What do I need to redo my wires on my CB550?

[haddock]

Hi guys!

I'm planning to make a new wire harness for my 77' CB550, and since the bike is not located at my place, I need some advice on what I need to buy for making a wire harness.

I plan to remove my indicators and high beam light.

So far have I bought this:

0,5m of:
-10mm2 Black wire

3m of:
-0,75mm2 Red wire
-0,75mm2 Black wire
-0,75mm2 Green wire
-0,75mm2 Orange wire
-0,75mm2 White wire
-0,75mm2 Brown wire
-0,75mm2 Grey wire
-0,75mm2 Blue wire

3m of:
-1,5mm2 Red wire
-1,5mm2 Black wire

-6 Japanese double socket 3.9mm Bullet Connectors
-10 Motorcycle Bullet Connector 3.9mm Male & Female Japanese

-Crimp tool

What else do I need? - I suppose I will have to buy some cable socks or heatshrink.

 

[TurdFurguson]

I would have just bought one from Spark Moto..

 

[haddock]

I would have just bought one from Spark Moto..

Where is the fun in that? Also I'm on a budget, and from Europe, the shipping and taxes is just no fun for that.

 

[Sonreir]

You're going to need at least twice as many connectors and you'll probably want some yellow wire, too.

 

[Sonreir]

Also, the CB550 uses 3.5mm connectors for the controls, so be prepared to pinch the existing ones if you stick with 3.9mm.

 

[Tim]

You'll get loads of good advice here. A good diagram and lots of study is key. It's pretty simple once you think about it in sections. Turn signals vs. headlight vs. ignition....

Expect a lot of all of this:

 

[surffly]

vintage connection sells some great stuff.

 

[wowbagger]

Yup, I got my connectors and the crimp tool from vintage connections. Made my life much easier.

Also, if you are doing the work to build a new harness, go the extra step and solder your connections. It takes a bit of time but it's worth the effort and strengthens the crimp.

 

[wowbagger]

Oh, I'd also recommend plumbers tape as a wrap instead of electrical tape. It won't break down and get the wires slimy from adhesive.

On mine I also used some braided wire sleeve with heat shrink tubing on the ends to dress up the exposed parts.

 

[haddock]

Finally I got some time for the old Honda.

I've bought a bunch of extra connectors, some sleeving, yellow and green wire, so I think i'm almost ready.
Now my question is about the wireing diagram.

I've got this diagram so far:

I have removed the high beam, the tachometer and the signals.

Further more I would like some advice to what to do now.
My plans are:
New ignition with start-function - like a car (this one only got 3 connectors)
Use the old start button as horn.
Low beam and rear light always on, so I can remove the control switch on the left side on the handlebar.

Can someone help me out here? What do I have to do on the diagram?

 

[Sonreir]

For the new ignition switch: Thick red wire to the battery pole, thick black wire to the ignition pole, and the red/yellow wire from the starter button to the start pole.

Changing the solenoid: The black wire on the solenoid should now be grounded or connected into a spare green wire from the harness

Start button as horn: Yellow/red wire gets plugged into the light green wire from the horn. No other changes.

Low beam always on: No changes. Diagram looks good for that already.

Tail light always on: Plug the brown wire into a black wire or attach the brown wire to the ignition pole on the new switch.

 

[haddock]

For the new ignition switch: Thick red wire to the battery pole, thick black wire to the ignition pole, and the red/yellow wire from the starter button to the start pole.

Changing the solenoid: The black wire on the solenoid should now be grounded or connected into a spare green wire from the harness

Start button as horn: Yellow/red wire gets plugged into the light green wire from the horn. No other changes.

Low beam always on: No changes. Diagram looks good for that already.

Tail light always on: Plug the brown wire into a black wire or attach the brown wire to the ignition pole on the new switch.

Thank you!
I have made the changes into the diagram now, but since I'm gonna remove the high/low beam control switch, what are I'm gonna do with the three wires going into the switch?

 

[Sonreir]

Splice them all together. Black wire has power and now feeds low beam directly though the white and speedo gauge directly though the brown/white.

 

[haddock]

Splice them all together. Black wire has power and now feeds low beam directly though the white and speedo gauge directly though the brown/white.

Thank for your help so far, I have learned a LOT about wire harness already, and decided to start today - not the easiest thing I found out.

Well. I need some help to get moving

First, what do I juse to connect my wires? I mean, I have to put together 3-4 wires into one. like a bounch of black wires, and green wires. I'm talking about the fat dots on the diagram. What are these "connections" called?

Second. I can't find out what this thingy is:

It seems to be connected to the starter solenoid. The colours of the two wires going into it is green/red and whitish/red

 

[Sonreir]

1.) Either solder them or use connectors. Connectors are commonly found in "double" and "triple" varieties. You can also use a power terminal which can contain up to 16 branches if you're looking to centralize things.

2.) It's a diode used to make sure you're either in neutral or you have the clutch engaged before the starter button will work. I usually bypass it at the clutch switch.

 

[haddock]

Wuhu! Almost done with the wireing. I'm pretty sure that is the last time i'll ever touch the wire harness on a bike again. What a mess!

I have one more question.
I have decided to keep the right hand control switch, but there is two wires coming from it i'm nut sure what is for.

The brown/blue wire, and the black/red wire.
Anybody knows which function these wire has?

 

[Tim]

The wiring diagram should be in the manual - if you don't have it, you can download it here:

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=20071

 

[haddock]

The wiring diagram should be in the manual - if you don't have it, you can download it here:

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=20071

I have looked in the manuel, but there is no brown/blue or black/red wire.

 

[wowbagger]

Open up the right-hand control and post a photo of the wiring inside. We should be able to trace where they're connected.

 

[Sonreir]

Brown/blue is the output wire from the headlight switch to the fuse box which then becomes the brown/white wire. Brown/white wire feeds the gauge backlights as well as going back into the ignition switch and joining up with the brown (which ends up at the tail light).

Black/red is also an output wire from the headlight switch and goes to the fuse box. It exits the fuse box as a the black/yellow wire which is used as the power feed wire for the headlight dimmer switch.

Unless you've redone the harness from scratch with a thicker black main wire, I recommend keeping these wires in use. You can skip the fuse box and just relay on the main fuse if you want. If so, the black/red from the right control can connect directly to the black/yellow on the left control and the brown/blue can connect to any of the brown/white wires up at the head of the bike.