard chrome and other plating applications.

DVT-76B 2 in. x 250 ft. Black Dry Vinyl Tape
2 in. x 250 ft. Black Dry Vinyl Tape
Our Price: $6.54 Per Roll

www.wiringharness.com
• Non-Adhesive Vinyl Harness Tape, made to the original mil-thickness.
• Just wrap it tightly around the wires and knot the end.
• 100 foot roll is enough to do 3 to 4 harnesses complete.
• Available in three different widths, as original.
• Correct for all years (1955 to Present).

Part # Description Price
R0058272 3/4" Vinyl Harness Tape, 100 foot roll $12.00
R0058276 1" Vinyl Harness Tape, 100 foot roll $13.00
R0067108 1-1/4" Vinyl Harness Tape, 100 foot roll $15.00



www.keefeperformance.com/silicone_tape.html
"36 Foot" roll of Self bonding silicone tape
High temperature silicone tape
This Mil-spec silicone tape is Rated up to 500+ degrees

Made of silicone rubber, this self fusing silicone tape will protect most all electrical wiring, connectors, hoses, spark plug boots and more from extremely high temperatures. The self vulcanizing process automatically begins when the two sides of the tape are put into contact. A catalyst on one side of the tape begins the bonding process as soon as wrapping takes place.
great for all electrical wiring, harness, cable, and hose applications
Colors: Red and Black
Exceeds MIL AA-59163 TYPE 1 & 2
ASTM-D 2137 / -65C
ASTM D-412
ASTM D-149
Electrical, Home, Auto, Truck, RV, Marine, Motorcycle, Military, Commercial, Industrial, Generator

---

Heat Shrink Butt Splices From Cable Organizers
www.cableorganizers.com
PART # WIRE GAUGE COLOR PACK QTY PRICE
NSPA-KS5-20 22-24 AWG CLEAR 50 $13.89
NSPA-KS5-16 18-20 AWG RED 50 $13.49
NSPA-KS5-14 14-16 AWG BLUE 50 $13.82
NSPA-KS5-10 10-12 AWG YELLOW 50 $16.48

_____________________________________________________

There are just way to many splices and crap in the wiring harness, and I believe that it is part of the reason My CDI, and stator have burned out. So i would like to do something about it. I also figured since I will add a new fuse box, and HID lighting, and a new speedo that maybe I should look into the wiring be done correctly. Perhaps a full rewire is not needed, but what do you guys suggest? besides buying another harness