Wiring - go new, or reuse

[Marz]

Ok, I have a CB450 that I am getting close to finishing a ground up rebuild on but I have a question;

I have the old wiring harness, it is in decent shape but a good portion of it is electrical tape and old. I am not planning on running anything more than the bare bones (blinkers, headlight, tail light etc.).

So my question is this, should I start from scratch or try to use the old harness?

Has anyone had experience with this?

 

[Roustabout]

I modified the existing harness on my bike. I stripped all of the sheathing & electrical tape to get to the bare harness and then got rid of the wires I didn't need. I re-wrapped everything with a rubber harness tape made by Plymouth rubber company. There is no glue on it - the rubber sticks to itself.

 

[Marz]

Thanks, that is what I was kinda thinking to do but the old wiring seems like it could be more problematic and in turn more effort than doing it from scratch.

Anyone wire their bike from scratch and live to tell the tale?

 

[intrudin]

I modified the existing harness on my bike. I stripped all of the sheathing & electrical tape to get to the bare harness and then got rid of the wires I didn't need. I re-wrapped everything with a rubber harness tape made by Plymouth rubber company. There is no glue on it - the rubber sticks to itself.

Dave where do you get that tape i checked out thre webb site neat stuff ;D ;D

 

[Roustabout]

I found some at a local industrial electronic supply company - Neutron Electronics. They are just up the road from Royal Distributing. You might also find some at a classic car parts supplier.

 

[Tim]

Check out the tail end of my XS650 build thread and you'll see what re-wiring from scratch is like.

I'm a little obsessive about it so its taking FOREVER (although I haven't touched it in 2 months).

Its a long read so feel free to jump to the last few posts where I start up the wiring, but it's a fun read if you have the time.

http://dotheton.com/index.php?topic=448.0

Click on the images for full size pics.

 

[johnson_steve]

Anyone wire their bike from scratch and live to tell the tale?

My cb400 is wired from scratch with all led signal, brake and indicator lights. I kind of just add wires as I need them, then when I tear the bike down this winter I'll document what I have and make a proper harness.

 

[Marz]

Thanks so much for the replies guys!

Tim, beautiful job on your wiring! Your posts will help out tons!
I think I am going to use your diagram as a loose guide to make my own.

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate it and I will post up in my build thread as I go through this.

http://dotheton.com/index.php?topic=5084.0