Custom Wiring Improvements For Honda Cafe Racer Build CB750 SOHC + NEW Electric Workshop Heater | 30

Custom Wiring Improvements For Honda Cafe Racer Build CB750 SOHC + NEW Electric Workshop Heater | 30
In this video I improve the custom wiring on my project Honda cafe racer CB750 SOHC build, and as an added extra I treated myself to a Mirrorstone Aurora Infrared Bar Heater for my motorcycle workshop to make tinkering through colder weather more enjoyable.
You can check out Surya Heating's bar heater range here: www.suryaheati...
Or shop them on Amazon here: www.amazon.co....
For wiring improvements I used:
Waterproof Electrical Connector Set 352 piece: ebay.us/g4J9ql
Ring Terminal Electrical Connectors: ebay.us/rgT0Lk
Crimping Tool: ebay.us/uPDm7O
Bullet Electrical Connector Set 400 piece: ebay.us/hlyTrx
Nearly every time I have had on the road issues with a motorbike it has usually turned out to be electrical problems. Although I have had my fair share of running out of fuel moments too. 🙂
To head this off at the pass on this cafe racer build, I decided to give the electrics another good looking at, especially as I am now getting near to the time I will be able to ride this bike.
With the wiring being largely custom on this motorcycle, I'll only have my self to blame if the electrical system is unreliable. I tried to steer away as much as possible from weak or cheap electrical connectors, but equally there's only so much you can do when its not a factory wiring loom.
Largely, my intention is to simplify the custom wiring and make the routing and each terminal and each connection as high quality as possible, to prevent a future of frustrating electrical issues. Ultimately I'm in the UK, so whether I like it or not, at some point this bike is going to get wet in a rain shower, so I need to do everything I can to mitigate that and be confident that the wiring will survive it.
I did put quite a bit of effort in first time around to make sure everything worked well. But some of the peripherals, indicators and rear light etc where just plugged in and I felt could be better. I really wanted to do the full OCD job, making everything not only well connected, but with the wiring routed in a way that looked fantastic. It is great having these ambitions, but it pays not to be too disappointed when you don’t quite achieve them 🙂
I gathered together all of my different connector types and even bought a kit with a variety of waterproof connectors, which I didn’t use in the end. Got out the soldering iron and the hot air gun and got on with the job.
I know that a major problem point is always where the wires go between the frame and the forks and handlebars. This is a problem because the forks turn in relation to the frame, and the wire is always moving and needs to have some slack to allow this. The movement can cause two issues, one the connectors become disconnected, the second being that the constant flexing can cause breakages.
I took out the headlight and looked at the wiring in there and back from there to the frame first. I changed and shortened a lot of the wires so that there wasn’t too much of a “birds nest” in the headlight bowl, and the wire to the frame was adequately long.
Where possible I followed a convention of socket connectors on the live feed side of the wiring and bullets on the earth side, in an effort to stop future shorts occurring. I also where possible crimped and soldered the connectors on, with additional heat shrink for good measure.
I know I will probably have to have another look at some of the wiring in the future, but for now I think it is pretty good. You always think you could have done better, and improve all of the time. Keep watching to see if I do have any problems with it.
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[@dcmotive]

Looking good! Ought to be ready for the spring!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Can't wait! Every time we have a dry day my hopes raise, only to be dashed. But it wont be long now :)

[@drumsetman8667]

Can’t wait to see it riding!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Very soon! If we had a straight run of dry weather I would probably have had it out already. But, we get one nice day then 10 of rain! Roll on Spring.

[@cabovermike]

Never thought i'd be watching a "spaghetti" western film today,. i would be tempted to leave the wires long and tuck them away in a ducted loom protector, as for behind the headlight out of sight out of mind, japanese style, i suppose the proper way to do it would be off the bike and a proper loom set up being aplied, to much hassle probably, i preferred the twin clocks set up, i must have missed the change to single unit,.As for twin discs, just use the original as a template and use a stand drill to endlessly drill holes in 2nd disc, i'm not a fan of drilled discs so maybe easier to buy 2 plain discs, i had a "mechanic" friend who was a scotch lock fan, you can imagine how long his electrical wiring lasted !, a bit of dielectric grease on yours and wd 40 and your sorted,. cheers ,.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks for the in depth and informative comment. I always want my wiring to look uniform and neat, and I always fail :) I now aim for robust! I think that this should work out quite well. I really like the M Unit it is a great idea and seems to work well. I have never had a great deal of success drilling stainless, I'll have to work on it, or maybe take your advice about plain discs :)

[@CB750K]

Looking good! I have questions. :) Which of the M-unit options are on this bike? Keyless start? Alarm? Mothership locator beacon? Are you running 100% LED now? If so, what color bulb did you use for the tail? I hear that white makes the red cover look pink, but red bulbs make the license plate show red at night. I can't decide which is better. And finally, are your new "idiot" lights also LED? How do you feel about the brightness at night?

[@SPANNERRASH]

The M-Unit is the basic unit without any bluetooth or "mothership locator". I have a separate light for the licence plate which is white, I am not sure what bulb is in the tail light. I didn't source the lights that are currently fitted, they came with the parts that were with the bike when I bought it, so I cant comment on the bulbs yet. And as for brightness at night, I haven't had a chance to assess that, but it is something I will be taking into account. I once had a head unit in a car that lit up like a fairground at night, sent me around the bend! :)

[@lewisalansparkywhitton5074]

Great content, has helped me with my cafe build. I'm curious as to why the solder on the connectors? Have never seen this done before. Interested to hear the reason why! Cheers, keep up the great work 👍

[@CB750K]

In my own experience, unsoldered, DIY butt connectors can come off during maintenance, making changes, etc. I applaud Les for having the foresight to solder them. 👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

Crimping should be enough, but I really wanted to back my chances of not having connector issues. The solder adds an extra level of certainty that the crimp will not work loose. If I had thought ahead I may have tinned the wire before crimping (coated with solder) then crimped then added solder afterwards. Belt, Braces and somebody holding your trousers up, so to speak. Hope that helps. Most issues I have had with bikes in the past have been poor electrical connections, so maybe I am over sensitive :)

[@lewisalansparkywhitton5074]

@@SPANNERRASH I like your thinking, might have just inspired me to take on this endeavour with my build, cheers

[@robsijben5707]

​@@SPANNERRASHwith soldering the crimp connectors you make flexible wires stiff and that isn't wat you want on automotive wiring. I understand your concerns, but if you use the right crimping tool and right crimp connectors intended for the wire diameter crimping alone is the best connection possible. I think your tool and connectore are ok for the job.

[@SPANNERRASH]

You are probably right, but I do think that the solder will give another layer of security. I don't think in the place that I have soldered it will affect flexibility. I suspect that any electrical gremlins will arise in something I haven't looked at :(

[@thomasceruzzi1871]

I realize you probably have no desire to do a front end swap, but I used a complete early Goldwing front fork assembly on my DOHC 750SS to get dual disc on a spoked wheel. Sourced fairly cheap here in the states on eBay if memory serves. Can't remember off hand if head bearings where same internal diameter but I recall being able to source correct bearings without issue for the swap. Little bit heavier valving and a bit beefier fork but zero issues. Just a thought.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks for this info. I will look into Goldwing front ends. I do have another caliper and disk with an idea to go double disk sometime in the future, but a swap like you suggest might be better.