Gday all,

About 2 months ago I spent 5 hours on the side of the road in north Mexico tending to a melted, fused together main wiring loom. I'd stopped to take a photo of the view when I noticed the bike smoking! SHIP! I ended up nearly fixing it and then the main fuse blew so hitched a ride back to the nearest town.

Come back to present, and the same thing has just happened. I'm expecting this is due to a short the first time, and the second time, possibly a result of the washing/pressure cleaning I did a few days ago, or the open wires I temporarily fixed in Mexico by sealing with tape.

Wondering what others have done in the case of a screwed loom/harness??? I'm going to repair it with new wire. But I hear a new loom can be bought, but couldn't find where...

Hope all is well in your helmet time world.
Rubber side down,
Rossy.

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'10 Suzuki DR650. 2011+ RTW trip. Currently in Canada. www.followtheakubra.com

Sorry to hear your problem.
If you cannot locate a replacement loom, the best way to repair the existing loom is to remove the burnt out one and lay it out. Don't try and replace wire for wire on the bike as you may miss damage that will cause another short! Unwind the loom tape that holds it all together. Where the loom 'branches' in different directions, use cable ties or string to secure in bundles (if you don't, it will never fit you bike again!). One wire at a time, cut out the damaged section and solder the new wire to the loom wire and then cover the joint with heat shrink. Try not to have all the connections at the same point in the loom; try and stagger them. With the loom laid out, it is easier to check the multiblocks. Once all the damage has been removed, use loom tape or a good quality electrical tape to cover the loom again. Do not wind it too tight but it must be secure.
Also, use different coloured wires if possible and make a note of it on the wiring diagram. If you use the same colour for all wires, tracing faults in months or years to come will be difficult.
This is the method that I use, and I used to do this for a job. Just take your time, go careful and if you are not sure, take photos to refer to later.
When you refit the loom pay attention to the routing making sure that there are no 'crush' points or places where the loom is pulling. Don't use tape to attach the loom to the frame etc if you can help it as it may loosen with heat and you new loom might slip and dangle onto the exhaust!

I would also go very careful using pressure washers, as they force water into places that need to stay dry ie switches, oil seals and bearings.

Good luck,
Eddie.

Cheers Eddie!

Fantastic advice mate! At the moment I don't have much time where I am, so am just doing a bit of patchwork on the bike to prevent any more shorts. I'm moving on up to Canada and taking a break from the biking to work up there so I'll lay out the loom when I have a place up there and do it proper. I'd like to get the proper colours as you say, or it will be a nightmare in the future!

Thanks again and best of luck with your own beasty!
Rossy.

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'10 Suzuki DR650. 2011+ RTW trip. Currently in Canada. www.followtheakubra.com

The only thing I would add to FastEddie's comments is put a bit of silicone in the heatshrink tube before you shrink it or double up on the tube. ie slid on two sections of tube, shrink one over the join then another. The other option is to get some of that heat shrink that has glue in it but that sets hard.

The reason for all this is to water proof the join.

I had to replace the loom on my FJ1100 after it melted - was corrosion in the connectors which raised the resistance and therefore drew more current and overheated.

Bought a new loom from Yamaha and fitted it, so my first suggestion is try the bike manufacturer - if you can afford it! Worth a call though, you never know.

If you have a multi-meter (and if not why not? ) then you can check all the wires out for shorts to the frame (battery negative) or to each other. Best to unplug all the connectors you can so you don't get parallel paths through light bulbs etc.

If it's just one section which has melted through, you could always make up a short replacement loom for the bad secion, and either solder it in, or crimp bullet connectors / suitable plugs & sockets onto the ends of the wires and install it that way - might be easier than stripping the whole loom off the bike.