Down under, an idiot and a 400F

[andycafe]

Supercheap auto does have a great selection of different coloured wire in rolls and of various gauges, i've got a couple from there ;D

 

[spotty]

dunno if you have JAYCAR up there north of the border but they're like dicksmiths used to be, sell loads of little leccy bits and wire of various sizes and colours by the metre

 

[neevo]

dunno if you have JAYCAR up there north of the border but they're like dicksmiths used to be, sell loads of little leccy bits and wire of various sizes and colours by the metre

Yep I've got one here. I was going to buy my connector blocks from them. Will check them out in the morning, I had a look on their website and the colours were a bit limited.

Andy didn't think Supercheap would be any good but will definitely swing past after Jarcar.

Worst case I've found a really good/cheap retailer in the UK with a tonne of colour options.

 

[crazypj]

I don't put anything on gaskets, even most of the aftermarket have heat activated sealer in them.
It's not a good idea to put oil in until your ready to run motor though

 

[neevo]

Argh! Just got gasket kit from eBay (shipped from US) and they sent the 550 kit instead if the 400. Shitballs!

Anyone want 4 x gasket kit for a 550/750 in Oz? If not I will get them to fix it up.

 

[crazypj]

550 and 750 are completely different motors, gasket set will be for one or the other but not both

 

[neevo]

Bought some bits for wiring the bike this morning. Not doing anything drastic, just relocating bits under the seat (extending wires where required), generally tidying stuff up (like replacing shitty connector blocks and shrink wrapping wires together) and wiring in the RFID, relay, new blade fuse box I've ordered etc. The stuff:

I couldn't find bullet connectors like the bike came with so I had to buy plastic coated ones:

Are these ok for automotive use? If not I will need to return them. Cheers.

 

[andycafe]

Yes those connectors are ok, but I would tin the ends of your wires with solder before crimping to avoid corrosion and therefore issuses also a bit of heat shrink over the back of the the connector and the wire is a nice finish 8)

 

[neevo]

Cheers Andy!

 

[Kanticoy]

Yep, do yourself a favor and pull the plastic off of those, then crimp and solder/heat shrink. Those plastic things are the pits. I use those connectors all the time with this modification,

 

[neevo]

Yep, do yourself a favor and pull the plastic off of those, then crimp and solder/heat shrink. Those plastic things are the pits. I use those connectors all the time with this modification,

That's good for a solid connection. What about one that needs to be able to be undone? Leave the plastic on?

 

[neevo]

Cam chain tensioner has been fixed. Turns out the one I got from my buddy Brian is in better shape, so I thought I would fix that one up and have the original available if I buggered it up. Put the tensioner in my vice with a socket over the large pin and and bolt on the other side to press out the pin, it worked a treat but took a bit of force.

I mildly cleaned up the burrs and slight polished the joining faces to minimize the friction. Whacked it back in the vice and pressed it all together. There was a bit of wobble in the pin although I couldn't get it back out again. For safety's sake I popped a couple of tack welds on the pin with the TIG. Not sure what a new arm should be like but this one is tight on the pin (no lateral wobble at all) but moves with zero friction (will swing if you let it). Piccies of course:

After tack welding it:

 

[crazypj]

I used to use them, you can just dip wire end in some dielectric grease before crimping.
I use the original style crimp connectors nowadays, only issue, you have to order and wait for them (although Radio Shack has some sizes)
I'm going to get a new pair of crimps sometime, the ones I'm using at present are at least 30 yrs old
http://www.vintageconnections.com/

 

[neevo]

I prefer the dielectric grease idea as opposed to soldering, much simpler!

I have stripped the loom back to bare wires as the old tape was looking very tatty. Here it is in all its glory:

I am starting to think it might be much easier to just rewire the bike again from scratch as not much is left that uses the original loom and many things have changed places (controls, electrical components). Thinking of pulling it all apart, running the cables exactly where I want them, getting rid of the stuff I don't need (multiple lighting feeds for all the instrument globes etc) and potentially running more frame earths to remove a bit more excess wiring.

Is this a mistake?

Secondly I've noticed a bit of grey tape under the black tape where some connections have been made. Is my loom not original or was this how it was done?

 

[crazypj]

probably original, there are various wires soldered together in loom.
It's probably why Honda wiring was/is more reliable than Yamaha, they crimped the connections, sometimes so tight we had to order a new harness as soon as bike was uncrated

 

[BCBarker]

Glad that tensioner was serviceable! Can't wait to see this sucker done and running!

 

[BCBarker]

Also I think you are on the right path with the wiring. I'm chasing electrical gremlins in my 350k. Found one where the dash lights were pinched and intermittent and the ignition! Bike cuts off mid ride if the key vibrates the wrong way! Do it custom and you will have no questions. Or less questions....

 

[neevo]

Glad that tensioner was serviceable! Can't wait to see this sucker done and running!

Yeah thanks Brian, the tensioner arms were in much better condition too which has saved me buying new ones. Well worth it, cheers.

 

[spotty]

a mate of mine (who's a bike auto elec) reckons tape like that grey stuff put both his kids thru school...........

honda never used anything like that, when they did use tape it was black and by now will have no 'sticky' left on it (if my old 750/4 was anything to go by)

start peeling that stuff and you'll probably find bits of stripped wire twisted together and all sorts of nastiness

you'll be much better off building your own loom and it'll be another string to your already impressive bow, the bikes come this far, you don't want a manky patched together looking (and behaving) loom when the rest of the bikes looking that awesome

just my opinion, but i've been there and done that

ps if you were in melbourne i'd refer you to my mates shop but you're way up there so i guess not

 

[hillsy]

You can buy wiring loom tape - it's different to insulation tape in that it's thinner and doesn't have much adhesive.


Also, I don't know if they still sell them, but I got the original style crimp connectors from Dick Smith a few years back - they sold them individually and from memory it worked out to being $1 per complete connector (with the clear shield). Jaycar might have them too.